Butte County
Biographies
ROLLA
FULLER
ROLLA
FULLER.--Rolla Fuller was born in Wellesley, Mass., his family being traced
back to the Mayflower of 1620. His
father was Luther Fuller, also born in Massachusetts, who married Mary Gates,
of Revolutionary stock. Luther Fuller
brought his family to California in pioneer days and followed mining in
Tuolumne County until his death, at a time when his son Rolla was only twelve
years of age. The latter's guardian was
Governor Machin, so that when he was a little past
twelve years of age Rolla served as a page in the State Senate. Making his own way in the world, his
education was obtained principally in San Francisco, where he attended night
school while in the employ of Wells Fargo Company and afterwards with the
jewelry firm of Haller and Company, after which he completed a course in Heald's Business College, from which he graduated. He then located in Chico, Butte County,
becoming bookkeeper for Eli Rose. Next
he was engaged in the milling business for a time and then started in the
butchering and meat business with Fred Ackerman, under the firm name of Fuller
and Ackerman. After some years of
successful business, he sold his interest to his partner and removed to Red
Bluff, engaging in the grocery business, in time becoming one of the leading
merchants in Red Bluff. In time his
close application to business told on his health and his physician advised him
to sell the store and engage in stock-raising.
This he did, and the outdoor life benefited him so much that he was
induced to enter the Bank of Tehama County as paying teller, a position he
filled satisfactorily for seven years, when, in 1911, he resigned and retired,
making his home in Oakland until his death, in December, 1915. He was prominent and influential in Red Bluff,
serving as school trustee and being a member of the city board of trustees, and
Mayor of Red Bluff. Fraternally he was
an Odd Fellow, belonging to the Encampment and Canton.
Mr. Fuller was married in Chico, May 20,
1875, being united with Miss Jennie L. Ferson, a
native of New Hampshire and the daughter of Horace D. and Lucy B. (Codman) Ferson, natives of New Hampshire, and descended from an old
New England family of Revolutionary and Colonial stock. Horace Ferson was a
butcher in New Hampshire when the discovery of gold in California lured him to
the Pacific coast, and he located in Butte County, his family joining him a few
years later. He was one of the early
settlers of Powellton, engaging in placer and
hydraulic mining. He built a wagon road
a distance of two miles to his mine, constructed a reservoir from which he
obtained water for the hydraulic jacks, and blasted a tail race through solid
rock. Drifting into cattle-raising, he
later engaged in the butchering business, furnishing meat to the miners in the
different mining camps. Giving up mining
altogether, he drove his cattle to Berry Canyon, continuing there until he
purchased a ranch from Volney White, near Durham, on
which he located. He cleared the portion
that was timbered and improved it for grain and stock-raising, and as he
prospered he purchased land adjoining and finally had a well-improved ranch of
over five hundred acres which he operated until he retired to Oakland, where he
built a residence and spent his last days, his demise occurring in 1907. His wife survived him until 1911. The result of their union was one child,
Jennie L., who was educated in the public schools of Chico and Woodman's
Academy.
Mr. and Mrs. Fuller had two children: Pauline, the wife of J.D. Keys, with a
mercantile house in San Francisco, and who has one child, R. Fuller Keys; and
Rolla D., a graduate of the University of California, with the degree of Ph.G.,
a pharmacist in Berkeley and married to Estelle Croone.
Mrs. Fuller continues to reside in
Oakland, where she is a member of the First Presbyterian Church and is
prominent socially, being a member of various clubs, among them the Oakland
Club and civic center clubs.
Transcribed
by Rhonda Ruick O'Brien.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1200-1201, Historic Record Co, Los
Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Rhonda Ruick
O'Brien.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County
Biographies