Historical Overview
James Fulton, born in 1794 in Loundon County, Virginia, married his second wife, Mary Ellen Newman (from Prince Edward County, Virginia), in 1833. George W[illiam] N[ewman], their first child, was born in 1834, and by 1835 his family had moved to Fultonham in Muskingham County, Ohio. At this time the family included a stepbrother, William Henry (b. 1823), and a stepsister, Mary (b. 1823), both the product of James's first marriage (ca. 1823) to Elizabeth McGeorge, who died in 1829 in Farquier County, Virginia. By 1836 Mary gave birth to another son, Robert James Fulton, in Fultonham.3

Although unconfirmed, it is likely that James was a potter while in Virginia and moved to Ohio to capitalize on the industry's growth there. Not surprisingly, James's venture was successful, and he and his sons became deeply immersed in the area's thriving pottery industry. Identified historically as potters operating kilns in Marietta and Zanesville, James and his sons had a continuing impact on the industry in Ohio during its transition from a traditional craft technology to an evolving industrialized art pottery concern. Apparently Robert James operated a kiln in Marietta and later worked at the Weller pottery, while William Henry worked in Zanesville with his father.

Late in 1855 George's mastery of traditional potting skills and his intimate involvement in the Ohio pottery industry enabled him, at the age of twenty-one, to travel east to Virginia and gain employment with David Parr's thriving Richmond stoneware factory. After some six years of employment, Fulton enlisted with the Union army on July 23, 1862, at Meadowbluff, Virginia, as a private in Company E, 9th Regiment, Virginia - West Virginia Infantry. In November 1864 he was transferred to Company B, 1st Regiment, Virginia - West Virginia Infantry, with his final discharge as a private on June 14, 1865, at Parkersburg, West Virginia.4 Although not well documented, his participation at the Parkersburg Stoneware Factory is evidenced by extant wares showing his decorative influence and, in a few cases, his signature on the otherwise standard West Virginia, and later Donaghho, forms.

After his service in the Civil War, brief employment in Parkersburg, and marriage, Fulton moved to the Potts Creek area of Alleghany County, Virginia, and established a thriving pottery business, marketing his wares locally as well as in Fincastle, Blacksburg, and as far away as Richmond. Family tradition holds that Fulton escaped to Alleghany County after being captured and taken prisoner by the Confederate army near White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, and, while making his way back to his regiment, discovered large deposits of valuable clay in a cave in the Potts Creek area.5 Recognizing its quality, he laid out plans to return to the area, apply his pottery-making skills, and establish his own business to support his family and furnish the community with needed utilitarian vessels of "good stone body."

Fulton's Tenure at Parr's Richmond Pottery
Little is known of Fulton's role in the industry in Richmond save for family tradition—which holds that he traveled to Richmond for employment with David Parr in late 1855 and that he later established a pottery in Westmoreland County—and the survival of a spectacular piece of Virginia stoneware bearing his name.

The earliest extant piece of stoneware associated with Fulton's potting activity in Virginia is a massive twenty-gallon, salt-glazed beer or water cooler (fig. 5). It is tall, well potted, semi-ovoid, somewhat overfired, and profusely decorated, with a prominent rim, applied extruded crescent-shaped handles, and characteristic spigot receptacle. Decorative treatments (fig. 6) include an incised meandering flowering vine filled with cobalt blue draping the vessel's shoulders and an oddly shaped, incised, and blue-decorated eagle with open wings (fig. 7). Extending from the left and right of the eagle's head are banners that read, respectively, "david parr" and "manufactory." The eagle's shielded chest bears the incised date "may 15 1856," and in its talons are a flaglike banner displaying the name "geo. n fulton" and a cluster of arrows. Brushed blue cobalt tuliplike floral sprays adorn the areas below the eagle and above the spout opening, as well as the areas below both handles (fig. 8).

Although the form and decoration of this cooler bear little resemblance to Fulton's wares produced in Alleghany County, this does not necessarily mean he was not responsible for its production. A large, ten-gallon, straight-sided vessel produced by Fulton at the Parkersburg Stoneware Factory bears little resemblance to his later Alleghany wares, despite bearing his signature. It is clear that potters employed by a pottery, especially journeyman potters, conformed their production to the factory's established forms and ware types. The incised decoration seen here is rare on Virginia pottery and even more unusual for this mid-nineteenth-century period. It is likely this special piece was commissioned by Old Crow's Tavern, Crows, Virginia, and that Fulton, eager to exhibit his mastery of the trade, responded by creating a breathtaking cooler exhibiting a full range of decorative embellishments. It is said that after the tavern closed, the piece was sold at auction for $100. It was later offered by the purchaser for the same amount to the Greenbrier, where it has remained since 1963. Now displayed in the President's Cottage at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, this piece can be appreciated not only by Fulton's many descendants, interested Virginia ceramic researchers and historians, but by the public as well.

