Jacob Fulmer was born Johann Jacob Vollmer on January 21, 1744 in Unterhausen, Germany and was the son of Eberhard Ludwig Vollmer and Agnes Mock Vollmer.i Unterhausen was a small village located in southern Germany, south of Stuttgart. Eberhard and Agnes, along with four of their children (Catherina 20, John 18, Jacob 8, Mary 6 ½), left their home in Germany and arrived in Charleston, South Carolina in October 1752 on the ship Caledonia. A hurricane hit Charleston the previous month and there was still a lot of damage. Eberhard was able to pay for his family's passage and did not have to serve time as an indentured servant like some immigrants. Eberhard immediately partitioned the Council of the Province of South Carolina for land and was granted 300 acres on a branch of Crims Creek just south of present day Pomaria, SC; 50 acres each for himself, his wife and each child under the age of 21. The partition and the boundary plat for this land are available in the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. The land was about one and a half miles south of the site of St. John's Lutheran Church, which was founded in 1754 and is still in existence. The family attended St. John's Lutheran and descendants have resided in the area since that time. ii

Jacob Fulmer and his older brother John were members of a group called the Regulators, which was formed in the mid-1760s and was most active between 1767 and 1769.iii The Regulators were a vigilante force of about 118 landowners that were formed in the backcountry of South Carolina to protect their homes from bandits and maintain law and order, since the Provincial government in Charleston had not established any other form of law enforcement in the area. After a time some of the activities of the Regulators were questioned and another group called the Moderators was formed to counteract the activities of the Regulators. In the winter of 1768-1769, John Musgrove was assaulted by the Regulators (he had previously been flogged by the Regulators) and on February 22, 1769 his friend, Jonathan Gilbert, who was a Justice of the Peace, appeared before the Council in Charleston to complain about the Regulators actions. Musgrove and Gilbert were both Moderators. As a result several Regulators were deprived on their commissions as militia officers, including John Fulmer and Jacob Fulmer. Also, five Regulators, including John Fulmer, were arrested by the Moderators, for trying to free one of their group who had previously been arrested. John Fulmer was fined 15 Pounds and sentenced to three months in jail, but was pardoned by Lt. Governor Bull on August 9, 1769.IV In 1768 a law was passed by the Provincial government establishing seven Judicial Districts in South Carolina, which for the first time provided local courts to serve the backcountry, and the Regulators and Moderators were disbanded.v

Many of the Regulators were prominent men that held positions as justice of the peace, pre-Revolutionary militia or Ranger officers, held military commissions at one time, or were Whig or Tory officers during the Revolution.vi Jacob and John were militia officers prior to the war and Jacob was a Whig Captain in the militia during the war.

Jacob was an American patriot during the Revolutionary War and rose to the rank of Captain in the South Carolina Militia. According to the Revolutionary War pension application of John Kinard, from the Dutch Fork area, he served in Captain Jacob Fulmer's Company and the Regiment commanded by Colonel Francis Marion (aka Swamp Fox) at the Battle of Fort Moultie on June 28 1776.vii Marion was actually a Major in this battle under Colonel William Moultrie, who commanded the 2nd SC Regiment, which was one of the first two regiments authorized by the Provincial Congress of South Carolina. This was an important early victory for the Americans, who under the command of Colonel William Moultrie, inflicted heavy damage on several British warships during a nine hour long battle. This victory prevented the British from invading Charleston. Moultrie's blue battle flag with a white crescent in the corner was later adopted as the official South Carolina state flag, with the addition of a palmetto tree. Colonel Moultrie was later promoted to the rank of Major General and after the war served two terms as Governor of South Carolina. Francis Marion was a persistent adversary of the British in South Carolina and a hero of the American Revolution. He rose to the rank of Brigadier General.

Also according to the pension application of Peter Wilhelm, he fought under Captain Jacob Fulmer and General Andrew Williamson against the Indians at Tugaloo River and Seneca River in August 1776.viii The pension application of George Summer states that in 1779 he served under Lieutenant Jacob Fulmer and Captain John Adam Summer, Jr., who was a prominent Dutch Fork resident after the war.ix Jacob Fulmer and John Adam Summer, Jr. were neighbors before the war as their fathers (Eberhard Vollmar and John Adam Summer Sr.) had received adjoining land grants on a branch of Crims Creek. According to their pension applications the following Dutch Fork patriots served under Captain Jacob Fulmer at various times during the war: John Kinard, Jacob Holman, Peter Wilhelm, John Lohner, and George Summer.

According to oral family history, as told to Rev. V. L. Fulmer by George R. Wright, great grandson of Jacob's son John, Lt. Jacob Fulmer fought in the Battle of Cowpens under General Morgan. The Battle of Cowpens was January 17, 1781. George Wright said that during the War the Tories robbed Jacob's home three times. One time, John ran away and hid from the Tories under a clay root where he stayed all day until the Tories left. Mr. Wright said that at one time his aunt Betty Jackson had Jacob's Revolutionary War sword. Two of Jacob's other sons, Aberhardt and Uriah, wanted to join the war and sometime during the middle of the war they went to their father's company, however, when they got into battle the boys got scattered and ran back home.x Family tradition also says that Jacob fought at the Battle of Camden on August 16, 1780.xi

After the fall of Charleston to the British in 1780, Jacob served as a Lieutenant and Captain under Colonel Philemon Waters from 1781 to 1782. Original records proving this service are located in the SC Department of Archives in Columbia, SC: (a) Indent 1188x for 306 days duty in Colonel Water's Regiment from September 10, 1781 to August 12, 1782; (b) Indent 2514 for duty in Colonel Water's Regiment. Colonel Philemon Waters had previously served in the French and Indian War under George Washington, and was in the Battle of Fort Necessity. Waters moved to Newberry SC, where he lived before and after the Revolutionary War.

