h a dark complexion, gray hair and gray eyes, who was able to read and write. Although his residence subsequent to discharge in the Dayton Soldiers’ Home admissions ledger was shown as Wescosville, it is clear from U.S. Census records of the time, that Orlando Fuller had opted to resettle in Montgomery County to be closer to the federal government’s medical care he was able to receive as a former Civil War soldier. Like many of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, Orlando Fuller suffered not only from the heart disease which prompted his discharge from the 47th Pennsylvania in September 1864 and from the 28th Pennsylvania in 1865, but from chronic bronchitis, first contracted due to the often damp and harsh conditions experienced during the early years of the Rebellion.
At the dawn of the new century, federal census records indicated that he was still residing at the Dayton National Soldiers’ Home as of 1900. Just four years later, on 22 December 1904, Orlando Fuller was gone. His death notice in the 29 December 1904 of the Dayton Daily Journal provided the following details:
FULLER – At the Central branch, National Military Home for D.V.S., December 22, 1904, Orlando Fuller, late of Co. D, 28th Pennsylvania Infantry aged 78. Cause of death, chronic bronchitis, with senectus [old age].
His net worth was appraised by the Dayton National Soldiers’ Home as $341.40, $335 of which was yet to be drawn from his pension, the remaining $6.40 being “found on person.” The next of kin listed on the Dayton Soldiers’ Home admissions ledger was his nephew and former employer, James W. Fuller, Jr. of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania.
A death entry in that same soldiers’ home admissions ledger indicated that Private Orlando Fuller was interred at the Dayton National Cemetery in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio in Section N, Row 12, Grave 17.
1. Allentown’s First Undertaker Dead, in Town and Country Newspaper. Pennsburg, Pennsylvania: 16 January 1904.
2. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, Vol. I. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
3. Big Achievements of the House of Fuller: Long Line of Able Men Whose Ancestor Was a Signer of the “Mayflower” Agreement Noted for Their Accomplishments. Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 27 June 1914.
4. Civil War Muster Rolls, in Records of the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs (Record Group 19, Series 19.11, 28th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
5. Civil War Veterans’ Card File. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
6. Col. James Fuller Dies of Sleeping Sickness, in The Daily Notes. Canonsburg, Pennsylvania: 4 April 1929.
7. Col. J. W. Fuller Dies in ‘Frisco: Wealthy Cement Magnate Reported to Have Died from Sleeping Sickness Resulting from Bite of Bug. Shamokin, Pennsylvania: Shamokin Dispatch, 4 April 1929.
8. Death Notice (Orlando Fuller). Dayton, Ohio: Dayton Daily Journal, 29 December 1904.
9. Death of Paul Balliet: Allentown’s Oldest Undertaker Passes Away at His Home on Union Street. Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 13 January 1904.
10. Fuller Family Baptismal, Marriage and Death Records, in Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
11. Fuller Family Baptismal, Marriage and Death Records, in Methodist Church Records. Valley Forge, Pennsylvania: Eastern Pennsylvania United Methodist Church Commission on Archives and History.
12. Lambert, James Franklin and Henry J. Reinhard. A History of Catasauqua in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Catasauqua, Pennsylvania: Searles & Dresser Company, Incorporated, 1914.
13. Local and Personal (Mr. Orlando Fuller). Lehighton, Pennsylvania: The Carbon Advocate, 22 April 1876.
14. New Lehigh Colonel on Governor’s Staff: James W. Fuller Accepts Tender of Place by Mr. Tener: Family Strongly Patriotic: Father Adjutant of 47th Penna. Volunteers and Grandfather Close Friend of Curtin –