Both Fulton's 1855 departure from Ohio and the 1856 date incised on this vessel establish a terminus post quem (earliest possible date) for Fulton's association with Parr's Richmond manufactory, while Fulton's enlistment with the Union forces in 1862 pinpoints a terminus ante quem (latest possible date) for his involvement with Parr. A Richmond Whig publication dated April 15, 1865, lists the "D. Parr earthenware manufacturer" on Carey Street as suffering from "the recent great fire," although Ketchum's indication that Parr's operation continued until 1870 suggests post - fire revitalization and successful continuation for some five years.6

Fulton's Return to the Parkersburg, West Virginia, Area
Fulton's discharge from the Union army places him at Parkersburg, West Virginia, on June 14, 1865. This adds credence to the family history, which indicates that about 1866 Fulton returned to his father's hometown, Fultonham, Ohio, located just across the Ohio River from Parkersburg, and worked as the captain of the Ohio riverboat Ida, a cargo vessel.7 His involvement with the Parkersburg Stoneware Factory is corroborated by the identification of a few extant wares manufactured at the Donaghho Factory that were embellished with Fulton's characteristic decorations and, on one ten-gallon example, his signature in brushed blue cobalt oxide.

In addition to providing reconnection with his family and interesting employment opportunities, Parkersburg also proved to be the home of his fiancée and, hence, the perfect site for their forthcoming marriage. Family history indicates that after their union both Fulton and his wife worked aboard the Ida, perhaps intermittently, during 1867 - 1869, while preparing their move to Alleghany County.

Fulton and Waddell in Westmoreland County
Family history is unequivocal with regard to Fulton's association with a potter named Waddell (or Wadill). It is suggested that they worked together both in Westmoreland County and in Richmond, Virginia, and that they both moved to Alleghany County to work as potters after the Civil War. While it has been impossible to find historical documentation placing Fulton or Waddell in Westmoreland County as potters or establishing Waddell's association with Fulton in Richmond, it is clear that they were closely associated as potters in Alleghany County.

Fulton Pottery at Potts Creek in Alleghany County
Fulton's serendipitous discovery of that valuable clay deposit during his service with the Union army paved the way for his return to Alleghany County and the establishment of his pottery in 1867 at Arritt's near Potts Creek. Shortly before his move, Fulton married Sarah Ellen Schaffer (Shaver) in Parkersburg, West Virginia, on September 30, 1867.8 Apparently he leased the land on which the remains of his kiln still stand from D. M. Davis, the grandfather of the land's current owner. Documentary research confirms Fulton's continuing potting activities in 1870, when Fulton recorded a homestead exemption as follows:

Both his business and family grew over the next decade, so that by 1880 he had six children—four girls (Lola May, 11; Mary A., 6; Elizabeth, 2; and Amanda E., 1) and two boys (George R., 9; and John W., 4)—and had acquired two parcels of real estate: one acre on Potts Creek from the Reverend John B. Davis and his wife in 1876; and a six-acre parcel located at the confluence of Potts Creek and Mill Run, adjacent to the land of the heirs of John S. Arritt, in 1877.10 Interestingly, Fulton produced a tombstone for the Reverend Davis and his wife to mark the grave of their two boys. The tombstone is embellished with a tree-of-life decoration in relief (fig. 9) as well as brushed manganese floral decoration and, on the reverse, is inscribed "sacred to the Memory of Davis 2 boys" (fig. 10). It was on the Davis tract of land that Fulton built a log home for his family residence. At the same time he constructed a log building for making and storing his wares. As early as 1875 Fulton began utilizing another nearby clay source on land owned by Moses G. Wright located some one-and-one-half miles distant from his pottery.11

His post-1880 activity is evidenced by a miniature stoneware jar incised "G. N. Fulton 1881" (fig. 11) and his listing as "Geo. N. Fulton, potter located at Arritts, Alleghany County," in the 1884 - 1885 Virginia Gazetteer (Richmond).12

