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ELIZABETH DEPOTTY AND CHRISTOPHER FULLER AND THEIR CHILDREN ELIZABETH DEPARTY (DE POTTY) AND CHRISTOPHER FULLER ~ AND THEIR CHILDREN Compiled from various sources by Pat L. Sagers, great great granddaughter Presented At D.U.P. Monday, October 8, 2001

Elizabeth DePotty was born 27 August 1821 to Mary Freeman and Mitchel (or Michael) DePotty. Elizabeth's father served in the War of 1812, and was granted land in the town of Caistor, Ontario Providence, Canada, where the family lived until her father's death, around May of 1825, when Elizabeth was only four years old. It is known for certain if Elizabeth had other brothers or sisters.

Very few records have been found of this family, but it appears that Elizabeth was raised to womanhood in the Niagara, Ontario, Canada area. Elizabeth learned the value of hard work, and the skill and trade as a tailor -- which was used extensively throughout her lifetime. Elizabeth was about 17 or 18 years old when she married a man by the last name of Bristol. About 1840 they had a son, whom they named William -- and William Bristol was MY great grandfather. No one knows what happened to Elizabeth's first husband -- and not even his first name, but he most likely died shortly after they were married.

A few years after William Bristol is born, Elizabeth marries again about 1842, to a man named Christopher Fuller. Christopher was born in 1818 at Niagara, Upper Canada. Christopher's mother died about the time of his marriage to Elizabeth DePotty Bristol.

Even though William Bristol never took the Fuller surname, Christopher played an important role in William's life, and William most likely called him his father -- along with his other half brothers and sisters. On most records, William was referred to as William Fuller.

Christopher and Elizabeth Fuller's first daughter, Barbara Ellen was born in 1843. Then in the cold winter month of December 1844, Christopher and Elizabeth were baptized into the "Mormon" Church by Christopher's brother-in-law, James Calvin Sly.

In 1845, another daughter, Mary Jane was born in Oxford, Ontario, Canada. About this same time, Christopher's father, David Fuller, moved to Nauvoo, Illinois with his daughter, Margaret Jane Fuller Sly, and her husband, James Calvin Sly. A year later, in April 1846, Christopher's father died and was buried in Nauvoo.

Their third child, Isaac Fuller, was born in 1848. Another daughter, Martha Anna Fuller, was born in 1852, and their last child to be born in Canada was Daniel Fuller, and he was born in 1854 -- (Daniel is the one that Edith Beckstead and her brother remembered.)

Also in 1854, Christopher's brother-in-law, James Calvin Sly and Amos Gustin, leave from Nephi, and again returned to Canada as Missionaries. James Sly had joined the Mormon Battalion, traveled to California, and ended up in Nephi, where he married two of Amos Gustin's sisters, one in 1849 and one in 1856, and became a polygamist --before his first wife, Margaret Jane Fuller Sly, makes it to Utah.

From a letter recorded in the Journal of History, 2 June 1855 evidently was referring to Christopher, and his brother, Daniel Fuller, when James C. Sly wrote the following to the Editor of the Luminary Newspaper, in St. Louis, Missouri: "........The brethren that are to leave Canada for the West will organize in the vicinity of Council Bluffs between now and next spring, when we hope to have a goodly company to cross the plains to join our branch in the Valley of Ephraim........"

About this time, the Fuller family were possessed with the spirit of gathering with the Saints in the Rocky Mountains. Elizabeth and Christopher, along with other members of their family, left their homeland of Ontario, Canada, and started their journey west. A story has been handed down about the Fuller family killing a bear for meat as they were leaving Canada.

The next record found of the Christopher Fuller family was the 1860 Census, in Rockport, Atchison County, Missouri. This is where we also find Christopher's other brothers, and his sister, Margaret Jane, who was married to James C. Sly; however, it appears that Jane never approved of her husband's plural marriages, and probably never lived with him again.

