{{short description|American lawyer}} {{About||the American archeologist|William Shirley Fulton|other persons with similar names|William Fulton (disambiguation)}} {{Use American English|date=January 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = William S. Fulton | image = WSFulton.jpg | jr/sr = United States Senator | state = Arkansas | term_start = September 18, 1836 | term_end = August 15, 1844 | preceded = ''new constituency'' | succeeded = Chester Ashley | order2 = 4th Governor of Arkansas Territory | term_start2 = March 9, 1835 | term_end2 = June 15, 1836 | president2 = Andrew Jackson | predecessor2 = John Pope | successor2 = James Conway | office3 = 2nd Secretary of the Arkansas Territory | term_start3 = April 8, 1829 | term_end3 = February 23, 1835 | preceded3 = Robert Crittenden | president3 = Andrew Jackson | succeeded3 = Lewis Randolph | birth_name = William Savin Fulton | birth_date = {{Birth date|1795|6|2|mf=y}} | birth_place = Cecil County, Maryland, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1844|8|15|1795|6|2}} | death_place = Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. | resting_place = Mount Holly Cemetery,<br />Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. | resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|34|44|15.3|N|92|16|42.5|W|region:US-AR_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | party = Democratic (Jacksonian) | spouse = Matilda Nowland | allegiance = {{flag|United States|1815}} | branch = <!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please do not add the Army flag adopted by the U.S. government in 1956 (112 years after Fulton's death) as it would be historically inaccurate. Thank you. --> Maryland Militia | service_years = 1813–1814 | rank = Corporal | unit = Captain Nicholson's Company of Artillery | battles = War of 1812<br /> * Battle of Baltimore }}
'''William Savin Fulton''' (June 2, 1795 – August 15, 1844) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Arkansas from 1836 until his death in 1844. He had previously served as the fourth governor of Arkansas Territory, from 1835 to 1836, and the second secretary of the Arkansas Territory from 1829 to 1835.
== Early life == Fulton was born in Cecil County, Maryland, and graduated from Baltimore College in 1813. He had intended to study law, but with the outbreak of the War of 1812 he enlisted in a company of volunteers at Fort McHenry. Fulton was military secretary to General Andrew Jackson during the Seminole War in 1818. After the war, Fulton moved to Gallatin, Tennessee, where he was admitted to the bar in 1817. He owned slaves.<ref>{{Citation|title=Congress slaveowners|date=2022-01-19|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/interactive/2022/congress-slaveowners-names-list/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2022-07-11}}</ref>
== Political career == In 1820, Fulton settled in Florence, Alabama. In 1821, he was elected to the Legislature. He was appointed Secretary of the Arkansas Territory by President Andrew Jackson in 1829.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2653|title=William Savin Fulton (1795–1844)|publisher=The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture|access-date=August 11, 2012}}</ref> Fulton served as Secretary until 1835, when he was appointed Governor of the Territory. When Arkansas was admitted as a state in 1836, he became one of its first Senators. In the United States Senate he became a member of the Democratic Party. Fulton remained a Senator until his death in 1844.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000425 |title=Fulton, William Savin (1795-1844) |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=August 9, 2012}}</ref>
== Death == Fulton died at his home in Little Rock and was buried in the historic Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock.
== Legacy == Fulton County, Arkansas is named for him.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=11506|title=Profile for Fulton County, Arkansas, AR|publisher=ePodunk|access-date=August 11, 2012|archive-date=May 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190515090918/http://epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=11506|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n132 133]}}</ref>
== See also == * List of governors of Arkansas * List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
== External links == <!-- =============================================================================== WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A COLLECTION OF LINKS. Only a limited number of new links should be added to this article. PLEASE DO NOT ADD external links to sites with information already in the article or in its sources.
See Wikipedia:External links and Wikipedia:Spam for further details =============================================================================== --> * {{Commons category-inline}} * {{Find a Grave}} * [https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/fulton.html#628.89.98 William S. Fulton] at The Political Graveyard * {{Internet Archive author|name=William S. Fulton|birth=1795|death=1844}} <!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please follow the WP:EL guideline where possible and consider discussing on the talk page. Thank you. -->
{{s-start}} {{s-gov}} {{s-bef|before=Robert Crittenden}} {{s-ttl|title=Secretary of the Arkansas Territory|years=1829–1835}} {{s-aft|after=Lewis Randolph}} {{s-bef|before=John Pope}} {{s-ttl|title=Governor of Arkansas Territory|years=1835–1836}} {{s-aft|after=James Conway|as=Governor of Arkansas}} {{s-par|us-sen}} {{s-new|constituency}} {{s-ttl|title=U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Arkansas|years=1836–1844|with=Ambrose Hundley Sevier}} {{s-aft|after=Chester Ashley}} {{s-end}}
{{Governors of Arkansas}} {{USSenAR}} {{SenPublic WorksCommitteeChairmen}}
{{Portal bar|Alabama|Arkansas|Biography|Journalism|Politics}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, William Savin}} Category:1795 births Category:1844 deaths Category:People from Cecil County, Maryland Category:Jacksonian United States senators from Arkansas Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Arkansas Category:Governors of Arkansas Territory Category:Members of the Alabama Territorial Legislature Category:Alabama state senators Category:Alabama lawyers Category:Arkansas lawyers Category:Tennessee lawyers Category:American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law Category:19th-century American newspaper editors Category:University of Maryland, Baltimore alumni Category:American militiamen in the War of 1812 Category:American people of the Seminole Wars Category:Burials at Mount Holly Cemetery Category:State governors of the United States who owned slaves Category:United States senators who owned slaves Category:19th-century United States senators