The Fulton pottery kiln is located approximately one mile south of Boiling Spring, Virginia, being situated about thirty-five yards southeast of Route 18 in a relatively flat agricultural field (fig. 12). Recorded in 1936 in conjunction with a WPA project, the pottery site was tested archaeologically in 1987 by Washington and Lee University. The site consists of the remains of a circular stoneware pottery kiln forming a mound approximately twenty feet in diameter and rising some six feet above the ground surface, as well as an associated waster pile exhibiting heavy surface concentrations of salt-glazed stoneware waster sherds and various kiln furniture fragments located roughly six yards northwest of the mounded kiln remains. This site is identified by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources as 44AY184, Fulton Kiln A.

In close proximity and also situated along Pott's Creek is another pottery kiln site, 44AY185, originally identified as belonging to Fulton. Documentary and archaeological research determined this was the Waddell pottery, the second of three potteries involving some five potters identified in Alleghany County during the nineteenth century. Thomas Waddell appears on the 1850, 1860, and 1870 Alleghany County census records as a potter with birthplaces listed as New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, respectively.13 A land deed dated August 15, 1857, shows Waddell being granted an interest in ninety-eight acres on Christley's Run.14 Recovered stoneware sherds from the Christley's Run site bear the stamp "T. R. Waddell, Va" and extant vessels with the same stamp are quite distinct from those produced by Fulton. The proximity of the two sites provides further evidence of the Fulton-Waddell association recorded in family history as beginning in Westmoreland County, continuing in Richmond, and ending in Alleghany County. Although dissimilar from Fulton's ware, the Waddell wares are remarkably similar to extant vessels stamped "G. A. Brown, Va" (fig. 13), attributed to a contemporaneous kiln located on the top of Potts Mountain.15 Although no documentary evidence of the Brown pottery has been identified, the similarities of the Brown and Waddell wares suggest the likelihood that John Brown and two of his sons, Gustavus and John W., were associated with Waddell circa 1850.16

Limited archaeological excavations of Fulton's kiln suggest the presence of the remains of a relatively well-preserved, nineteenth-century circular updraft kiln and recovered salt-glazed stoneware pottery sherds from a variety of vessel forms (fig. 14), some decorated with either cobalt blue or manganese dioxide floral embellishments, capacity numerals, and the signature "G. N. Fulton" or initials "G. N. F.," and numerous kiln furniture fragments, including several draw trials.

In 1938 Marion Rawson conducted oral history research, which recorded traditional Appalachian lifeways. Among her documentation is a remarkable interview with Daniel Arritt, who as a young man lived next door to and worked in Fulton's pottery shop. The fascinating details provide insight into not only Fulton's operation but the very nature of this traditional craft industry in Virginia during the third quarter of the nineteenth century:

At this point Arritt stopped his narrative and explained that the kiln was about eighteen feet in diameter and approximately the same height. It was shaped like an egg, with the fire door close to the ground on one side and the only other opening being the central chimney where the smoke and flames escaped. It is inferred from his description that the kiln was of the circular updraft variety, a common nineteenth-century kiln type. He also indicated that there were four iron bars stretching across the kiln above the flues, upon which rested stones placed about eight inches apart and arranged so that the crocks and pots could be set up on them and stacked on one another, separated by little crockery plates or kiln furniture. This arrangement allowed the vessels to be exposed to equal heat on all sides. The kiln held one thousand gallons of ware, with pot quantities being computed by adding together half-pints, quarts, and gallons, represented by the various vessels to be fired.18 Arritt continued:

Wares of "Good Stone Body"
A fascinating variety of wares, some unique to Virginia stoneware, characterize Fulton's production. Fulton's application of "those fancy patterns out of his head," as Arritt described his elaborate brushed and slipped blue cobalt and manganese floral trees, sprays, hearts, lines, squiggles, capacity designations, signatures, and initials, set his wares apart from those produced elsewhere in the valley during this period. Recognized forms include but are not limited to canning crocks (fig. 15), storage jars (figs. 16, 17), jugs (fig. 18), bowls (fig. 19), milk pans (fig. 20), cake crocks (fig. 21), pitchers (figs. 22, 23), churns of various sizes (figs. 24 - 26), miniatures, and tombstones. Family tradition holds that he was the first potter in the region to design the small-mouth crock with flaring rim and recessed interior rim/shelf that easily accommodates a wax seal (see fig. 15).20

The frequency of decoration on his wares is high. A conservative estimate is that 75 percent of his wares were either decorated, signed, or both decorated and signed. His frequently used elaborate brushed cobalt or manganese trees covering the majority of the front of the vessel's surface contained leaves and flowers often interpreted as representing hearts. Whether the hearts were intentional is unclear, but that the decoration most commonly used by Fulton is related specifically to the Germanic-influenced tree-of-life motif, best exemplified on the tombstone discussed previously (fig. 9), is unquestionable.

