This month, I thought it could be worthwhile to exam John H. Fuller's early life in an attempt to find clues about what may have took him down the path of murder. As I've been thinking and writing for the last couple months about the murder committed by my third great-grandfather and his son, it's led me to wonder what makes a killer. Is it greed or money and are murderers born or made?
Genetic sequencing has found a gene in 30% of the male population that is associated with aggressive behavior. While the gene is found in some convicted murderers it is also found in full-functioning law abiding citizens as well. The gene alone doesn't create a killer. Brain scans of some, but not all, murderers also show abnormal prefrontal cortex, an area associated with impulse control, the bigger puzzle is trying to figure out how their brains got that way. We will never know what made John H. Fuller do what he did. I tend to believe killers are born and made, not exclusive to each other. Individuals are such complex mixes of their socio-economic situation, upbringing, genetics, lifestyle, personality, etc. that it seems impossible to pinpoint any one mechanism.
John was born in 1824 in China (town name changed to Arcade in 1866),Wyoming County, New York to Nathaniel and Lydia (Ames) Fuller, one of 12 children. Unfortunately, details of his early childhood are unknown. John married for the first time, while still residing in New York, in 1843 to Sarah Almia Preston. He was 18, she 15. Their first child William was born in New York about 1845, followed by Seymour in 1846 and Melvin in 1847. Finally, a daughter Sarah was born on 14 February 1854 but two days later her mother Sarah died, most likely from infection and complications of childbirth. John is now a widower with 4 children. However not for long, he marries his sister-in-law, Mary Angeline Preston four months later on June 13, 1854.
So, if you haven't managed to visualize the timeline yet here is a simpler, extended, version and it gets crazy (new information will be in bold). Looking at his life events in a timeline I'm struck by the amount of loss John endured and curious if these stressors affected his brain and mental health; although this would never justify murder of another human.
1843: John and Sarah marry.
1845: William born.
1846: Seymour born.
1854: Daughter Sarah born, February 14.
1854: Mother Sarah dies February 16 at age 26.
1854: John and Mary marry June 13.
1854-1858: Family relocates to Dellona, Sauk County, Wisconsin
1858: John and Mary welcome their only child, Mary Allena (my 2 x great grandmother) June 22.
1859: William dies at 12 years old. Cause of death is unknown accident.
1862: Wife Mary dies on March 13. She was 32.
1863: John marries Matilda Trowbridge on May 6 in Dellona, Wisconsin. John's son, Melvin, married Matilda's sister, Jennie, in 1868.
1868: Seymour dies, aged 22, buried in Pioneer Cemetery, Bluffview, Sauk County, Wisconsin. Cause of death unknown.
1870- Approximate time the family relocated to Holland, Michigan.
1874: Wife Matilda dies on 13 December 1874, about 6 months before her husband murders Wilson Pound.
1875: John Fuller pleads guilty to murder on October 29.
1877: Daughter Sarah died at the age of 24 on February 14 from "congestion of the brain" (this could mean stroke, infection, brain swelling due to trauma etc.)
Quite a timeline so far, don't you agree?
1880: Next Month-The Infamous John H. Fuller-The End. Find out what happened to John Fuller on September 30!
References:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31714853
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/science/killers-born-murder-gene-scientists-4528684
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29760212
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/may/12/how-to-spot-a-murderers-brain