Blind Boy Fuller was born Fulton Allen in Ansonville in July of 1907. He was one of 16 children born to Calvin and Mary Jane Hyatt Allen and probably grew up around Pleasant Hill Baptist Church on the Ansonville-Polkton Road where some of his relatives are buried.
He was always surrounded by music and learned to play the guitar with the help of an older brother or sister. His grandparents were Sidney and Elizabeth Allen and Washington and Annie Hyatt.
The family was still living in Ansonville in 1910 but had moved to Rockingham by 1917 when two of his brothers were married in February and March of that year at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church.
Blind Boy Fuller married Cora Martin on Sept. 10, 1927 in Marlboro County, South Carolina when he was 22 years old and she was 14. The marriage license stated they were residents of Rockingham. During this time, his eyesight started to fail him, which was caused by a congenital disease. He became dependent upon his guitar-playing to make a living, realizing that performing was one of the few alternatives available to the working-class blind in the 1920s.
By the time he and his wife had moved to Durham in 1929, he was entirely dependent on his guitar-playing, which helped to supplement the meager wages his wife earned as a domestic servant.
Durham had an abundance of African-American middle class with African-American owned banks, insurance companies, funeral homes and a host of other businesses contributing to a vibrant African-American urban life. Recognizing the unique opportunities that Durham had to offer to musicians who were forced to rely on the public for support, he set out to improve his mastery of the guitar. As his playing improved, he became a favorite at local house parties.
In 1935, his musical talents caught the ear of James Long, the white manager of Durham’s United Dollar Store, who was an informal agent of the American Record Corporation. Sensing that Fulton’s versatile guitar playing, witty lyrics and robust singing could lead to a successful recording career, Long arranged for Fulton to travel to ARC’s New York studios for a recording session.
ARC released all 12 songs recorded at that session and soon called him back into the studio.
Over the next five years, Fulton, who appeared on record as “Blind Boy Fuller” recorded more than 125 titles, all of which were released. Those recordings made him one of the most popular blues artists of all time. His guitar style came to define the blues sound of the Southeastern states.
Blind Boy Fuller died from a severe bladder infection on Feb. 13, 1941 at his home in Durham and he was buried at Durham’s Grove Hill Cemetery.
Blind Boy Fuller has been recognized on two different plaques in the city of Durham. The Division of Archives and History plaque is located a few miles north of Fuller’s gravesite, along Fayetteville Street.
The city of Durham officially recognized Fuller on July 16, 2001, and the commemorating plaque is located along the American Tobacco Trail adjacent to the property where Fuller’s unmarked grave is located (several hundred feet east of Fayetteville Street).
Steve Bailey is employed with the Anson County Historical Society and has specialized in local African-American family history for 20 years.