world. (Born in Philadelphia and baptized there two years later, Maud would go on to wed Joseph Sketchly Elverson at the Presbyterian Church in Catasauqua on 1 June 1893.)
Sometime around mid-March 1866, James W. Fuller, Jr. entered into a partnership agreement with his uncle Charles D. Fuller, friend James Harper McKee (1818-1895), brother-in-law James Thomas, and William R. Thomas (1829-1917) to create McKee, Fuller and Company in order to manufacture railroad car wheels. Together, they purchased roughly eight miles of land along the Lehigh Valley Railroad’s main line, got their factory up and running, and were able to achieve a production rate of 15 wheels per day.
Daughter, Blanche Thomas Fuller (1867-1936), was born in Philadelphia on 19 April 1867, followed by son George Llewellyn Fuller (1869-1890) on 27 July 1869. (Blanche wed Louis Audenried Saladé in 1888. They raised their family in Philadelphia and then relocated to Jackson County, Oregon.)
Another daughter, Mary Louise Fuller (1871-1951), arrived at the Fuller home in Catasauqua on 23 June 1871. (Mary Louise later wed Hiram Dryer McCaskey and, like her older sister Blanche, relocated with her husband to Jackson County, Oregon.)
On 2 April 1873, James W. Fuller, Jr. and his wife, Kate, welcomed son James W. Fuller, III (1873-1929) to their Catasauqua home.
* Note: Colonel James W. Fuller, III would go on to become a successful businessman in his own right as head of the Lehigh Car, Wheel and Axle Works and receive a staff appointment with the office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1911. While traveling in Honolulu, Hawaii and California, he contracted sleeping sickness, was confined to St. Luke’s Hospital in San Francisco, and died there on 4 April 1929. His remains were returned home, and buried at the same cemetery where his father and grandfather were interred. According to the Shamokin News Dispatch announcement published that same day:
The colonel was president of the Allentown Portland Cement Company, Valley Forge Cement Company, of Conshohocken, and the Fuller Company which constructed and shipped pulverizing machinery to all parts of the world. He was reputed to be a multi-millionaire. The title of ‘colonel’ was bestowed on Mr. Fuller through his appointment to the Pennsylvania Guard Staff by former Governor Tener. He was a prominent member of the Mayflower society. His ancestor [sic] being the Dr. Fuller who served as physician to the pilgrims on the Mayflower’s historic voyage to America. Thoroughbred Arabian and Persian horses and prize winning Jersey cattle were hobbies of Colonel Fuller. He kept many prize winners on his Willow Brook farm near Catasauqua.
Despite the joy experienced when his son James, III was born, life was not all roses and sunshine for James W. Fuller, Jr. Business operations became increasingly difficult due to the Panic of 1873, which hampered profit generation efforts by Fuller and his partners, who dropped out as the stagnation turned into an economic depression across North America and in Europe. Before a decade had passed, Fuller and McKee were the only partners left. Reinvesting whatever profits they could eke out, they added machinery and expanded their land holdings until their fortunes finally changed.
McKee, Fuller added production capacity by purchasing Frederick and Beck, an idle car plant, and then expanded its workforce to 1,500, relaunched the closed Davies Foundry, and added a forge. In 1876, the firm garnered even greater recognition when its exhibit at the Chicago World’s Fair was given one of that fair’s top awards. In 1880, they secured a contract with the Erie Railroad to modernize the railroad’s fleet with eight-wheeled cars.
Fuller also became active in the development of Ferndale during the 1870s, working to turn it into a vibrant company town for his workers. On 13 February 1883, William Weir McKee (1852-1905), the son of Fuller’s business partner James H. McKee, and B. Frank Swartz joined the partnership. By June, the firm had made $2,800,000 by producing 1,849 eight-wheeled ra