Rathbun Fuller
Plaque at right of Carillon Tower Entrance
first-Rathbun
last-Fuller
born-1857
died-1937
location-garden
interred-elsewhere
Dean of Toledo Lawyers
Toledo Business Tycoon
Rathbun Fuller was born on March 29, 1857 in Utica, New York to Anna Ballard and General John Wallace Fuller. His siblings are Edward Chapman Fuller, Jennie Rathbun Fuller, Florence Taylor, Frederick Chapman Fuller, and Irene Ballard Fuller.
He was educated in public schools. He went to Law School at the University of Toledo for two years. He then read law in the office of Haynes, Potter and Beckwith in Toledo, Ohio. He was admitted to the bar in 1879.
Rathbun married Katharine M. Grout around 1882.
From 1881 to 1888, he was a member of the Collings and Fuller Law Firm. He also served as Deputy Clerk of the United States District Court and as a United States Commissioner.
Rathbun then joined the Swayne, Hayes, Fuller and Tyler Law Firm. After Swayne and Hayes died, Rathbun continued the firm under just his Fuller name. His offices were in the Second National Bank Building in Toledo, Ohio.
Second National Bank Building, 1920
Summit Street and Madison Avenue, Toledo, Ohio
He was an industrialist providing legal counsel and being a director of many Toledo, Ohio companies. They included Toledo Trust of which he was a founder, National Bank of Toledo, Toledo Edison, Bostwick-Braun, Toledo Scale, Toledo Plate and Window Glass, Northwestern Milling, Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass, and the Mather Spring Company.
Rathbun was a Trustee of the Toledo Museum of Art and the Edward Drummond Libbey Trust. He was Vice President of the Toledo Zoological Society.
He was a member of the Ohio Society of New York, Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, Toledo and American Bar Associations, Chamber of Commerce, Toledo Lodge of Elks, Toledo Club, Inverness Country Club, and St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Maumee, Ohio.
Rathbun died on December 16, 1937 in Perrysburg, Ohio.
Obituary Summary on June 12, 2022
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Obituary
RATHBUN FULLER 1937-12-17
obtained from the
Toledo Library.
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Plaque at right of Carillon Tower Entrance |
first-Katharine
last-Fuller
born-1860
died-1953
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interred-elsewhere
Philanthropist
Aunt Kitty
Katharine M. Fuller was born on October 16, 1860 in Detroit, Michigan to Caroline and John Reginald Grout. Her sister is Clara Sophia Lyon.
She went to the Smead School for Girls, then a finishing school for girls and now the Maumee Valley Country Day School in Toledo, Ohio.
Katharine married Rathbun Fuller around 1882.
'The Terraces'
Zillow Real Estate
The location of Katharine and Rathbun Fuller's original home on Monroe Street across from the Toledo Museum of Art is now a park. They established 'The Terraces', their 28589 East River Road, Perrysburg, Ohio home, in 1923. This Italianate style manor house was designed by George Rheinfrank.
Katharine was a large contributor to philanthropic and educational institutions. She was a patron of the Toledo District Nurses Association, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Zoological Society, Toledo Hospital, and the Old Ladies' Home.
She and Rathbun supported the Jack Miner Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Kingsville, Ontario, Canada. They likely supported the Northfield Mount Herman college-prep high school along the Connecticut River in Gill, Massachusetts and the Berry College in Mount Berry, Georgia.
Katharine was a member of the Toledo Country Club, Carranor Hunt and Polo Club in Perrysburg, Ohio and St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Maumee, Ohio.
In 1841, the original rectangular Sanctuary of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Maumee was built with its length running north and south with two doors opening from its south end to Wayne Street and another door on its northwest end. A four spired square crenelated bell tower was built on top of its Wayne Street south end. 1
In 1880, this tower had to be removed because of supporting foundation damage. 1
In 1926, a larger rectangular Parish Hall was built with its length running west and east and perpendicular to the original Sanctuary at the Sanctuary's northwest corner. A large brick entry hall was built in the corner formed by the original Sanctuary and the new Parish Hall to allow protected access from the northwest door of the original Sanctuary to the southeast door of the new Parish Hall. 2
Katharine, 'Aunt Kitty', and her husband Rathbun Fuller were most generous to their St. Paul's Episcopal Church Parish. 3
St. Paul's Sanctuary
Stained Glass
In 1929, stained glass from Giannini and Hilgart of Chicago, Illinois was installed in the three Sanctuary windows behind the altar. Each window was divided in three vertical sections. The upper three sections consisting of the Bible, the figure of St. Paul, and the Chalice, were a gift from Katharine and Rathbun Fuller. The middle three sections were paid for by the Easter collection. The bottom three sections were filled with just clear glass until 1957. 4
St. Paul's Carillon Tower
In 1938, the south square of the brick entry hall, created in 1926, was vertically extended into a tower with a carillon by a gift from Katharine in memory of her departed husband Rathbun Fuller. 5
Architech George Rheinfrank, creator of the Fuller's Perrysburg mansion, designed the tower linking the architechtures of the original Sanctuary and the newer Parish Hall using bricks from the same Thorton Brickyard of Perrysburg who made the bricks of the original Sanctuary. 5
Deagan Building
St. Paul's Episcopal Church website
The carillon was built by the John Calhoun Deagan Company of Chicago, Illinois in 1938 and installed by Roy Lofink. The carillon has 25 tubular chimes ranging in height from 6 to 12 feet. It plays 25 musical notes and 28 instruments. The carillon is controlled by a church organ keyboard or a paper music roll player housed in a wooden roll-topped case with an attached activating clock. The roll player, clock, and paper music rolls from 1938 and 2004 are located on the second level of the Carillon Tower. Much of the carillon's electronics are located in the Carillon Tower's basement. 6
Jerusalem on carillon
The Carillon Tower was dedicated on June 26, 1938, bringing carillon music to Maumee, Ohio. It could be heard across the Maumee River in Perrysburg, Ohio. 7 Calling people to worship, fellowship, and to be a community.
Katharine's gifts greatly reduced parish debt in December of 1939, bought new carpet for the Sanctuary in April of 1940, and bought new pew cushions in September of 1941. 8
In her waning years with deteriorating eyesight and health, Katharine was concerned that God had "forgotten her". 9 They echo our Lord's last words of "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" May our prayers of thanksgiving for all the love and good works of Katharine and Rathbun Fuller fill the memory of God.
Katharine died at home on December 12, 1953 in Perrysburg, Ohio.
Obituary Summary on June 14, 2022
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KATHARINE FULLER 1953-12-02
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Toledo Library.
1
History of St. Paul's, Ruth Miller, page
5
2
History of St. Paul's, Ruth Miller, page
22
3
History of St. Paul's, Ruth Miller, page
32
4
History of St. Paul's, Ruth Miller, page
25
5
History of St. Paul's, Ruth Miller, page
31
6
Tower Chimes,
Deagan Sites
7
A Beacon in the Wilderness, Marilyn Wendler, page 76
8
History of St. Paul's, Ruth Miller, page
32
9
A Beacon in the Wilderness, Marilyn Wendler, page 74
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