Joseph Scott Fullerton (December 3, 1835 – March 20, 1897) was an American lawyer, officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and a leader for a short time at the

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...

during the

Reconstruction Era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

. In his later years he was a National military park manager and real estate developer..

Life and career

Fullerton was born in December 1835 in

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio. It is the only city in Ross Count ...

, to Elizabeth Thompson ''née'' Scott and Humphrey Fullerton Jr. The Fullerton family had been patriots in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

and had large landholdings in Pennsylvania near Lancaster. He was educated at Chillicothe Academy and then enrolled in

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

where he graduated in 1856. He graduated from

Cincinnati Law School The University of Cincinnati College of Law was founded in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School. It is the fourth oldest continuously running law school in the United States — after Harvard, the University of Virginia, and Yale — and the first in ...

in 1858 and for a while worked in the office of a Chillicothe attorney before settling in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

where he continued to practice law. During the Civil War he was given the rank of

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

brigadier general after refusing an appointment as major citing his lack of experience, enlisting as a private, and quickly receiving an appointment as a 1st lieutenant. He was part of the 2nd Missouri Infantry. He rose to be assistant adjutant general with the rank of major on the staff of General

Gordon Granger Gordon Granger (November 6, 1821 – January 10, 1876) was a career U.S. Army officer and a Union general during the American Civil War, where he distinguished himself at the Battle of Chickamauga. Granger is best remembered for his part in the ...

and was also lieutenant colonel, A.A.G. and chief of staff of the 4th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland. Fullerton was brevetted brigadier general March 13, 1865, for his service during the Atlanta Campaign. Fullerton helped organize and lead the

Freedmen Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...

but he did not stay in that role for long. President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

sent him to help settle strifle in New Orleans between free Blacks, "colored" veterans, and white supremacists after riots in 1866. On his return to St. Louis in 1867, Fullerton became the postmaster general of the city. He acquired large tracts of land in suburban St. Louis and as a real estate developer was the driving force behind the housing developments in Westminster Place and

Portland and Westmoreland Places Portland and Westmoreland Places is a historic district in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. It is adjacent to the northeast corner of Forest Park. The district consists of 94 houses built circa 1890 to 1960. A wide variet ...

. In the 1890s he was also Chairman of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park. Fullerton died in a railroad accident on March 20, 1897, near

Oakland, Maryland Oakland is a town in the west-central part of Garrett County, Maryland, United States. The town has a population of 1,925 according to the 2010 United States Census. The town is also the county seat of Garrett County and is located within the Pitt ...

. The train on which he was riding jumped the tracks while crossing a bridge over the

Youghiogheny River The Youghiogheny River , or the Yough (pronounced Yok ) for short, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in the U.S. s ...

. His carriage fell into the river and broke in two. His body was carried downstream and was not found for three weeks. He was the only fatality in the accident. Fullerton was buried at Grandview Cemetery in Chillicothe in a funeral attended by many dignitaries from Washington, including General Stanley under whom he had served in the Civil War.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fullerton, Joseph Scott 1835 births 1897 deaths Missouri postmasters Miami University alumni University of Cincinnati College of Law alumni Missouri lawyers Union Army colonels People of Missouri in the American Civil War People from Chillicothe, Ohio People from St. Louis Accidental deaths in Maryland Railway accident deaths in the United States 19th-century American lawyers