Western and Atlantic Railroad » Key Figures in Railroad History

William Allen Fuller (April 15, 1836-December 28, 1905) was born in 1836 in Morrow Station, south of Atlanta in Henry County. He entered service as a conductor on the Western & Atlantic Railroad on September 8, 1855.

He is perhaps best known for his role in the Great Locomotive Chase during the Civil War. He was the northbound passenger train conductor on the morning of April 12, 1862, when Union spies stole the locomotive from Big Shanty, Georgia.

Fuller led a pursuing party, first via foot, then on a “pole” car and finally by commandeering locomotives. His dogged pursuit of the “engine thieves” helped save the railroad from total destruction.

In 1863, Georgia Gov. Joseph E. Brown commissioned Fuller as a captain. He retired around the turn of the century and lived on Washington Street in Atlanta.

After the war, Fuller was among the hundreds of Western & Atlantic employees dismissed from the railroad. Fuller, a descendant of Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen, went to work on the Macon & Western Railroad.

After leaving railroads, he entered the mercantile business in Atlanta.