William and Eliza's first "Hoosier" child, Tunis A. Fulkerson, was born in Jackson Township, Blackford County, Indiana on Jan. 28, 1848. William and Eliza Jane's daughter, Clarinda Jane Fulkerson, named for her grandmother and her mother, was born on Nov. 8, 1853. William and Eliza would honor his father by naming their next son Richard, who was born in 1855. Their son, John C. Fulkerson, named for William's brother, was born March 15, 1858, and lived only three years, dying March 15, 1858. William and Eliza Jane also had a daugther, Mary C., who enjoyed the nickname of "Mate." She was born about 1861.
Sometime between 1860 and 1870, Eliza Jane's mother had come to live them them, possibly having been widowed. When the census taker came to William's home in 1870, he recorded that Sarah Maffett, age 82, was living there and that she was originally from Virginia. She was not living in their home in 1860 when that census was taken, and therefore had likely died in the 1870s.
On Feb. 8, 1868, Eliza Jane Fulkerson died and was buried in Mt. Tabor Cemetery. William later remarried. His second wife was Sarah Hess. The marriage was performed on Feb. 9, 1871, by the Elder John Buckles, and it may have been the same John Buckles who operated the first store from his cabin.
Just four months later, William and Eliza Jane's son, Tunis, died at age 23 on June 28, 1871, and was buried about 10 yards from his mother. We do not know the cause of his death - perhaps he was stricken with some illness, such as small pox, or perhaps died accidentally, the victim of a farming accident or an encounter with a wild animal.
William’s second wife, Sarah Hess, was born in Pennsylvania in 1818. Her parents were also born in Pennsylvania. Sarah died in 1896 at the age of 77. She was buried in Buckles Cemetery near Dunkirk, rather than in the Fulkerson family section of Mt. Tabor.
William continued to work his farm until the day of his death, Jan. 11, 1900. He was one month short of being 87. William was laid to rest next to Eliza Jane. William's sister, Delilah, and her husband, Preston Shields, are buried nearby.
