Henry Fullerton, Sr.

Henry Fullerton Sr.

Henry Fullerton Sr. was born in Belfast Ireland in 1785 and his wife Sarah Caufield Fullerton was born in Belfast Ireland in 1790. They were married in 1810 in Belfast and were of average means - renting land from the British Government to raise potatoes, vegetables, cattle and sheep for family use and needs. William Fullerton - Henry’s younger brother - came to America in 1818. His letters back to Henry describing the beautiful land and unparalleled opportunities in America and especially in Texas convinced Henry and Sarah along with eight other families to sail from Ireland to America in 1821. Henry and Sarah lived in Charleston South Carolina until 1825 before they moved to Boligee Alabama where a cousin George Hayes owned a plantation. In Alabama Henry learned much about the land and how to produce cotton and corn. In the spring of 1833 William Fullerton who lived in Texas made a trip to Alabama to visit his brother Henry and Sarah. William told Henry and Sarah that Texas - under the jurisdiction of Mexico - was “the land of milk and honey” with an abundance of wild game, buffalo, deer, cattle, horses, fowls, turkey, and birds of all kinds and that the soil was rich and fertile for farming. William’s stories of Texas, particularly those about the Sterling C. Robertson Colony, were so convincing that in early December 1833 by horses, ox-wagons and carryalls Henry, Sarah, and several other families headed for Texas. At that time, when Henry and Sarah sold their land and possessions in Alabama and left with their children - George Hays Fullerton (also known as George H. or G.H.) their seventh child was four months old. The journey to the Robertson Colony in Texas took a little over seventy days. Henry, Sarah, and their children arrived at the Robertson Colony in February 1834. Travel was slow and a fearsome task crossing many rivers several times, usually by pontoon ferries, before entering Texas and following the Old San Antonio Road into Wheelock Prairie where many of the wagons mired. While the wagons were being pulled out of the sand and mud and onto firmer ground Henry and Sarah investigated the surrounding land and decided to locate there. On the 17^th of October 1834 Henry and Sarah’s daughter Mary and their son-in-law William Henry Sr. had the first white child to be born in Robertson County. The child was named William Henry Jr. but was always called Bud. At that time the Mexican government was offering land grants to the head of each family of the colonists under the Stephen F. Austin and Sterling C. Robertson contracts. A Headright League of Land contained approximately 4428 acres and a Labor of Land contained 177 acres. On the 22^nd day of December 1834 Henry Fullerton Sr. received a Mexican Land Grand, a Headright League of Land as a colonist, about seven miles northwest of Franklin, Texas. He also received One Labor of Land at the Irish Settlement called Staggers Point - now called Benchley, in Robertson County Texas - where he and Sarah and their children built a home and lived. From 1835 to 1836 Henry Fullerton, Sr. fought in the Army of the Republic of Texas and helped Texas win its independence from Mexico. Henry Fullerton, Sr. was a member of the Gillespie Masonic Lodge No. 55 in Robertson County. Henry died in 1843 and Sarah Caufield Fullerton died in 1856, both at their original home at Staggers Point and both are buried in the Dunn Family Cemetery near Wheelock, Texas. By virtue of Bounty Warrant No. 3278 issued by the Secretary of War on the 8^th day of May 1838, the Governor of Texas P.H. Bell on April 7, 1852 granted 320 acres to Henry Fullerton Sr., his heirs or assigns for his faithful and honorable service in the Army of the Republic of Texas.