Joseph Fulkerson

Joseph Fulkerson (1839? - November 1919) owned a farm near Dolan in the early 20th Century. He was notorious for his involvement in the deaths of two whitecappers.

The feud had been brewing between the Fulkerson and Lentz families for some time. On December 10, 1906 Fulkerson's wife, Dora, visited neighbors Martin Hoke and wife to complain about missing chickens. The next day, brothers Gorman and Tilghman Lentz and Lentz's son, along with John Bennett, visited the Fulkersons. According to Mrs. Fulkerson, Gorman Lentz said to her, "What do you mean by screaming and talking so loud every night that the neighbors can't sleep? We have come over here this morning to see if we can't regulate this thing."

After some argument, revolvers were drawn and Fulkerson shot Tilghman Lentz twice in the back and Gorman Lentz through the right lung, and the men retreated. Gorman Lentz died of his wounds a few days later, while Tilghman Lentz survived the shooting, but committed suicide in 1910.

Fulkerson, a member of the Baptist Church, was known as a law-abiding citizen. He was put on trial for murder but acquitted, the jury determining that he had been protecting his home.