From the Illinois Legislative Directory of 1897-98.
An insurance man based in Belvidere, Boone County, Illinois, DuFay Alonzo Fuller represented Boone County in both houses of the Illinois General Assembly between 1897-1905. A lifelong Belvidere resident, DuFay A. Fuller was born in that town on February 21, 1852, being one of five children born to Seymour and Elizabeth (Mordoff) Fuller. Besides producing a two-term representative and one-term state senator in the man highlighted here, the Fuller family would also boast Charles Eugene Fuller (1849-1926), a circuit court judge and eleven-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois' 12th district.
A student in the public schools of Belvidere, DuFay Fuller married Cherry Valley, Illinois native Jennie Robinson (1857-1895) on March 24, 1875. The couple were wed until Jennie's death in November 1895 and had one son, George, who died in infancy in 1887. Fuller remarried in 1901 to Blanche Merrill (1875-1966), with whom he had three daughters, Louise (1903-1994), Marian, and May.
DuFay A. Fuller made his first foray into public service in the mid-1870s when he was named as a justice of the peace, and until the early 1890s resided on a farm. In 1892 he decided upon a career in insurance and became affiliated with the New York Mutual Life Insurance Company, serving as a district manager beginning in 1895. In 1896 he became a Republican candidate for the Illinois House of Representatives from the 8th district and in November bested Republican nominee George Lyons.
Fuller's first term in the state house (1897-98) saw him named to several house committees, those being Agriculture, the Executive Department, Fees and Salaries, Horticulture, Insurance, and Senatorial Apportionment. He would win a second term in 1898, garnering 11, 296 votes on election day. Serving during the 1899-1901 session, Fuller set his sights on an Illinois State Senate seat in 1900 and was successful in his attempt, polling an eight-thousand vote majority over Democratic nominee Henry M. Coburn.
Taking his seat at the start of the 1901-05 term, Fuller would serve alongside another oddly named senator, Lennington "Len" Small of Kankakee County. The pair would develop a firm friendship that would continue for many years afterward, and following his election as Governor of Illinois in 1920, Small appointed Fuller (who had been a staunch supporter during that year's gubernatorial campaign) as a state parole officer.
DuFay A. Fuller, from the 1901 Illinois Legislative Directory.
Following the conclusion of his senate term, Fuller continued work in insurance and real estate, and also held memberships in the Masonic order, the Belvidere Y.M.C.A board, and the Odd Fellows lodge. Upon the election of Len Small as Governor in 1920 Fuller was appointed as a parole officer for the district comprising Belvidere and continued to serve in that role until his death on March 3, 1924, just a few days after his 72nd birthday. The Freeport Journal Standard relates that Fuller was fatally stricken by a heart attack while walking home from his insurance office and died shortly thereafter. He was survived by his wife Blanche and daughters and was later interred at the Belvidere Cemetery.
From the Freeport Daily Standard, March 4, 1924.
Portrait from the 1943-44 Iowa State Register.
The nephew of the preceding gentleman, DuFay Darius Fuller also went on to success in politics, albeit in a different state. A two-term state senator from Jackson County, Iowa, Fuller was also a bank vice president and lawyer based in the city of Maquoketa. The son of George H. and Ella Fuller, DuFay Darius Fuller was born in Rockwell, Iowa on September 27, 1888. A former president of the Rockwell Savings Bank, George H. Fuller (1845-1925) was the brother of DuFay Alonzo Fuller (mentioned above) and Congressman Charles Eugene Fuller. A student in the public schools of Rockwell, DuFay D. Fuller graduated from the Rockwell High School and later went on to attend the Central College in Pella, Iowa, graduating in 1906. Deciding upon a career in law, Fuller undertook further study at Drake University School of Law, where he earned his bachelor of laws degree in 1909.
In June 1915 Fuller married to Mildred Widdows (birth date unknown), to whom he was wed until her death. The couple would have two children, DuFay Darius Jr. (born 1917) and Dorothy (born 1921). Prior to his marriage Fuller began his political career at the local level, serving as deputy county auditor for Cerro Gordo County from 1910-12 and as deputy county treasurer from 1913-1925. During the First World War Fuller enlisted in the U.S. Army but wouldn't see combat, as he was stationed in Iowa City.
Following his brief military service Fuller practiced law in Mason City, Iowa, and from 1918-1928 served as a referee in bankruptcy. In 1925 he made his first foray into banking, becoming cashier for the Primghar Savings Bank in Primghar, Iowa. Fuller stepped down from that post in 1926 and spent the next decade in California before returning to Iowa in 1937, and in that year took on the post of vice-president of the Jackson State Savings Bank at Maquoketa.
In early 1940 Fuller entered into the Republican primary race for state senator from Iowa's 23rd district and in June of that year won out at the polls, garnering 629 votes. That November he would win election as senator, besting Democratic candidate Frank Ellis by a vote of 4,620 to 4,213. Fuller's service in the 1941-43 session saw him chair the Boundary Bridges committee and was also named to the committees on Banks and Banking, Claims, Dairying, Educational Institutions, Highways, Public Health, and Ways and Means.
Portrait from the 1943-45 Iowa State Register.
In the 1942 election year, DuFay D. Fuller won a second term in the senate and during the 1943-45 session was named to several new committees, those being Cities and Towns, Compensation of Public Officers, Enrolled Bills, Livestock and Marketing, and Public Health. He would also chair the State Accounting System committee. Fuller left office in 1945 and details on the remainder of his life remain hard to come by. Following his term, he resided in California and Arizona before relocating to Arkansas in January 1971. On July 30, 1971, Fuller died at a hospital in Bentonville, aged either 83 or 84. Although an exact cemetery name remains unknown at this time, Fuller's death notice in the Joplin Globe denotes his burial occurring at a cemetery somewhere in the Hampton, Iowa area.
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