DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm passing it along to you. Born in Philadelphia, June the eighth, 1810 — George W. Fulton came into this world a long way from Texas.
But Texas, it seems, had plans for him. By 1836 he was serving in the Texan Army, which means he showed up right in the thick of things, when this place was still fighting to decide what it was going to be. That alone would be enough for most men to hang their hat on.
Not George. He left after that, went off and built himself what the marker calls an engineering career of distinction — elsewhere, mind you. Somewhere that wasn't Texas.
Now, a lesser man might've stayed wherever the distinction was. But George W. Fulton?
He came back. He returned to Texas and became a cattle baron. A cattle baron.
Not a rancher, not a cattleman — a baron. That word does some heavy lifting, and it earns every bit of it. Before all of this he had made his home as a pioneer resident of Refugio County, planting roots in country that didn't exactly roll out the welcome mat easy.
He lived his life right up until October the thirty-first, 1893. And when it was all over, the town of Fulton still bore his name. It bears it today.
Some men leave behind a headstone. George W. Fulton left behind a town.
The State of Texas thought that worth remembering, and they put it in stone back in 1936. Seems like they were right.
What the marker says
Born at Philadelphia, June 8, 1810. Served in the Texan Army in 1836. A pioneer resident of Refugio County. After an engineering career of distinction elsewhere he returned to Texas and became a cattle baron Died October 31, 1893. The town of Fulton bears his name. Erected by the State of Texas 1936