Howard G. Fuller Biography


	This biography appears on pages 930-934 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				JUDGE HOWARD G. FULLER. 

	It is not difficult to write of the late Judge Howard G. Fuller, 
for his life and his character were as clear as the sunlight. No man 
came in contact with him but speedily appreciated him at his true worth 
and knew he was a man who not only cherished a high ideal of duty but 
also lived up to it. He was never an idle sentimentalist but a worker 
who consistently labored for the right, holding to high standards in 
his professional service and in every other relation. The judicial 
history of the state would be incomplete were there failure to make 
reference to Judge Fuller, who at the time of his death was serving 
upon the bench of the supreme court, for which office he had been 
unanimously renominated. He was born at Glens Falls, New York, January 
5, 1850, a son of Garrett and Emily (Adams) Fuller, the former a native 
of New York and the latter of Braintree, Massachusetts, a descendant of 
the old and distinguished Adams family of that state. The father was 
born in 1809 and became a farmer by occupation. He removed with his 
family to Maquoketa, Iowa, when his son Howard was a lad of about six 
years and in that locality spent his remaining days, the last few years 
of his life being passed in retirement from business in the city. His 
wife died in Maquoketa at the age of seventy-nine, but Mr. Fuller 
passed away in Toledo, Iowa, about 1897, his remains, however, being 
interred at Maquoketa. While he was never a politician in the sense of 
office seeking, he was several times called to serve in positions of 
public honor and trust. 

	Judge Fuller was the second in a family of five children. He 
pursued his education at Maquoketa until graduated from the high school 
and afterward attended the academy at Eldora, Iowa. He took up the 
profession of teaching and proved a most capable educator, his ability 
gaining him prominence in that direction. He was elected superintendent 
of schools in Union, Iowa, filling that position for four years, and 
while filling the office of county superintendent of schools in Hardin 
county, Iowa, he devoted his leisure hours to reading law. He remained 
as county superintendent from 1880 until 1884 and was elected for a 
third term but resigned the position and came to South Dakota in 1885. 
He pursued his law reading under the direction of Hon. H. L. Huff and 
was admitted to the bar in Hardin county, Iowa, in 1883. After his 
removal to this state in 1885 he joined Mr. Bowdle and Mr. Newcomer, 
the former a banker of Mitchell and the latter a banker of Eldora, 
Iowa, in laying out the town of Bowdle, South Dakota, and established a 
bank at that place, of which Judge Fuller became cashier. He continued 
to act in that capacity until 1889, the year of the admission of the 
state into the Union, when he was elected to the circuit bench, having 
been nominated for the office at the convention in Miller. His district 
comprised eleven counties and he removed to Faulkton, which was located 
more nearly in the center of the district, there residing for four 
years. At the time of his removal he severed his connection with the 
bank at Bowdle. 

	Judge Fuller served on the circuit bench for one term and was 
reelected for a second term but soon afterward was appointed to the 
supreme bench by Governor Sheldon to fill out the unexpired term of 
Judge J. E. Bennett, deceased. Accordingly in 1894 he removed to Pierre 
and continued upon the bench for fourteen years or until his death in 
1908. There were but three judges on the supreme court bench at that 
time and his duties were extensive and arduous. While he was well 
grounded in the principles of law when admitted to the bar, he 
continued through the whole of his professional life a diligent student 
of those elementary principles that constitute the basis of all legal 
science. He was recognized as a man of well balanced intellect, 
thoroughly familiar with the LAW and practice, having also 
comprehensive general information and possessing an analytical mind and 
a self-control that enabled him to submerge his individuality, his 
personal feelings, his prejudices and his peculiarities of disposition 
in the dignity, impartiality and equity of the office to which life, 
property, right and liberty must look for protection. He justly merited 
the high honor which was conferred upon him by his elevation to the 
court of appeals and his decisions are recognized as monuments of 
judicial soundness. Judge Fuller also became a landowner of South 
Dakota, having a large ranch in Sully county and also owning farm lands 
in the eastern part of the state. He was likewise the owner of two fine 
residences in Pierre, one of which he had but recently completed when 
death called him 

