Elijah Fuller left Massachusetts for California less than two years after Mexico ceded this territory and gold was discovered. Like many men who traveled to this newly opened area seeking financial gains, Fuller was planning to speculate in land. While not asking his father for money, he suggested pooling resources with his family in Massachusetts to purchase land along the Rouge River in southern Oregon. Fuller’s move west did not remove him from the political forces enveloping the country, and he weighed in with his opinion. Although his letter indicates a political leaning toward the Whig party, he appears to support the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. He does not necessarily hope to return the enslaved to their southern owners, but to drive them either back to Africa or further north into Canada, thus revealing personal prejudices which he shared with many Northerners at the time.
Fuller, Elijah. Letter to Aaron Fuller from son Elijah. December 2, 1850. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l05-036/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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