The last child born to Christopher and Elizabeth Fuller was Margaret Emma Fuller. She was born 1861 while they were living at Rockport, Missouri.

Finally, the Fuller family was prepared to cross the plains. They traveled to Nebraska, and joined the Captain Lewis Brunson Independent Company, in June 1862. Their baby was 9 months old. They traveled in the same wagon train with Daniel Fuller and Margaret Jane Fuller Sly -- brother and sister to Christopher. Margaret Jane and James Sly's married daughter and family were also in the same Company. Their son-in-law, James DePotty, may be Elizabeth's brother, and he apparently never joined the Mormon Church -- his father-in-law's polygamist marriages may have been the cause, but ended up going to California, and probably never came to Utah to live with his family. *(One of Margaret Jane's and James Sly's granddaughters marries Jonathan Platt, and they settled in Mona.)

The Fullers completed their long and tiresome journey to the Great Salt Lake Valley on August 20, 1862. The valley was beginning to show promise of fulfilling the prophesy that "the desert would blossom as the rose." But, they were not to stay in the beautiful Salt Lake Valley for very long. These new immigrants traveled on about 100 miles south to the town of Nephi, probably to be near other family members -- for whatever reason they came on to Nephi, they remained here for the rest of their lives.

In Nephi, the Fuller family joined up with Mary Mariah and Daniel Cook. Mary Mariah was another sister to Margaret Jane Fuller Sly, Christopher, and Daniel Fuller. These new immigrants may have stayed with the Daniel Cook family while they began to acquire some land, and farm, and build homes of their own.

Christopher was listed as 42 years old as he led his family on the wagon train into the Salt Lake Valley. He was an energetic man, willing to do any kind of work that would provide for his family. He acquired about 20 acres of land, and they lived in an adobe house up towards the mountains in the eastern part of Nephi. They had fruit trees, currant bushes, sweet blue plums, apricots, and tea vines (that were still growing in 1957).

*(At the present time, (2000) their farm and home would have been located on the south side of the road along 200 South and between 600 and 800 East -- the present freeway may have crossed some of their land -- a new home has recently been built in that vicinity, and there are still some old corrals and farm yards east of that home -- Edith Beckstead showed me where she remembered the Fuller family living. When she was a little girl, Edith and her cousin liked to walk up to the Fuller's home, and visit with Dan & Barbara, who she thought was husband and wife, but they were actually brother and sister -- and they seemed "really" old to her.)

Besides farming, Christopher worked at a grist mill (later called flour mills) for about 20 years. It was up the canyon where they had water power to run the mill. Then, for about 15 years, Christopher was manager of the Co-op Store in Nephi. Christopher was tall and rather lean in build.

Elizabeth also worked hard in giving care to her family. Elizabeth gathered wool, washed, carded, and spun it into yarn, wove the yarn into cloth, and then she would make very fine men's suits, entirely by hand. The women of the community also came to Elizabeth to take advantage of her skill with the needle. Elizabeth was a talented tailor and did much sewing for the people around Nephi.

Besides tailoring, Elizabeth and her daughters, and granddaughters harvested apples -- they peeled and dried them and then sold them to the Co-Op Store for 25 cents a sack. There was always a ready market for the apples. Amanda Tyler Petersen, Elizabeth's granddaughter, stated that when she was a little girl she lived with her grandmother and helped with the apple drying. She also remembers a magpie that her grandmother had taught how to talk. When grandmother sent Amanda out to get wood for the stove, and Amanda would stop and play at her tasks, her grandmother would hang the bird cage in the window so that the bird could watch Amanda.

Elizabeth was very religious, and tried to do all of the things that were expected of her as a Latter-day Saint. It is remembered that she did all of her own cooking on Saturday, so that they would not have to cook on Sunday. They planned to spend the Sabbath day as we are told to do -- as a day of rest and worship. Elizabeth enjoyed being a member of, and attending Relief Society.

