David Fullmer

Question: David Fullmer is mentioned in D&C 124:132. Is there a street in Nauvoo named after David Fullmer?

Answer: David Fullmer was born 7July 1803 in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.

He was brought up on a farm and received a common school education. He left the farm and, for a while, taught school, after which he went into merchandising.

In September, 1831, David married Rhoda Ann Marvin. In the year 1835, he moved to Richmond County, Ohio. While there, he heard that the Lord had revealed his gospel again to man on earth. He believed the Mormon missionaries and was baptized on September 16, 1836, by Elder Henry G. Sherwood. The following winter, he went to Kirtland, Ohio, where, for the first time, he met the Prophet Joseph Smith. Shortly afterwards, he was ordained an Elder. He also received a patriarchal blessing under the hands of Patriarch Joseph Smith, Senior.

In September, 1837, he moved to Caldwell County, Missouri, so that he might be near the principal gathering place of the Saints, and in the spring of 1838 he removed to Davies County. At this time, great persecution raged against the Saints, and David and his family were among the number forced to flee for their lives. They removed to the State of Illinois, finally settling in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois. One of the streets in Nauvoo was named after him, and part of the City of Nauvoo was surveyed and platted by him.

Many of the Church offices were not filled when, on January 19, 1841, the Prophet Joseph Smith received D&C 124. Among those called to the high council of the Nauvoo Stake was David Fullmer. The Stake was designated “a cornerstone of Zion.” David had been elected a member of the Nauvoo City Council and the Council of Fifty.

He was on a political mission promoting Joseph Smith for President of the United States in the State of Michigan when he received news of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Patriarch Hyrum Smith. Elder Fullmer immediately returned to Nauvoo and attended the general meeting of the Church at which the claims of Sidney Rigdon, as guardian of the Church, were rejected and the Twelve Apostles, with Brigham Young at the head, were sustained as the rightful leaders of the Church.

The Fullmers were not permitted to enjoy their Nauvoo home for long, however, for the “mobs burned and otherwise destroyed their property.” In the winter of 1846 they left Nauvoo. Elder Fullmer was appointed a captain of 100 and started west with the first company. They stopped at a place they called Garden Grove, Iowa, where Elder Fullmer was appointed first counselor to Samuel Bent. When President Bent died, Elder Fullmer became the presiding president. After serving in Garden Grove for nearly two years, the Fullmer family moved to Winter Quarters.

In early 1848, the Fullmers traveled as part of the Willard Richards wagon company to the Salt Lake Valley. It was here that David established his home. Shortly after his arrival, he was sustained as a counselor in the Salt Lake Stake presidency and, at one period, served as acting president for four years while the president, Daniel Spencer, was a missionary in England. David served as a counselor to Parley P. Pratt for five months during an exploring expedition to southern Utah.

David was a member of the legislature representing Salt Lake County when Utah was made a territory. He also held the posts of treasurer of Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, and the University of Deseret. Several years before he died, David Fullmer was ordained a Patriarch.