FROM DAVE'S DESK
David L. Fulbright

As many of you already know, I recently completed my second trip to visit North Carolina Fulbrights. Going to North Carolina in August was a treat, one which I never dreamed I could again enjoy in December of last year. I want to thank all of the folks who were so generous to ne and so open to the Fulbright Family Association. Their preparations and hospitality went far beyond anything I expected for a distant Missouri cousin.

I first met family members in Canton, North Carolina, when Robert and Caroline Fulbright greeted me at a local restaurant. Robert took me around the area for most of an afternoon. Morning Star United Methodist Church and the adjoining cemetery were fascinating and connected with the history of our family. Fulbright Cove or Dutch Cove is beautiful. For those of you who do not know, a "cove" is a valley for folks in North Carolina. I had always associated coves with water!

We spent a delightful hour with Evalee Rogers Fulbright whose late husband Guy loved Fulbright history. Evalee shared family history with us and allowed me to see her entire home which is filled with memories of the generations. Later, Robert and I visited the Fulbright Cemetery which Guy tended for many years. It is on Evalee's land. Robert and I toured Lake Junaluska and saw several things associated with the late Guy Fulbright. I shall have to share that with you at the reunion.

I spoke to over two hundred descendants of the original Fulbright or Fulbrights (more about that later) at Sardis Lutheran Church near Hickory, North Carolina. Hickory is near the land which grandfather John William Fulbright had at the time of his death. It rests in the Piedmont region of North Carolina which is beautiful, rolling country with a wonderful view of the distant Smoky Mountains. A bit farther away, we found the land which belonged to Grandfather Fulbright and to a man of some mystery, Andrew Fulbright, who must have been a brother or other close relative of John William s. Andrew's line comes up again and again in my recent exploration. (We believe he was related to John William. We are not certain what the relationship between the two men was, but I believe that we are correct in claiming each other as relatives.)

Today, Gene and Helen Fulbright live on the land which Johan Wilhem or John William once had. It no longer belongs to a single family, but Gene has his corner of the original land. The first piece of property which lies along Lyles Creek and the Catawha River has long since passed frcm family ownership. (Others who live on grandfather's former property include Wayne and Ferbie Fulbright, Vic Fulbright, Mary Fulbright Ritchie, Mary Fulbright and Tim Fulbright.)

Fortunately, I could do research in Waynesvil le, Canton, Lincolnton, Raleigh, Newton, Ashville and other area towns. Judy Fulbright, a family genealogist and historian from Claremont was my guide and fellow researcher on both trips. I cannot thank her enough for all the help she gave. Judy attributes much of her interest in the family to Ed Stout and his help.

Jn December, I was with a large group of Fulbrights at Gene and Helen Fulbright's home and at the home of Catherine Fulbright Houser. At "Cat's" home, I shared slides with them of the first trip. Several family members are planning to join us in Springfield for the reunion.

It was tremendously exciting and interesting to be with family whom I was meeting for the first time. It was great to see many of the North Carolina Fulbrights for the second time. One cousin, seven-year-old Jessica Houser, tried to understand how we were related. I managed to explain the relationship. She was impressed enough to call me "Uncle Cousin". That was a new term for me, but if when you have a chance to meet her, you may hear other new things. Jessica is an original.

Judy Fulbright and I plan to share what we found this year at the reunion. We shall be showing slides and tracing the history we have found. To my delight, it is not always the family history I went prepared to find. There were some neat surprises.

I should mention that we regret the newsletter being off schedule. What I have discovered in everything I do with the family association is how difficult it is to get things done, because we live so far apart! There is another factor involved. In things which are purely voluntary, we use our spare time to do them. That spare time fluctuates for all of us. Please know that we are doing our best to get things to you.

I hope you are planning to be at the reunion in Springfield! History will be made. More of us from more different places will be together than at any previous reunion, and the North Carolina folks are coming in force! Don't miss it! I

It is great to be related to you. hope to see you in Springfield.

