--by Judy Fulbright

Judy Fulbright and David Fulbright prepared much of the following material several years ago, after traveling together in North Carolina. They went from Waynesville and Canton, in western North Carolina, to Raleigh, North Carolina, as they sought to write a connected narrative, with pictures, for a family reunion presentation. They have made two presentations, the last in Batesville, Arkansas, to our family reunions. It was well received both times.

The Volprechts/Fulbrights, after marriage and while living in Pennsylvania began to raise a family. We have excellent records of the births and baptisms of their children in Pennsylvania. They left Northampton County, Williams Township in 1769 for North Carolina where grandfather had purchased land on the waters of Lyles Creek and the Catawba River.

They left Pennsylvania just two years after Christina's father died, and one cannot help but wonder if his passing did not free them to make this move.

Several pictures were shown of this beautiful area. The evidence is strong that some members of the Shook family had come to North Carolina with our grandparents and their family coming later. John Fulbright bought land in this area. George Fulbright bought land along Howard's Creek which was on the south fork of the Catawba River in 1774.

Grandfather and Grandmother Fulbright later bought land near Hickory, North Carolina. Fulbrights still live on parts of that land. Jacob Shook, Grandmother Christiana Fulbright's nephew, left the Piedmont and moved to the Smoky Mountains in about 1795. He fought in the Revolutionary War, and a metal plaque stands on the Waynesville, North Carolina Court House lawn with his name on it as a Revolutionary War veteran. He built the "Shook House" for his son Peter, in 1795 or 1796. It is locally famous in western North Carolina as the first frame home in that area. It still stands and is still an imposing structure.

Bishop Asbury of the Methodist Church, an important figure in American Methodist history, called Jacob "Vater" Shook, a term of respect within the German community of that day. He was a spiritual lay father of Methodism on the frontier. Peter's home was used as a meeting place by Asbury. The altar used for these meetings is still in the home.

As one studies Jacob Shook's life, it seems probable that he told the absolute truth when he supported his cousin, Jacob Fulbright, in his request for a Revolutionary War pension. It is unlikely that either man compromised himself for the pension. Incidentally, Jacob was prominent in the Lutheran community. On religion, did they go separate ways or did both men become Methodists? We don't know -- yet.

John Fulbright followed his cousin to that area. He bought his first land in the mountains in 1799. One can almost hear Jacob saying, "John, it is good up here. Come on up!" John soon acquired approximately 1250 acres of land, some of which became known as Fulbright Cove. His entire family lived there. The evidence would indicate that he and Jacob were close. It would also indicate that brother Jacob Fulbright was involved with both of them. Everything we found points to the Fulbrights and the Shooks doing things together, following one another on the frontier, and being very much a part of the same family. Robert Fulbright, a descendant of Jacob Fulbright and a Christian educator from Kirkwood, Missouri, was at the reunion and clarified our information about a memorial chapel his late father, Guy Fulbright, built at Lake Junaluska. There is a Fulbright Park at Lake Junaluska on the grounds of the Methodist Retreat Center which is dedicated in memory of Guy Fulbright and the chapel is a living memorial to the skill of this master stone mason. It is the work of a true artisan. The chapel was dedicated to the memory of those sons of the Methodist Church who died in World War II. Each family who lost a son gave one dollar toward the cost of building the chapel.

Our cousin, Robert Fulbright, a retired U.S. Navy Commander, lives in Canton, North Carolina. He can show us Fulbright Cove which was later called Dutch Cove. The Morning Star Methodist Church and its cemetery are associated with our family history in that area. Originally, the church was a Lutheran Church but became Methodist at a later time.

Later, Jacob Shook and Jacob Fulbright stayed in western North Carolina, but John Fulbright left the area to go to Missouri. Jacob Fulbright's son Jacob also moved to Missouri. George Fulbright's family (His children Peter and Elizabeth were reared by Christiana and Johan, their grandparents.) stayed in the Hickory, North Carolina area. He had passed away as a very young man in approximately 1787. One tradition holds that he died in the Revolutionary War. We are not sure that is true, but the cause of his death is uncertain.

Those who go to the area in 1997 for the tour have much to see which is intimately associated with the history of our family.

For those interested in tracing things to Pennsylvania, records there have proved very scanty. Perhaps, we shall find more in time, but for now, North Carolina is the key to understanding our early American family.