George Ware Fulton (1810-1893) was the founder of the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company, as well as a schoolteacher, watchmaker, and maker of mathematical instruments in Indiana. He was a second lieutenant in the Army of the Republic of Texas and therefore was entitled to a grant of 1,280 acres of land, which he took in San Patricio County. He then worked as a draftsman in the General Land Office.
By using his knowledge of land titles, Fulton combined 25,000 acres to form the Aransas Land Company. He then joined in the organization of the Coleman, Mathis, Fulton Cattle Company in 1871, which became the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company in 1879. Fulton's skills soon pushed the company to become a leader in slaughtering cattle for hide and tallow and later in shipping cattle. He invented and patented methods for cooling beef during shipping.
George Ware Fulton married Harriet G. Smith in 1840, and the couple had six children, including George Ware Fulton, Jr., and James C. Fulton. Fulton died in 1893.
James C. Fulton (1848-1933) trained as a civil engineer and machinist in Ohio and Kentucky. In December 1868 he moved with his family to Live Oak Peninsula, Texas. Fulton became a member of the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company upon his father's death in 1893, but resigned in 1905. He then moved to Rockport and established a planing mill that he moved to Corpus Christi three years later. He was successful in the cattle industry in South Texas and also proved to be influential in the industrial development of Corpus Christi, where he died.
Correspondence, diary, business papers, account books, legal documents, land papers, broadsides, printed material, newspaper clippings, letter presses, daybooks, ledgers, and bills compose the George W. and James C. Fulton Papers, 1836-1916. The collection includes George W. Fulton's diary and personal letters to his family, as well as business papers relating to his activities as a draftsman in the General Land Office and a soldier in the Texas Army. Additionally, papers relate to patents and to the Coleman, Mathis, Fulton Cattle Company, the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company, Texas Veteran Association, Aransas Lumber Company, Aransas Harbor Improvement Company, and Ocean View Hotel Company.
The papers also document James C. Fulton's activities as a civil engineer, the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company, the planing mill, the screen manufacturing business, and Fulton’s roles as a promoter of cattle industry in South Texas and in the industrial development of Corpus Christi.
Original letter presses are restricted for preservation purposes. Contact repository for more information.
See also
See also
George W. and James C. Fulton Papers, 1836-1916, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.