Capt. David Fulbright, son of Ed and Betty Fulbright and brother of Debra Kitchens of Irvin, Texas, has been assigned to the Pentagon, within the office of the Army surgeon general. He received his commission in the Medical Service Corps upon graduation from Central (Oklahoma) State University in 1982 with a masters in counseling psychology. He now is the special assistant to the chief of the Medical Service Corps.

He was selected in 1991 for promotion to major but is waiting for his sequence number to come up before he is formally promoted.(Information take from the Irvin News, Thursday, August 13, 1992.)

James F. Gurley, son of Lorene Fulbright Gurley and brother of Mildred Nelson, is now a Professor of American Literature at Marioka College in Japan. Jim spoke at the family reunion. His current address is: Chateau Nagata-cho #401, 2-24 Nagata-cho, Marioka, Iwate 020, Japan.
(Information supplied by Lorene Gurley and David Fulbright)

Rick Houser son of (Catherine) "Cat" Houser and the late Perry Houser was recently honored by the United Carolina Bank of South Carolina holding company as one of the corporation's top employees. Rick was naimed top commercial calling officer for the second year in a row in United Carolina Bancshares' two state system which operates 129 banking offices.
     Rick is a graduate of Appalachian State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Institute of Executive Education at Wake Forest University, and the Robert Morris Associates Commercial Lending School at East Carolina University. He joined UCB's management training program in Whiteville in September, 1984, and was named vice president in 1987. He is in charge of commercial lending and business development in UBC's Greenville, S.C. office. (Since this article was written, Rick has joined New York Life in a new position.)
     He is married to the the former Lisa Capalete. They have a daughter Jessica. He and his family attended the recent Fulbright meeting at the Sardis Lutheran Church, near Hickory, N.C. (Many of the details of this note were taken from an article in the Hickory Daily Record, August 8, 1992.)

Robert Fulbright is Regional Representative on the Family Association Board. The following is quoted from The Mountaineer, Friday, December 6, l991. It is published in Waynesville, North Carolina. Waynesville and Haywood have long been associated with Fulbright family history, but when Robert moved there, he did not know that. He did know that the mountains were beautiful and that his moving there "was the way it was supposed to be". He is retired from the United States Navy and has lived in Haywood County since 1976. He and his wife Caroline were kind enough to show me places of significance in Fulbright history this past summer. They live in a beautiful home built on a North Carolina mountain. -by David L. Fulbright

Robert Fulbright, 22, had stripped to his skivvies, and stood before his open locker aboard the USS California, picking out clothes to wear to church, holding $30 in cash.

It was about 7:45 a.m. Hawaiian time, Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941-- the last quiet moment.

"I was standing there in just my skivvies, with just my underwear on. I was changing clothes to go to church, had $30 in my hand, changing pants.

"That afternoon at 2:30 when I abandoned ship, I still had $30, and a thick coat of oil I got when I swam off that thing. That was it.

"Emerging on the deck, Fulbright knew immediately what was happening.

"This was a surprise to a lot people, but not to the sailors," he said. "They knew it was coming: they just didn't know when."

Fulbright's battle station put him atop the superstructure in an observation platform called Spot One. Within a minute of the first torpedo, dodging bullets from strafing Japanese aircraft, Fulbright had climbed the ladders to the top of the mast.

"Nine sailors climbed to Spot One. Two of them survived.

"There was so much chaos that day that you with a .22 caliber pistol could have taken Oahu," he said. "But there was no hysteria. On the California, everybody's thought was, save the ship, because when you're in the navy and that leaves you, you're kinda homeless."

The ship sank anyway, with the sailors abandoning ship slowly, methodically lining their shoes on the deck as if they expected to come back and retrieve them. It's a vivid image for Fulbright, one of the last off -- thousands of shoes in rows aboard a sinking ship.