Documenting Life in Early Fullersburg

            How did the early settlers of Fullersburg communicate and keep a record of business transactions when telephones, computers, and other conveniences were not yet invented? Family ledgers were often used to record transactions and descriptions of assets, and handwritten notes were kept in journals or diaries about meetings and other important matters. If distance prevented face-to-face communication, letters could be sent by mail, which was expensive during the Settlement Era. Lighting became a challenge during winter, when lanterns and candles were used to provide sufficient light outside of daylight hours.

            A great deal of information about early settlers in this area is available due to the donation of one family’s collection of primary source documents and artifacts to the History Museum of DuPage County in Wheaton. Letters, newspapers articles, property deeds, and notes that belonged to the Torode family allow a great deal of insight into the daily lives not only of the Torodes, but other members of the community with whom the Torodes interacted, such as the Fuller family, which will be further addressed below. The museum is credited for all references to this unique and valuable collection.^[1]

          A surprisingly large amount of information is contained within the Torode family ledgers, which contain clues about other facets of life besides finances. For example, currency was scarce, but both dollars and schillings were paid for items. Credit was often extended for both labor and for food, all of which was documented. Ben Fuller, founder of Fullersburg (originally known as Brush Hill), provided extensive labor to the Torodes for farmwork as well as food and grain produced on his own farm, established in 1835.^[2]  

          The information from the Torode ledgers also provides evidence of a settler’s location and identification. For example, one entry from 1835 indicates that Harriet Fuller was paid two dollars by the Torodes for a pair of shoes. A local newspaper lends interesting background information about Harriet, Ben Fuller’s sister, who married John Coe in 1840. The Hinsdale Doings writes in an obituary in the Hinsdale Doings dated 2/17/1906, “Mr. Coe was quite prominent in the days of the Old Plank road, and during slavery days experienced some exciting adventures, his home being one of the stations on the famous underground railway.”           

        A further examination of the Torode ledgers reveals that from July 24, 1836 to March 29, 1837, Ben Fuller assisted the Torodes at least nine times by making or mending their shoes and  boots. While it might appear that Ben was a cobbler, we find out from a memoir written by Nella Brookins, daughter of Ben’s brother Morell, “There was but one pair of boots in my father’s family. The first boy up in the morning got the boots.” Ben actually was a farmer, carpenter, and business leader; for example, he built a local gathering place and supply store in 1840 called “The Farmer’s Home,” still in operation today as the York Tavern. (Letter courtesy of Hinsdale Historical Society.)

       The Torode ledgers also indicate that food shortages existed in early Fullersburg. An 1835 entry notes that John Willard was paid ten shillings per bushel of grain. However, a letter written by Nicholas Torode on 1/18/36 describes the difficult winter that the family was enduring as they experienced food shortages. He writes, “…our naighbours around us had some frozen corn they pounded in a hommany block to eat the miller would put them off six weeks for thare grinding…” ^[3] Nicholas faced below freezing conditions as he rode in his wagon drawn by two horses from Fullersburg to the Naper Settlement to purchase grain and have his corn ground at the grist mill, where he was taunted and wrongly accused of claim jumping.       

          Although there are numerous other documents about early Fullersburg that can be analyzed, a limited examination of the Torode collection as well as local letters and newspapers reveal that the early settlers of this area faced numerous challenges and hardships, for which they deserve our utmost respect. (Images

of ledgers courtesy of DuPage History Museum.)

(1835) Harriet Fuller ... one pair of shoes. $2

(1836) Ben Fuller's labor for the Torode family.

Sue Devick, M.A.          

^[1]  Examining the vast amount of material that was donated by the Torode family presents challenges. An appointment with a staff member of the museum is necessary. Gloves are provided and must be worn by visitors due to the fragile nature of the documents. A magnifying glass is helpful when deciphering small details in written material. Many documents are almost two hundred years old and only partially legible.  

^[2] Ben Fuller is considered the founder of Fullersburg, who made an exploratory trip from Broome County, New York to Chicago in 1834 seeking land for his large family, which was expanding with his own wife and expected child.

^[3]          A challenge exists in examining some of the material in the Torode family collection, as the Torode family emigrated from the island of Guernsey in the English Channel, which is much closer to France than England. Often, words in letters between family members are in “Guernsey French,” and others are often written in phonetically-spelled English. Punctuation in letters is rare, and writing in the margins is common. Torode family members who settled here were likely to have been more comfortable speaking than writing in English. It is likely that they spoke with an accent that sounded French, as the land that they claimed was referred to as “Frenchman’s Woods.”