BIOGRAPHY: William Fullerton; Newburgh, Orange co., New York

transcribed by W. David Samuelsen for USGenWeb Archives

***********************************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm

http://www.usgwarchives.org/ny/nyfiles.htm
***********************************************************************

Portrait and Biographical Record of Rockland and Orange Counties New York
Containing Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative
Citizens of the Counties.
Together with Biographies and Portraits of all the Presidents of the United
States.
New York and Chicago; Chapman Publishing Co., 1895

HON. WILLIAM FULLERTON, whose pleasant home is in Newburgh, has been a member
of the Bar of New York City for forty-three years of his active professional
life, and has probably tried more important cases than any of his legal
brethren. By general consent he has been conceded to be the ablest jury lawyer
in the metropolitan district since the death of the late James T. Brady.
Having a profound knowledge of human nature, being quick and ready in debate,
and thoroughly posted on the fundament-al principles of law, he is
pre-eminently a great advocate, and as a cross-examiner is without a peer.

Judge Fullerton was born in Minisink, this county, May 1, 1817, of which
locality his father, Stephen W., was also a native. The paternal grandfather,
William Fullerton, emigrated from Ireland, and was one of the pioneer farmers
of Minisink. His wife, formerly Miss Mary Whit-taker, of Delaware County, was
one of the few survivors of the fearful Indian massacre at Wyoming. When
twelve years old she and a younger brother were captured, and the story is
told that one of the Indians raised her from the ground by her hair, holding
her in that position while her face' was being painted. During the night she,
with her little brother, made her escape, and after traversing the mountain
wilderness from the Wyoming Valley, reached a point of refuge near where the
thriving village of Port Jervis now stands. She was a woman of remarkable
char-acter, and lived to a ripe old age, respected and venerated in the
community. Stephen W. Fullerton married Esther Stephens, who was born in
Minisink, as was also her father, Halloway Stephens, though her grandparents
came from Long Island. Mrs. Fullerton outlived her husband many years, and was
a devout member of the Baptist Church.

The youth of Judge Fullerton passed quietly on his father's farm, and in 1837
he graduated with honors from Union College, having made his way through
school by teaching. Subsequently he studied law and was admitted to the Bar in
1840, at once commencing practice in Goshen. He soon moved to Newburgh, where
in the next few years he was retained on one side or the other of most of the
leading cases tried in this and adjoining counties. In 1852 he was called upon
to try a very important case in the Second Judicial District of New York, and
it happened that his opponent was Charles O'Conor, then recognized as the most
prominent leader of the Bar. The case was tried in Brooklyn and, though
closely contested, resulted in the success of the young advocate, our subject.
Mr. O'Conor was impressed with the ability of his determined adversary, and
invited him to become a partner, the proposition being accepted. He at once
joined Mr. O'Conor in New York, and took the high place in his profession
which he has since maintained.

Perhaps the most noted effort in the career of Mr. Fullerton was in the
cross-examination of Henry Ward Beecher, in the great case of Tilton vs.
Beecher, which, on account of the distinction of the parties concerned, was
extensively reported, and excited more public notice perhaps than any other
ever tried in the United States. It was a combat of intellectual giants, and
Mr. O'Conor characterized Judge Fullerton's cross-examination as the ablest
ever conducted. But it is futile to endeavor to give any idea of the great
causes in which the Judge has been interested as counsel, and moreover it is
unnecessary, as his name is well known, not only in the East, but in all parts
of the country, as one of the finest jurists of the times. In 1867, while in
Canada on his annual salmon-fishing trip in company with Chester A. Arthur and
other friends, he was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy
in his district, this being without his knowledge. The appointment thus made
him ex-officio member of the Court of Appeals, and at the following election
the people of this district elected him without opposition. His services in
the Court of Appeals added to his reputation as an advocate and jurist.

Perhaps no more just presentation of the estimation in which the Judge has
been, and is, held by his associates of the Bench and Bar can be formulated
than that contained in a private let-ter written by Hon. John K. Porter, a
distinguished member of the Court of Appeals, to Charles O' Conor, then a
recognized leader of the American Bar:

"ALBANY, DECEMBER 30, 1867.
"My Dear Sir. I know that you feel an interest in all that concerns the Bench
and Bar of New York, and that you will pardon me for taking the liberty of
consulting you on a matter in regard to which I feel a great deal of
solicitude. I have concluded to resign my office in time to have a successor
appointed before the commencement of next term, though I propose to say
nothing on the subject till the 3d or 4th of January. It is with the view of
venturing on the doubtful experiment of practice in New York, in the hope of
being able to do a business a little more remunerative than a place on the
Bench. I have a very strong desire that Judge Fullerton should be appointed my
successor, and I have no doubt that he will be the nominee if he will give his
consent. I have conferred with him on the subject and see clearly that his
final decision will be controlled, as it should be, by your judgment. Will you
permit me to suggest very briefly the considerations which lead me to hope you
will advise his acceptance of the position? * * * His opinions at the present
term have been strikingly clear and able, and I think I did not take more
pleasure and pride in listening to them than you will in reading them. I shall
be disappointed if you do not concur with me in regard to some of them when
they appear in the Thirty-seventh New York, as among the very best which have
ever been delivered in the court. A year more in the Court of Appeals would
establish for him a judicial reputation as enduring as our system of
jurisprudence. He is known now as a brilliant and successful advocate pirimus
inter partes, and at the end of a year he would be universally known as an
eminent jurist. He will have no opportunity to make a record more abiding than
that that of the most successful jury lawyer. He will return to the Bar with
the additional weight of character derived from his judicial position, and
without abatement of the forensic vigor and resources which have signalized
his past professional career. His relations on the Bench will give him a more
extended influence, which will be serviceable in after life. The pecuniary
sacrifice would be inconsiderable in comparison with the resulting benefits,
and I think the Bar and the public would welcome the appointment, and that it
would greatly strengthen the court.

"It is refreshing to have questions of law determined by judges in the vigor
of manhood, with discrimination enough to appreciate the force of arguments,
and strength enough, not only to reach clear and undoubting convictions, but
to maintain and defend them in the spirit of genuine loyalty to the right.
Unless I have overlooked considerations which ought to be controlling, I hope
you will look favorably on the views I have suggested. If you think otherwise,
I should acquiesce in your judgment, as I claim to be in some sort one of your
proteges, though not to the same extent as Brother Fullerton. I find myself
very much in the way of accepting your conclusions, as I do a presumptio juris
et de jure. * * * *
"Very sincerely yours,
"JOHN K. PORTER."

Mr. 0' Conor was thoroughly in sympathy with his noted friend, Judge Porter,
and sought to in-duce Mr. Fullerton to accept the appointment referred to, but
the attractions and emoluments of his career as an advocate led the latter to
continue in his active practice, as he has done ever since.

In 1840 Judge Fullerton married Cornelia M., daughter of Henry Gale, an old
business man of Orange County. The only son of the Judge, William, was a young
man of exceptional ability and talents of no ordinary degree. He was
completing his musical studies in Heidelberg, Germany, where he was a great
favorite, and many of his compositions have been published and have won
immediate recognition. He was cut short in his career by death, while yet
abroad, being then in his thirty-fourth year.