John L. Fulks

GEDCOM Note

<p>The Gravestone of John Fulks Says Jasper Fulks, Born October 13, 1899</p><p><p></p></p><p>The village of Godfrey, originally called Monticello, was named for Captain Benjamin Godfrey, one of its early settlers and largest landowner. Benjamin Godfrey arrived in Alton on a steamboat in 1832. The son of Mayflower descendants, Godfrey had run away to sea at age nine. He made and lost at least two fortunes, one in a shipwreck, another at the hands of Mexican bandits. While rebuilding his fortunes, he met an area resident who encouraged him to bring his skills to the Midwestern frontier. Within two years, Godfrey had established a prosperous business and warehouses in Alton. He built a church in Lower Alton that was later to become St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Godfrey was the father of several daughters and sought to find a way to give them a formal, Christian education. With that in mind, he founded Monticello Seminary in 1838. The women's school was known throughout the country for its quality education. The facility was converted to Lewis and Clark Community College in 1973.