Weston Fulton
| Weston Fulton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Weston Miller Fulton August 3, 1871 Hale County, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | May 16, 1946 (aged 74) Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Resting place | Highland Memorial Cemetery Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. 35°56′31″N 83°59′36″W / 35.94188°N 83.99340°W |
| Education |
University of Mississippi, B.A. University of Tennessee, M.S. |
| Occupation | Meteorologist, inventor, entrepreneur |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Murrian |
| Children | Weston, Jr., Robert, Barbara, Jean, Mary |
| Parent(s) | William Fulton and Mary Hudson |
| Relatives | Robert Burwell Fulton (uncle),Maurice Garland Fulton (cousin) |
Weston Miller Fulton (August 3, 1871 – May 16, 1946) was an American meteorologist, inventor, and entrepreneur, best known for his invention, the "sylphon," a seamless metal bellows used in thermostats, switches, and other temperature-control devices. Fulton also invented an automatic river gauge while working for the U.S. Weather Bureau, and played a primary role in the development of the depth charge during World War I. His company, now called Fulton Bellows after numerous ownership changes, still operates in Knoxville, as part of the United Flexible Group, which acquired it in 2016.
Fulton was born in Hale County, Alabama, the son of William and Mary Hudson Fulton. His family owned a large cotton plantation, and Weston and his brothers did much of the cotton picking. He briefly attended Howard College (modern Samford) in Birmingham before enrolling at the University of Mississippi, where his uncle, Robert Burwell Fulton, was chancellor. He graduated as valedictorian in 1893, and spent the subsequent five years working at Weather Bureau stations in Vicksburg and New Orleans.
In 1898, Fulton was hired to manage the Weather Bureau station in Knoxville, Tennessee. The station had been moved to the "Hill" earlier that year at the University of Tennessee at the request of U.T. president Charles Dabney. While working at the Knoxville station, Fulton taught meteorology and took classes at U.T., obtaining his Masters of Science in 1902.
Fulton's duties required frequent quarter-mile walks from the station atop the Hill to the railroad bridge over the Tennessee River, where a river gauge had been mounted, to check the river's depths. To eliminate this daily walk, Fulton designed an automatic gauge mechanism, which was essentially a float-actuated device that kept a continuous record of river levels. The Weather Bureau used the device at several of its weather stations in the early 1900s.
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