Joseph D. Fuller was born around 1820 in New York. He immigrated to Ohio sometime before 1840, and he married Wealthy A. Deming in Medina County, Ohio, on November 6, 1840. They had two children: Newell, born around 1844; and Cordelia, born around 1853. In 1850, the family was living in Grafton, Ohio, and Fuller was working as a farmer. He owned 60 acres of land worth a total of $1,200. He owned 4 horses, 4 pigs, 3 cows, and 37 sheep, and he grew corn, oats, and wheat.
They moved to Brunswick, Ohio, sometime in the 1850s, and by 1860, he owned $3,300 of real estate and $800 of personal property. He owned 84 acres of land and produced 120 bushels of oats, 50 bushels of corn, 10 bushels of wheat, and 30 pounds of wool. He eventually sold off some of his land, and in 1880, he owned 60 acres of land worth a total of $3,000. By then, his farm was producing 200 bushels of oats per year, as well as 80 bushels of corn and 30 bushels of wheat. He may have moved to Berea, Ohio, sometime after 1880. He died on November 16, 1895.