	In October, 1875, Judge Fuller wedded Miss Maria E. Leonard, a 
native of Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Nathan Alonzo 
and Amelia (Jenkins) Leonard. Her father was born in Rutland, Vermont, 
about 1817, and her mother in Bristol, England, in 1819. In early life 
Mr. Leonard removed to Pennsylvania, where he conducted a pail and tub 
factory for some time but afterward became proprietor of a drug store. 
He also possessed superior musical talent and occupied a prominent 
position in musical circles there. He removed westward to Iowa in 1858, 
before the building of the railroads, and purchased a tract of land at 
Oskaloosa, where he engaged in the operation of a flour and sawmill. In 
1861 he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting in the 
Fifteenth Iowa Infantry, in which he became captain of Company A. Later 
he was transferred to another regiment and served for about a year. He 
was then taken ill and returned home, his death occurring in November, 
1862. His widow survived him for more than two decades and after her 
husband's death returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, where her children were 
educated. A short time prior to her demise, however, she again became a 
resident of Iowa and in that state passed away in 1883. Mr. Leonard was 
a very public-spirited as well as a patriotic citizen and was connected 
with progressive events of the state in an early day. Their family 
numbered four children, including Mrs. Fuller, who died in 1899, after 
a long illness. There had been four children born of that marriage. 
Thad L., now a practicing attorney of Milbank, South Dakota, wedded 
Miss Mary Howell, of Frederick, this state, and they have three sons: 
Howell, Francis and Harry, all at home. Arthur L., the second son of 
Judge Fuller, is a captain in the United States army, now stationed at 
Washington, D. C. He married Virginia Wise, daughter of Rear Admiral 
Wise of the United States navy, and they have three children: Virginia 
Wise, Arthur L. and William H. Harry L. died in 1901, while a student 
in the University of Minnesota. Howard G. Fuller, a Yale graduate and 
now a prominent attorney of Pierre, South Dakota, married Miss Ann 
Billinghurst, of the capital city, and they have one child, Ann Lucile, 
at home. 

	The death of Judge Fuller occurred November 11, 1908, and was the 
occasion of deep regret throughout the state. He was a chapter Mason, 
having membership in Pierre, and he belonged also to the Modern Woodmen 
camp. At the time of his death he was serving upon the supreme court 
bench and would have continued a member of the court of last resort 
until 1913. The press throughout the state bore testimony to the fact 
that Judge Fuller was honored and respected by all who knew him. The 
public recognized in him a most able lawyer and a competent, 
conscientious judge, his decisions indicating strong mentality, careful 
analysis, a thorough knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence and 
an unbiased judgment. He was, moreover, regarded as a man of well 
rounded character, finely balanced mind and splendid intellectual 
attainments, manifest not only in his professional connections but in 
every relation of life. He was connected with the history of the state 
from the organization of its courts and he left the impress of his 
individuality for good upon the judicial history of South Dakota. Judge 
Fuller had the faculty of winning the warm friendship and high regard 
of all with whom he came in contact and he ever held friendship 
inviolable. His neighbors and social acquaintances throughout the state 
and his professional colleagues found him a genial companion and it was 
well known that his devotion to his family was paramount to all else. 
The interest and welfare of his sons were closer to his heart than 
perhaps all else and he was a most devoted husband and father. His 
attitude toward the public was ever one of helpfulness, whether in 
relation to a cause of charity or an enterprise for civic progress and 
improvement. His life record finds embodiment in the words of Pope: 
		"Statesmen, yet friend to truth; of soul sincere,
		In action faithful and in honor clear;
		Who broke no promise, served no private end, 
		Who gained no title and who lost no friend."