Biography of Henry Fusselman, pages 710 / 711 / 712.  History of De Kalb 
County, Indiana.  Inter-State Publishing Company, Chicago, 1885.

Henry Fusselman was born in Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, May 6, 1815.  He was 
the youngest of fourteen children, and his eldest sister had married and 
emigrated to a distant State before he was born.  Of all the influences 
which surrounded his early life we know nothing, but they must have been 
gracious to form a character so strong in its simplicity, purity and 
integrity of purpose.  If of the learning of schools he was taught little, 
he learned somewhere the better lessons of love of God, obedience to His 
laws and enduring trust in His mercy through Christ; of patience, charity 
and good will toward all his fellow beings; of industry, perseverance and 
economy as regards his own life and practice.  He married in Braceville, 
Portage Co., Ohio, Dec. 22, 1836, to Almeda M. Gay, who was born May 15, 
1810.  She was a woman of strong intellect, and distinguished among her 
acquaintances for her bright, keen wit, whose shafts, to her credit be it 
said, were never poisoned by envy or malice.  To her husband she was a 
valuable and valued helper; to her neighbors a ready and sympathizing 
friend; in her family, energetic and untiring.  Mr. and Mrs. Fusselman 
arrived at the St. Joe river in Stafford Township, April 15, 1838.  On the 
11th of August after, their eldest child, Barbara, was born.  She is now 
Mrs. Geo. Garver, of Des Moines, Iowa.  Afterward were born to them Sarah 
(Mrs. Henry Herrich), Harriet (Mrs. Charles Thomas, of Omaha, Neb.), 
Lester, who died in the army; Henrietta and Quincy.  The following sketch 
of Mr. Fusselman was written to his eldest daughter, Mrs. Garver, by John 
P. Widney, himself long an honored citizen of De Kalb County, but now a 
resident of Belleville, Richland Co., Ohio.  It is so just a 
characterization, and so honorable to its author that we give it verbatim:  
“I became acquainted with you father, Henry Fusselman, when he first moved 
into the county, I went with him and Wm. Scoville to Fort Wayne in a pirogue 
when he laid in his first supplies as a settler.  This was our first 
acquaintance, and it was a pleasant one.  I found Mr. Fusselman to be one 
of the most genial companions, of more than average intelligence and of the 
most unswerving integrity.  This first opinion of his character was fully 
confirmed in after years, for this sterling qualities of head and heart 
were soon appreciated by a wide circle of friends, and he became a leader 
in every enterprise that tended to build up good society.  In him the 
widow and the orphan found a fast and reliable friend, as he was 
frequently called upon to manage the estates of decedents and minors.  
And such was the confidence of his neighbors in his justice and his 
judgment that he was, perhaps, more than any other man selected as referee 
in personal disputes, and his decision was generally satisfactory.  For 
many years he held the office of Justice of the Peace in his township 
(Stafford), and in after years was selected as one of the County 
Commissioners.  In all his public duties he fully met the confidence of 
his friends.  His religious instinct were not less marked than his social.  
In the church of his choice, the Disciples or Christian, he stood among 
the foremost.  Firm in his convictions, but tolerant and kind to those of 
opposite views, as a lay preacher he had but few equals.  His public 
addresses were the overflowings of a sympathetic nature guided by a clear 
head.  As a business man he had many excellent traits, and was specially 
useful as a dealer in farm Produce.  His energy and industry in this 
direction brought on, by exposure, the disease that closed his life.  In 
the accumulation of property he was fairly successful, but all through 
life his generous nature made large draughts on his accumulation.  In his 
death the county lost a good and useful man; on who was respected by all, 
and highly esteemed for his many virtues.”  Five or six years before he 
died, perhaps more, Mr. Fusselman removed to Newville where he opened a 
store and carried on an active business while he lived.  He died Feb. 27, 
1863, of congestion of the lungs.  When the news of his serious illness 
went abroad his friends came from many miles distant, anxious to see him, 
to help, if possible, but at least to testify in some manner to their 
affectionate sympathy.  The peace of God which passeth all understanding 
went with him through the valley and shadow of death.  For him it had no 
sting, and a visible joy shone on his dead face, as if even the lifeless 
clay were witness to his happiness.  His widow survived him nearly twelve 
years, dying Jan. 29, 1875.  To her whose life had been maimed by the loss 
of her husband, to whom the intervening years had been a period of waiting, 
death came as a welcome friend.  Let us humbly hope that it reunited in 
paradise those whom it had separated here.

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com