Many of Fulton's surviving wares and archaeologically recovered sherds illustrate problems he faced in controlling the variables (i.e., maintaining and controlling adequate firing temperatures, application of glaze, and monitoring kiln oxygen/reduction atmospheric conditions) necessary to produce quality stoneware. The frequency of draw trials recovered from test excavations speak to this problem and show Fulton's continuing attention and attempts to both monitor and adjust the variables necessary for a successful firing, which would ensure proper vessel vitrification, even glaze application, and contrast of decoration against the vessel body.

Arritt's comparison of Fulton's stone crocks with those produced by Waddell is probably in error in this descriptive account. Given Fulton's close though not well-documented association with Waddell prior to their arrival in Alleghany County, and the proximity of their stoneware kilns along Pott's Creek, it is much more likely that Arritt was referring to the redware production of Bodell's Pottery in the vicinity of Blacksburg, which is, unfortunately, even more poorly documented.

Also of particular interest is Arritt's statement that Fulton himself was responsible for decorating his wares. It is clear from comparisons of the signature on his crocks with those from surviving historical documents that the same hand was responsible for both. Variation in selected decorative motifs and the manner and detail with which they are executed is noted within the extant assemblage examined during this research, suggesting that someone else may have had a hand in decorating (fig. 27). With the exception of the cooler discussed previously (figs. 5 - 8), perhaps the most impressive of his decorated wares are those embellished with both cobalt and manganese decoration (fig. 28).21

Fulton's Final Move to Botetourt County and Retirement
Although family tradition states that Fulton moved to Botetourt County about 1875, he appears as a potter in the 1880 Alleghany County census, and, as mentioned previously, advertised himself as a potter located at "Arritts, Alleghany County" in an 1884 - 1885 Richmond newspaper.22 The date ascribed to his move may relate to the assertion that he had established or was associated with a retail outlet for his pottery in Fincastle, Virginia, during this time.23 A document indicating that Fulton assigned a judgment against a Joseph(?) for $62 with interest from June 1, 1879—plus $8.92 in court costs previously granted to him by the Botetourt Circuit Court on May 29, 1880—to a T. M. Allen is dated September 21, 1888, and bears a signature matching that which is so frequently seen on his wares: "George N. Fulton."24 This would suggest that as early as 1879 and certainly no later than 1888 Fulton was residing in Botetourt, although it is clear that his ties there, both in terms of family and business associations, were well established before this time.

In fact, family tradition points to an 1876 birthdate of one of Fulton's daughters in Botetourt as evidence of his even earlier residence there.25 The historical record, however, shows that three of his daughters, Mary, Elizabeth, and Amanda, were born in Alleghany County in 1874, 1878, and 1879, respectively. Whatever the case, that he eventually made the final move to Botetourt is incontrovertible, as both he and his wife are buried in the Noftzinger family cemetery near Fincastle, Virginia.26

While evidence of Fulton's pottery manufacturing in Botetourt County is limited, oral history is replete with wide-ranging theories relative to his late-nineteenth-century Fincastle-area activities. These include but are not limited to the following:

1. Fulton decorated wares produced in Botetourt with blue cobalt, whereas wares produced in Alleghany County were embellished with brown or manganese dioxide. (Sherds recovered from his Alleghany pottery exhibit both cobalt and manganese decoration. No cobalt-decorated wares produced by Fulton in Botetourt have been identified.)

2. The source for the clay Fulton used in the Fincastle area resulted in the vessels made there being of a brown or red color. (While the Fincastle/ Botetourt area is characterized by a strong emphasis on earthenware production, beginning in the late eighteenth century with Christian and continuing with Hinkle and Spigle, the Obenchains, and the Noftzingers into the 1880s, with their products being reddish brown in color and typically having a lead glaze, there are no known signed Fulton brown, red, or lead-glazed earthenware crocks known to have been made in Fincastle. There is, however, significant variation in the color of his wares, which relates to different sources of clay and problems in reaching and controlling proper firing temperatures for stoneware production. As a result, many of his wares may be referred to as redware and may be porous and exhibit a reddish color, but they typically will have a salt glaze, indicating his intended product was a vitreous stoneware.)