Crystal Haskett Sampson lived in Nephi as a girl, and remembered the following about the Fullers: 'Old Grandma Fuller' would sit in her doorway, and if mice came up, she would throw them crumbs. She also remembered her sitting by the fireplace smoking her pipe. Crystal used to watch "Barbry" salt down the pork bacon, and make black tea. She stated that, "Barbry had a little trunk that she would open and in it were cute little trinkets, and a darling little parasol that just thrilled me". She recalled, too, that 'Old Grandma Fuller' was a good cook, and "scrubbed" everything clean and would bake "nice" things for the youngsters in the neighborhood. They lived in a four room house on about 4 acres of ground, a couple blocks from where she (Crystal) lived.

The children also worked hard to help the family. The boys hired out to other families in the area as farm workers. Isaac Fuller lived with the Richard Jenkins family and helped on their farm. William Fuller (Bristol) lived with the Charles Foote family and help on their farm. Dan, worked for Al Hague. Al Hague, a neighbor who lived by them for 30 years, said: "The Fullers were very hard workers, always willing to help out. They were poor, but honest, peace-loving neighbors, and helped others more than they were helped. Christopher's son, Dan, would chop and carry wood to the widows. Their daughter, Barbry, was short and heavy. Their son, Dan, was tall and thin and weighed about 180 pounds, and both of them (Dan and Barbry) smoked. A cripple girl, who was tall and slender, lived with them, and they were 'mighty good' to her". *(This crippled girl was probably their sister Martha Annie Fuller Tyler. (On many Church records she is called "Tiny" or "Annie Tiny"). One day the girls were out helping to harvest the grain, or hay, and Annie got too close to the scythe that Barbara was using, and received a deep 3-inch cut in the calf of her leg. She carried a scar on her leg to the day of her death).

The Fuller family worked hard, and adjusted quickly to their new homeland, and to their neighbors and friends from the various nations. The Blackhawk Indian War was going on around them, and they most likely felt the terror and saw and heard many frightening experiences, and perhaps even Christopher and the boys were called upon to help fight and defend their community.

The brothers also cut and hauled wood to help with the family finances. At one time the Fuller family needed to hire someone to help them, so they hired a young man by the name of John Tyler. John was away from his family, who lived in Castle Valley, in Emery County, so he was made welcome as a visitor in the Fuller home. John liked and courted Barbry, and wanted to marry her, but she told him that she could not marry him. As he was sadly leaving, bright-eyed "Annie", who was 17, followed him outside and said, "I'll marry you, John"! This seemed to suit John, and they were married -- about 1867. The Tylers lived in Nephi until after their six children were born. They later move to Cleveland, Emery County, and made that their home.

In the spring of 1868, Elizabeth and Christopher's 22 year old daughter, Mary Jane, became very ill. The doctors in Nephi (and Christopher's brother, Daniel Fuller, was listed on a census as a 'physician'), were unable to help Mary Jane. It's not known if Christopher traveled alone, or if he took Elizabeth or some of his children with him, but Mary Jane was probably loaded in the back of a wagon, and they traveled many days to get her to one of the best doctors in Utah. They may have stopped in Provo to have doctors there examine Mary Jane, but they eventually went on to the Salt Lake City hospital where she was attended to by Dr. Ormsby. Apparently there was nothing that could be done for Mary Jane. Her death records state: "Fuller, Mary Jane, dau of Christopher, born 14 June 1845, Canada. Died 8 June 1868, S.L.C. from Brain Fever. Attended by Dr. Ormsby. Place of Interment: Platt D Block 7". Christopher must have known that he could not take his daughter's body back to Nephi for burial in the hot June weather, and the many days required to travel in a wagon back to Nephi, so Mary Jane was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, and then Christopher drove back home to tell his anxiously waiting family this sad news.

