Page 10 - Fulton Mansion

Chapter I
FAMILy HISTOry
George Ware Fulton
George Ware Fulton was born in Philadelphia in 1810, the son of a book and dry goods merchant, George Fulton and his wife Ann. One of five brothers, George was orphaned at the age of sixteen. That same year, George applied to West Point Academy for formal military training. His application was highly recommended.
In fact, Colonel William Duane, the US Army's Adjutant General in the War of 1812, wrote a letter
of recommendation on George’s behalf. Nevertheless, George did not attend West Point, and by 1828, he was living in western Indiana. As a young man, George had apprenticed with a watch and mathematical instrument maker. Out on his own, he took on a variety of jobs, such as sign painting, bookkeeping, and teaching.
Harriet Gillette Smith
Harriet Gillette Smith was born in Missouri in 1822. She was one of nine children born to Henry Smith’s three successive wives, the sisters Harriet, Elizabeth, and Sarah Gillette. In 1827, her father, Henry Smith, moved to Texas and settled his family
in Brazoria. Henry Smith was a passionate
supporter of Texian independence and served as
the provisional governor of Texas in 1835 at the
start of the revolution against Mexico. Harriet was
a young girl of thirteen during the Texas Revolution. Within a few years, her father hired George Fulton to teach the Smith children who still remained at home. On March 12, 1840, George and Harriet married— he then age twenty-nine and she age seventeen.
George W. Fulton ca. 1860
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Harriet Smith Fulton ca. 1860