Martin Fulk was born around 1832 in Ohio to Frederick and Nancy Fulk. His father was a farmer who owned $2,400 of real estate in 1860. Fulk grew up and attended school in Aboite, Indiana, and by 1850, he was working as a laborer. Fulk supported the Union war effort during the Civil War, joining a Union Club in Aboite and denouncing Peace Democrats and “sneeking copperhedd[s].”

 

He enlisted in the Union army on October 21, 1864, and mustered in as a private in Company F of the 142^nd Indiana Infantry later that day. The regiment took part in the Battle of Nashville in December 1864 and spent the rest of the war stationed in Nashville. Fulk mustered out on May 24, 1865, and returned to his parents’ household in Aboite. In 1870, he reported owning $5 of real estate.

 

He applied for a federal pension in June 1890 and eventually one at a rate of $8 per month. Over the next several decades, the federal government increased his pension to $12 per month, then $15, and finally $22.50. He apparently got married sometime in the late 1800s, but his wife died sometime before 1900.

 

In 1895, Fulk was admitted to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Marion, Indiana, suffering from piles, chronic diarrhea, and arteriosclerosis. According to his admission records, he was 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with light hair and black eyes, and he was unable to read and write. He was discharged from the home on December 9, 1909, but he was readmitted on July 5, 1912. He died there on February 10, 1913.

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