Representative David Fullerton

David Fullerton (October 4, 1772 – February 1, 1843) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Democratic-Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania’s 5th congressional district from 1819 to 1820. He was born in the Cumberland Valley of the Province of Pennsylvania, near Greencastle, to Humphrey and Martha (Mitchell) Fullerton. Raised on the Pennsylvania frontier in the closing years of the colonial period and the early years of the new republic, he belonged to a family that would become locally prominent in public affairs; he was the uncle of David Fullerton Robison, who later served as a U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania.

Details of Fullerton’s formal education are not extensively documented, but his subsequent career in commerce, banking, and public life indicates that he received sufficient schooling and practical training to manage complex business and political responsibilities. As a young man he settled in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. Over time he expanded his activities into banking, becoming a figure of some economic influence in his community. Like a number of merchants and landholders of his era in Pennsylvania, he owned slaves, a fact that placed him within the broader context of early American slavery in the Mid-Atlantic states.

During the War of 1812, Fullerton served in the United States forces with the rank of major. His military service occurred during a period of heightened national tension and conflict with Great Britain, and it contributed to his standing as a public figure in his region. After the war, he continued to build his commercial and banking interests in Greencastle, which helped provide the local prominence and financial footing that often underpinned early nineteenth-century political careers.

Fullerton entered national politics as a member of the Republican Party of his day, commonly known as the Democratic-Republican Party. He was elected as a Democratic-Republican to represent Pennsylvania’s 5th congressional district in the Sixteenth Congress. His term in the U.S. House of Representatives began on March 4, 1819, and he served until his resignation on May 15, 1820. During this single term in office, he participated in the legislative process at a time of significant national development, representing the interests of his constituents and taking part in the democratic process during the so‑called “Era of Good Feelings,” when issues such as westward expansion, economic policy, and the balance between free and slave states were increasingly prominent. He was not a candidate for renomination following his resignation.

After leaving Congress, Fullerton returned to Greencastle and resumed his mercantile pursuits and banking activities. His continued involvement in local economic life maintained his influence in the region and provided a base for further public service. In the late 1820s he reentered politics at the state level, aligning himself with the Anti-Masonic movement, which opposed Freemasonry as a perceived secret and undemocratic influence in public affairs.

Fullerton served in the Pennsylvania State Senate as an Anti-Masonic member, representing the 15th district from 1827 to 1838 and the 14th district from 1839 to 1840. His long tenure in the state senate reflected both his sustained political relevance and the rise of new party alignments in the Jacksonian era, as older Democratic-Republican coalitions fragmented and new parties and movements emerged. In the state legislature he contributed to the shaping of Pennsylvania’s laws and policies during a period marked by debates over internal improvements, banking, and political reform.

David Fullerton spent his later years in Greencastle, where he remained associated with the commercial and civic life of his community. He died there on February 1, 1843. His career, spanning military service in the War of 1812, a term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and more than a decade in the Pennsylvania State Senate, placed him among the notable early nineteenth-century public figures of south-central Pennsylvania.