Abram Fulkerson was born on 13 May 1834 in Washington County, Virginia, to Abram Fulkerson (1789-1859) and Margaret Laughlin Vance (1796-1864). He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1857 and taught school in Palmyra, Virginia, and Rogersville, Tennessee. When the Civil War began, Fulkerson enlisted in the 19th Tennessee Infantry and became a major. He helped organize the 63rd Tennessee and became its colonel. Fulkerson was wounded at the battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga. Wounded at the siege of Petersburg, he was captured and held prisoner for the rest of the war. After the Civil War ended, Fulkerson moved to Goodson, later Bristol, Virginia, and became a lawyer. He emerged as a leading figure in the Readjuster Party which favored a scaling-down of Virginia's bonded indebtedness following the War. He served in the House of Delegates from Washington County from 1871 to 1875 and 1885 to 1887. Fulkerson represented Washington and Smyth Counties in the Virginia State Senate from 1877 to 1880. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1881-1883. Fulkerson died in Bristol, Virginia 17 December 1902 and was buried in East Hill Cemetery. Fulkerson married Selina Johnson of Clarksville, Tennessee, in 1862, and they had nine children.