Peter G. FULKERSON, of the Tazewell bar, was born in Claiborne County, eighteen miles northeast of Tazewell, near Mulberry Gap, December 5, 1840, son of Dr. JAMES and Frances J. (Patterson) FULKERSON. They were of Scotch-Irish descent. The father was a native of Virginia, born in Washington County in that State in _____, and died at Tazewell in January, 1859. The mother was born in Pennsylvania, and died at Tazewell. She was the sister of Gen. Robert PATTERSON, of Philadelphia, who won lasting fame in the war of 1812, the Mexican war, and the “late unpleasantness.” The parents were married in Claiborne County, and settled after their marriage at Tazewell, where the father was engaged in the practice of his profession. After remaining at Tazewell about six years, he moved to Mulberry Gap, and four years later he went to his farm in Lee County, Va., but subsequently returned to Tazewell, and remained until his death. He was a success as a physician, and gave over forty years of his life to the practice of medicine. He was an old line Whig, and he and his wife were worthy members of the Presbyterian Church.
Our subject is the fourth of eight children, four of whom are still living. He secured a liberal education in his youth, which was commenced at the academy school of Tazewell, and finished at Danville, Mo.
At about twenty-one years of age, in 1861, he entered the Confederate States Army, from Missouri. At first he was connected with Col. ELLIOTT’s regiment, and served one year in Gen. Sterling PRICE’s army. He was captured at Danville, within the lines of the Federal commander, who had orders to treat all as spies who were found on the north side of the Missouri River. After a variety of trouble, and through the influence of his uncle, R.C. FULKERSON, who was a Union citizen, our subject, after being detained as a prisoner in the county jail at Danville, was released on a bond of $10,000. After the war he returned to Claiborne County, and finding all of his brothers away to escape the political prejudice existing at that time between the two parties, our subject took charge of his Missouri farm, and for two years he gave his attention to agricultural pursuits, but farming did not suit his ambition, and he commenced reading law soon after his return, and was admitted to the bar in 1868.
Since that time his name has been on the roll of Tennessee attorneys. He gave up the farm to a brother, Thomas FULKERSON, in 1872, and since then he has given the law his exclusive attention. As a lawyer his ability is acknowledged by all, and though comparatively a young practitioner, he is winning his way to honored distinction in his profession. In 1870 he was a member of the constitutional convention. In 1873 he was appointed by Gov. John C. BROWN, attorney-general, to fill a vacancy. He filled the office the remainder of the term, very much to his credit, and in August, 1884, he was duly elected to the same office on the Democratic ticket, defeating A.S. TATE, the Republican nominee, served one term of four years, making in all nearly six years.
In 1869 he married Miss Emma V. GLENN, of Johnson County, Mo., the daughter of Rev. Robert GLENN, of the Presbyterian Church, and by her has five children – two sons and three daughters, all living. In December, 1882, our subject married Mrs. Jeannie E. TREECE, whose maiden name was FUGATE, the daughter of Jehiel FUGATE. They are the parents of two children. Our subject is a Democrat, and an acceptable member of the Presbyterian Church. His first wife was a Presbyterian and his second is a Baptist.
Goodspeed Publishing Co. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of from Twenty-Five to Thirty Counties of East Tennessee. Chicago: Goodspeed, 1887.