Payment Indent records show that John Fulmer was a private under Captain John Adam Summer from January 9, 1778 to July 8, 1779.xii

In 1786 Jacob Fulmer and Philemon Waters were named tax assessors for the Lower District between the Broad and Saluda Rivers and in 1787 John Fulmer was a tax assessor for the same district.xiii

Jacob Fulmer is listed in the first United States Census of 1790 in the northern part of Orangeburg District, which later became Lexington County. In 1792 Jacob was appointed a Lexington County road commissioner. John Fulmer served in the Cherokee War prior to the Revolution and when he died in 1786 he owned 10 slaves.xiv

There is disagreement as to who Jacob's wife was. A popular oral tradition is that Jacob was married to an Indian woman named Nancy Lightfoot, however, I have not found any documentation to prove this. It has been passed down by a granddaughter of Jacob that he was married to Nancy Leitze, born Anna Maria Agnes Leuze on December 8, 1743, the daughter of Jacob Leuze and Anna Maria Schuler. Nancy was a common nickname for Agnes. After the War, Jacob settled in the Macedonia Lutheran Church area in Lexington County. He obtained several land grants and also owned the western part of a 400 land grant to Wendel Shealy. The Shealy land later belonged to Jacob's son Adam and was the site of the Fulmer Family Cemetery that was later covered up by the formation of Lake Murray.xv When the lake was being constructed family members of those buried in cemeteries were asked if they wanted the graves to remain or be removed. In a July 29, 1929 letter to Lexington Water Power Company (now South Carolina Electric and Gas, Co.) from James Calhoun Fulmer, he told the Power Company that he wanted the graves to remain and that a monument listing the names of the people in the cemetery should be erected at St. Thomas or Piney Woods Church. He listed the names of his Fulmer ancestors in the cemetery, including his father Sam Fulmer, his grandfather Adam Fulmer, his grandmother Catherine Fulmer, his great grandfather Jacob Fulmer and his great Grandmother – Mrs. Jacob Fulmer (no first name given).xvi The monument was erected at Saint Peter's Lutheran Church, also known as Piney Woods Lutheran. Several dates have been reported for Jacob's death from 1793 to 1795, although this author has found no definitive proof of his date of death. He was about 50 years old when he died and accomplished a lot during those 50 years.

Children of Jacob were:xvii

Jacob, Jr., b. 1762, d. 1/23/1839xviii married Elizabeth Able
John William, b. 1760-1769, d. abt. 1810 “ Margaret Anistasia Shealy
Mary Elizabeth, b. 1766, d. 1836 “ John Gasper Amick
John, b. abt. 1772, d. 1869 “ 1) unknown; 2) Fannie Watts Williams
Catherine Christine, b. 1772, d. 1847 “ John Jacob Amick
Abrahart, b. abt. 1774, d. 1846 “ Mary Susanna Summer
Matthias, b. abt. 1779, d. 1816 “ Anna Christine Herring
Adam, b. 1780, d. 1857 “ Mary Catherine Rister
Michael, b. abt. 1781, d. 1810-1819 “ Eve Margaret Chapman


Jacob Fulmer, Jr. also served as a private in the Revolutionary War. In his 1832 pension application he says that he served for a period of 2 years and six months between 1779 to 1783; and that he fought in the Battle of Eutaw Springs under General Andrew Pickens; the battle of Fort Granby under Colonel Beard; and the Siege of Ninety Six under General Nathaniel Greene.xix According to his obituary, he also fought at Musgrove's Mill, Kings Mountain, and Cowpens.xx It is likely that Jacob Sr. also participated in most of these battles since both Jacob Sr. and Jacob Jr. served under Colonel Philemon Waters.

These three Dutch Fork Fulmers – Jacob Sr., Jacob Jr., and John – were patriots that had extensive military service during the Revolutionary War, including participation in most of the important battles in South Carolina. Their descendants can be proud of their service.
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i Vollmar Family Bible (Dutch Fork Genealogy Digest, 1995), p. 126-127
ii L. W. Folmar, Colonial Ancestors of the Fulmers of South Carolina and the Folmars of Alabama, (L. W. Folmar, 1981) p. 17-18.
iii L. W. Folmar, p. 103.
iv Richard Maxwell Brown, South Carolina Regulators, (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1963), p.91.
v Wikipedia, War of Regulation, (www.wikipedia.org)
vi Richard Maxwell Brown, p.211.
vii John Kinard, Pension Application (Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Statements and Rosters; www.revwarapps.org
viii Peter Wilhelm, Pension Application (Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Statements and Rosters; www.revwarapps.org)
ix George Summers, Pension Application (Southern Campaigns Revolution War Statements and Rosters; www.revwarapps.org)
x William C. Harlee, Kinfolks a Genealogical and Biographical Record, (Searcy & Pfaff, LTD, 1935) p. 1016.
xi L. W. Folmar, p. 59
xii L. W. Folmar, p 63
xiii Thomas H. Pope, The History of Newberry County South Carolina, (University of South Carolina Press, 1973) p. 34
xiv Richard Maxwell Brown, p. 204
xv Our Fulmer Ancestors, information received at a Fulmer Reunion in 2009; author unknown.
xvi Lake Murray Records from the Records of the Lake Murray Power Company, (Columbia Chapter, SC Genealogical Society, 1997), p. 50.
xvii Dutch Fork Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society (www.dutchforkchapter.org)
xviii Brent Howard Holcomb, Marriage and Death Notices from Columbia, SC Newspapers, 1838-1860 (1988), p. 3
xix Jacob Fulmer, Jr., Pension Application (Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Statements and Rosters; www.revwarapps.org)
xx Brent Howard Holcomb, p. 3