3. Fulton's potting activity in Botetourt was in association with the Noftzinger family. (It now appears that the Noftzingers' activity was limited to earthenware production with no signed vessels from their pottery having been identified. Given that the period of Fulton's residence in Botetourt was coincident with their period of operation, that their families were connected, that he and his wife are buried in the Noftzinger family cemetery, and the absence of any signed Fulton stoneware with a definite Botetourt provenance, it seems likely that any involvement Fulton had in pottery manufacturing in Botetourt concerned earthenware production in association with the Noftzingers.)

4. Fulton made and marketed his wares on Back Street in Fincastle.

5. Fulton's wares were sold at an outlet in Fincastle operated by the Lusters.27

That a local merchant owned or rented a building on Back Street where pottery wares were sold is well established, but Fulton's association with the shop or the marketing of his wares there remains unresolved. The well-documented history of Fincastle in the late eighteenth century identifies a pottery located along Back Street (more recently known as the Sally Douglas Home), that was operated by Israel Christian and situated across the street from his log residence (known more recently as the Becky Holmes House). An influential figure in Fincastle history, Christian had in 1770 offered some forty acres (from a larger land grant from King George III) for the establishment of a town to serve as the county seat for Botetourt. The site of the pottery operated by Christian during the late eighteenth century was purchased by the Lusters in 1878 and they were said to have offered pottery wares for sale there through 1885, while simultaneously operating a larger retail mercantile outlet on Roanoke Street.28

Recent examination of ceramics from local domestic sites in the Fincastle area has revealed some fascinating lead-glazed earthenware sherds with polychrome slip decoration, reflecting certain Germanic/Moravian influences, that perhaps are a product of Christian's pottery shop. Although the exact nature, extent, or duration of his activity is unknown, this is a promising area for future research. While it seems very unlikely that what once may have been an important late-eighteenth-century pottery concern remained in continuous operation for some ninety years until Fulton's involvement at retirement, it is likely that this late-eighteenth-century earthenware pottery shop of short-lived duration served, some one hundred or so years later, as an outlet for regionally produced stoneware by the Lusters, and may have included wares made by Fulton in Alleghany County or those produced by the Noftzingers, Obenchains, or others in Botetourt.29 On the other hand, without sufficient documentary evidence, it may be that the identification of a house as the location of a pottery shop in the distant past (late eighteenth century) may have been inaccurately transposed to the more recent past (late nineteenth century) as representing, relating to, or attributed to Fulton's well-known regional pottery endeavors despite no solid documentary evidence of his involvement in pottery manufacture in Botetourt or of his pottery wares being sold at this location in the late nineteenth century.

Fulton Pottery: An Assessment
Fulton's thirty-eight-year participation in this evolving traditional craft industry and his successful establishment and continuing pottery operation in a relatively isolated rural Virginia setting for some eighteen years reflect, to a certain degree, his intimate understanding of his craft and a reliance on and strict adherence to its time-tested methods. Despite his familiarity with advancing industry technologies and shifting production methods, Fulton insightfully viewed the success of his enterprise in the context of understanding the local community's need. His utilitarian wares, embellished with a decorative aesthetic component, apparently were appreciated by consumers without a need for significant change or modification. Although he held fast to his traditional methods of production and marketing, it is obvious through an examination of both extant wares and archaeologically recovered sherds that there was some shifting in the variety and percentages of wares produced through time with some limited experimentation with more modern forms (fig. 29). These wares of "good stone body," delightfully decorated with "them fancy patterns out of his head" (fig. 30), reflect Fulton's enduring legacy as one of the Virginia highlands' most successful mid- to late-nineteenth-century traditional potters.

While the stage is set for understanding the success of his enterprise and the appeal of his wares to nineteenth-century consumers, the recent appreciation and collecting pursuit of his wares for the historic ceramic enthusiast of the twenty-first century must be viewed in the context of the enduring graphic appeal of these traditional handcrafted wares produced from the earth to fulfill a continuing utilitarian need while simultaneously reflecting the consumers' shared cultural aesthetic.