Death Of Mrs. Rhoda Fuller

The death of Mrs. Ehoda Fuller takes rom aniong us one of the most notable nd iridely known of our citizens ; and ïer long residence in Ann Arbor, as well s her great worth, demanda something more than a passing notice. Mi's. Fuller was born in Ashfield, Mass., Jannary 5, 790. Her father was Edward Annable, who held a lieutenant's commission in credit froin the coramenoement to the conclusión of the war ; Hnd the daughter nherited from him the intense patriotsm which made her so useful to tlie oldiers of the arniy of the Union in her oíd age. Mr. Annable, early in thia cen;ury, removed froin Massachusetts into he State of New York, aettliug, after orne changes, in Aurelius, Cayuga couny, where the daughter, 74 years ago, was married to John Fuller, a well-to-do and ver y intelligent morchant, wifh whom she lived in happiness until 1825, when ie died, leaving to her care three chilIren, a boy and two girls. One oí the laughters was married to a Mr. Brown, another merchant, and removed with lim to Michigan in 1830, settling in what was then the insignitícant hamlet of Ann Arbor. Mr. Brown's Iiouho occupied the site of what is now the Hangsterfer lock, and his store was on the opposite comer, where the store of Bach & Abel now is. Mrs. Fuller followed her daughr to Ann Arbor the same year, and íere she has resided for fiftj'-eight years, until every person who was then a rpsident of Washtenaw county has passed away before her. In 1837, Mrs. Fuller juilt the brick house now occupied by Judge Lawrence, and here her second daughter was married, lived and died Mrs. Fuller bought and cultivated rea i estáte, and she built, soon after coming ;o the State, a house for her son in Kalamazoo eounty, which, so far as she could learn, was the first house built for occupation in that county. It was accidentally burned soon afterwards, so thai she failed to effect a settlement ihere. From the very first, Mr. Fuller's willinfTnAaa nr(] pnp.rtrv mflíie hpr a uous personage in Ann Arbor ; and her great kindneus of heart, readiness to do friendly deeds for othera, made her hosts of friends. Sha was a great reader anc an independent thmker. Slie always bad views of her own on social and political qnestions, which she was preparec to assign reasons for, and to delend agaiust all corners. She was very fond of intellectual society, and as she retained her faculties to the very last year of her life, her home was always attractive to the brightest and most agreeabl of her acquaintances. The marriage of tier daughters added to her social prominence. Mrs. Brown, after losing her first husband. intermarried again with Dr C. F. Ormsby, who was prominent no only aa a physician, but as a politician and in 1848 was the Free Soil candidato for congress in this district. The other daugbter married Edwin Lawrence, who was once the Whig candidato for con gress in this district, and afterwards county judge, andthen served two terms as circuit judge, with ability and to the general acceptance of the public. A woman's life may be exceedingly useful without many notable events Such was the life of Ehoda Fuller. She was always making life more comforta ble and happy for somebody, withou making any demonstration of her kind ness, or caring to demand any recogni tion of her favors. During the civi war. however. her ardent uatriotism made her activity in good work conspic uous, and she seemed to give her whole tiine and thought to means of admims tering comfort to the sol liers in the nek and in the hospitals. Mrs. Lawrence was president of the local aid society and it will perhaps give some idea of the labora of her mother when it is statec that she had something of her own make to send forward with every consignmeni and on one occasion no less than forty pairs of socks were among her grfts When the war was over she interestec herself in the welfare of the freedmen and three years ago, when some particu larly painful news came up of suffering in the South, Mrs. F ulier organized movemen', through Eev. T. F. Brown then pastor of the Presbytenan church which resulted in large donations. It i almost unnecessary to say that ehe wa the largest donor, and though then ninety years of age she was the üfe an soul of the movement. Mrn. Fuller leaves bebind her on daughter and three grand children. tëh also leaves friends innumerable, wbo will cherisli, aa long as they live, the re collection of her kind deeds and he bright und lovely life. A year ago, on her ninety-second birthday, she held reception, to which large nunibers of he old friends and acquaintances crowdec to grasp her hand and do her honor Her mind was then as bright and active bs that of any person nmorjg them.