Elizabeth's oldest son, and MY great grandfather, William Fuller Bristol met a 16 year old Danish girl, Ane Marie Sophie Clausen (Gulbransen), from the town of Mt. Pleasant, in San Pete County. Ane had ran away from her recent plural marriage to Hans Gulbransen, a man who was about 30 years older than she was. It isn't known how Ane knew the Fullers or how she got to Nephi -- Ane and the Fullers both crossed the plains in 1862, but in different Wagon Companies. Apparently the Fullers took Ane into their home, and she fell in love with William, and they got married about 1869 -- Ane's marriage and Endowment House cancellation to Hans was recorded as 30 July 1870. William and Ane moved to the distant, and recently opened mining town of Eureka, where William became a Silver miner. They had three children, and Ane was expecting their fourth child when tragedy struck. William was found frozen to death in late 1874 or early 1875, as he was waiting for a couple of men to come along in a wagon and give him a ride down the canyon to catch a train back home, and somehow he missed his ride or was left, and he froze to death in the mountains. Most likely William was buried in the Fuller family plot in the Nephi City Cemetery. All of William's descendants took the surname of Bristol instead of Fuller.

Martha Annie Tyler and William Bristol were the only two Fuller children that married.

Christopher and Elizabeth went to the Endowment House in Salt Lake City to receive their Endowments, and be sealed for eternity on November 2, 1882. They most likely traveled to Salt Lake City by train. At this time, children were not sealed to their parents.

Two years before Christopher died, he was found listed in Juab County Court Records, petitioning the court for a reduction in taxes -- because he was now blind. Then on 12 August 1897 Christopher died, and was buried in the Nephi City Cemetery.

Elizabeth, the mother of this little family, lived until 3 March 1910, when she died from bronchitis. She was buried in the Fuller family plot in the Nephi City Cemetery.

Barbry and Dan, the last surviving children, continued to live on in the family home. Dan and Barbry took in, and cared for at least one nephew, and perhaps other relatives. Dan would chop and carry wood to the widows. Dan had palsy, and he stayed with his nephew, Charles Bristol & his family for awhile. Apparently Dan's mental health failed -- and, as was the custom in those days, he was taken to the State Mental Hospital in Provo, Utah where he resided for 1 year before he died there in 1929, and he was brought back to Nephi, where interment was in the family plot in the City Cemetery.

Barbara Ellen, lovingly called "Barbry" or "Barbree" -- (for some reason I felt a really close tie to her), seems to have been especially considerate and very helpful to her family and friends, and loved by everyone who knew her. She helped her sister, and sister-in-law during their times of confinement, and she gave lots of love and care to her nieces and nephews. It's not known why Barbry never married, even though she had at least one proposal. (There is the possibility that she had palsy also.) Barbry was the first child born to Elizabeth and Christopher Fuller, and the last of the Fuller family to die. She died at the age of 82 years in a nursing home, on 21 June 1925. She, too, is buried in their family plot in Nephi.

"It was not their lot to be rich or even well-to-do. They worked hard to the end of their lives and have a nice posterity."

