James Fulton

Generation 3

Historical Notes

Letter
from Charles Jacobs Fulton to Cleora Fulton Payzant

We begin James'(Gen. 3) history with a question...is the James who was born in 1754 indeed the same James who married Ann Christopher, sired five children, and died in Ohio in the 1830s?

We certainly have ample evidence that a James Fulton came to America in 1774:

"The Original Scots, Colonists of Early America 1612 - 1783" by David Dobson, printed in 1989 by the Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc. of Baltimore, Maryland, contains the following information:

"Fulton, James, born 1753, farmer, resident Inverness, shipped May, 1774 from Greenock to New York in GEORGE, (PRO.T47.12)"

"Fulton, James, Inverness on GEORGE of Greenock, Archibald Bog, Master for New York."

James Fulton, age 21, Port Greenoch, Farmer, to Pennsylvania. Archibald Bog, Master.

"Viola Cameron in 1930 was going through a box at the 'Treasury' (T47/12)[see above] of the Public Record Office, London [England] where she found this early record: 'They set sail on the 20th of May and it is probable that James disembarked at Baltimore some time in August 1774 as it took 5 to 6 weeks for the Atlantic crossing (if the weather was good).'"

In another quote from Marjorie Mack Oetting:

"I found another old book of early passenger lists. Among the Grants, and Cummings as well as the Camerons, McDonalds, McKenzies, Stewarts and Duncans were: James Fulton, Ayr, Dunlop; Samuel Aitken, 24, address not given; James McCaul, 20, Ayr; Maybole and Agnes Cunningham, 24, Ayr, Stewarton, and also William McKay, 23, from Inverness. The reason for leaving Scotland was given as 'the highness of rents and deerness of provisions'."

We do not know if our ancestor James moved from the Stewarton/Dunlop/Glasgow area to Inverness.

We do know that Greenock was the passenger shipping port for Glasgow.

We also do not have positive knowledge of where James landed in America.

So, compare the above information with the following:
In a biography of Alexander Robert Fulton [grandson of James Fulton (Gen. 3) and son of James (Gen. 4) and Rebecca Green Fulton and professional biographer] published in the "Western Life-Boat", Vol 1, parts 4 & 5, 1873, we find this paragraph about James Fulton (Gen. 3):

"His grandfather, James Fulton, being a native of Glasgow, Scotland, but emmigrated to America in 1785. He was shortly after married to Ann Christopher, of Maryland, and at the breaking out of the War of 1812, resided in Baltimore, where he enlisted as a private and served during the war, when he was honorably discharged. He took part in the defence of Baltimore during the excitement caused by the threatening demonstrations of Gen. Packenham. At the close of the war he moved with his family to Chillicothe, Ohio, then considered 'away out west', and was really the western border of civilization. He died in 1831 leaving a widow, four sons and one daughter."

Since James married Ann in October of 1786, he could well have arrived in America in 1785 rather than 1774. We simply need to do more research and hope that more shipping records from 1785 are found.

Because of this confusion, we can with certainty only trace our ancestory to James' and Ann's marriage in 1786.

On the bottom of a letter that Charles Jacobs Fulton [generation 6] wrote to Cleora Fulton Payzant [generation 6] about the family genealogy, Susan Fulton Welty [generation 7] has added the following note:

"C.J. once wrote,'I looked up my grandfather, James Fulton, in the Pennsylvania archives. He seems to have been a numerous man!'"

We have two records of James' (Gen. 3) participation in the War of 1812:

From "British Invasion of Maryland 1812 - 1814" by Marine, we have this listing: Baltimore City, 5 reg. [5th regiment], August 19 - November 18, 1814, Aaron R. Levering, Capt. Private James Fulton, wounded.
And in Maryland Militia records we find: Pvt James Fulton, in Capt. Levering's company, the Independent Blues.

When James (Gen. 3) and Ann Christopher Fulton and their family moved to Ohio in 1814, Chillicothe was the capital of that state. It remained so until 1816 when the seat of government was moved to Columbus.

URL:http://www.yawp.com/fulton
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1 November 1998
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