FOOTNOTES: (1). Depoty was found to be spelled Departy, Deporty, and Depoty but appears to have originally been spelled DePotty. Later on some relatives changed the spelling to DePartee. (2). The names of Elizabeth's parents were given by Elizabeth Depoty Fuller, herself. Recorded in the old Nephi South Ward Records - GS Film # 026223, pg 106, 107, & 108. In some records, others have recorded Elizabeth's mother's maiden name as "Froeman" instead of "Freeman". (3). British Military and Naval Records (RG 8, I) from the Public Archives of Canada. Vol. 1701, p. 105, and 151; and Vol. 1702, p. 186, microfilm reel C-3839. (4). In one record, the surname was spelled Briscoe; however, all the descendants of William spelled their surname "Bristol". (5). The following was recorded in the Journal of History of the LDS Church: "7 April 1854, On the 2nd day of the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the following Missionaries were called to Upper Canada: George P. Waugh, James C. Sly, and Amos Gustin. (Amos Gustin had married Catherine Ursula Cook, niece a Christopher Fuller). Luke William Gallup recorded: "20 April 1854, James C. Sly, Amos Gustin and wife, and a Wolf (probably George P. Waugh) passed the night with us". Sly and Gustin are missionaries from Nephi, going to Upper Canada. (6). From the Old Nephi Ward records, under date of April 1854, we learn that "the brethren collected money to purchase a horse for James C. Sly and Amos Gustin who have been called on a mission to Upper Canada". From the Old Nephi Ward minutes, under the date of 27 April 1854, John Hayes proposed to make shoes for Brother Sly's family in his absence. Then from the Journal of History, 19 May 1854: "James C. Sly, Amos Gustin, George Waugh, missionaries going east left in company with Benjamin Clapp........" (7). From a letter written by George P. Waugh, James C. Sly, and Amos Gustin from Canboro, Haldimand, Ontario, Canada, 24 April 1855, we read in parts......"Proceeding by Thorall and Smithville to Canboro(ugh), Haldiman(d) Co., where he (James C. Sly) found Priest Able Parker and two Brothers Fuller (evidently Christopher and Daniel Fuller) who Brother Sly had also baptized in 1846, where he continued to preach and labor alternately for his support for two weeks and returned to Shakespeare via Brantford and Woodstock, where he met with Brother Gustin, improved in health considerably, about the first of November". (8). James DePotty may be a brother to Elizabeth DePotty Fuller. James DePotty married Christopher Fuller's niece, Mary Ann Sly -- Margaret Jane Fuller & James Calvin Sly's daughter; and they had four children. James DePotty doesn't appear to have ever joined the Church. He stays behind and cares for his family when Sly joins the Mormon Battalion. However, when James Sly becomes a polygamist, James DePotty leaves his family and goes to California - perhaps looking for gold. He joins the California 1st Calvary, and apparently never returns to his family in Nephi, Utah, and is eventually ambushed and killed in Arizona by "Mexican bushwhackers". (9). Edith Belliston Beckstead, who was in her ninety's, went with me (Pat Sagers), in the year 2000, and showed me where the Fuller family lived. When Edith was a little girl, she use to visit and play with her cousins, who lived about 1 block north-west of the Fullers. The children liked to walk up the Fuller home and talk with Barbara and Daniel -- the last surviving Fuller children. Edith remembered them as being 'very old'. Several months later, Edith's brother was

- 7 - visiting her, and she introduced me to him, and he said that he remembered Dan Fuller, but not Barbara. He told me a couple stories. He said that all the men use to sit around the old Venice Theater, and also the Courthouse (which is now the Museum) and talk. He remembered Dan talking about coming from "the states" -- even though Utah was a "state" at the time, and no longer just a "territory". He also remembered that the kids would ask Dan how to spell "rattlesnake". Dan would spell it: "r - a - tittle - s - n - ake". He also remembers Dan as being quite a tall and thin man. (10). Amanda Tyler Petersen, granddaughter of Christopher and Elizabeth, remembered her mother (Anna Fuller Tyler) telling many stories, and Amanda also had many memories about her grandparents, herself. (11). See the history of Ane Marie Sophie Clausen and William Bristol for details of their lives. (12). Nephi (Juab County) 1870 Federal Census. (13). Nephi South Ward, Records of Members - 1878-1890, and Historical Records - 1885-1890, Re-baptism records - page 20, and page 22, GS Film # 26222. (14). Doris Bristol, granddaughter of William and Ane Bristol, stated that her father, Charles Bristol, could not get along with his step-father, Charles Rambo, and he was raised by an old maid Aunt Barbara, and bachelor Uncle Dan Fuller, in Nephi. After Charles Bristol married, Dan Fuller stayed with them for awhile, and he had palsy. (15). Crystal Haskett Sampson, lived in Nephi as a girl. She remembered living a couple of blocks from the Fullers, and often went to visit them. (16). Daniel Fuller's obituary stated that he died from pleuro-pneumonia, and a contributory was senile psychosis and paralysis agitans. (17). Al Hague was a neighbor who lived by the Fuller family for 30 years.