It's me again, Norma...... (Not Donald)
As promised, I'll give some references to the Fuller family
at Redenhall Parish, Norfolk County, England
(the home of the Mayflower Fuller's)
There is no ISBN # in the book, so I doubt if the libraries would
have a copy....... but your local FHC may have one.
It's titled:
"Elijah Knapp Fuller and his Ancestors"
Published 1985, by Dr. Gerald R. Fuller and Dallas Coleman
Printed by Publishers Press, Utah.
On pg.89 it starts with "First Fuller Families"
--->William, b. abt 1433 of Redenhall, Norfolk, England
m. (---), b. abt 1437, Redenhall. Their son:
--->John was b. abt 1460 at Redenhall. Will proved 17 May 1511. He was
living 1482, 1508, freeholder. Held Holland's Close.
Married abt. 1480, Alice, b. abt 1460, living 1511.
The following 5 children all born Redenhall, Norfolk, England.
1. John, b.1482-1488, married
2. William, b. abt 1483, married.
3. Thomas, b. abt 1485
4. Alice, b. abt 1487
5. Robert, b. abt 1489, married Alice, bur.14 July 1558.
--->William, b. abt 1483, Redenhall, Norfolk, England. He married
wife unknown - b. abt 1485. In 1511 bequeated Holland's Close by his
father. They had 3 children:
1. John, b. abt 1510, buried 9 Feb 1559, m. to Ann.
2. William, b. abt 1512
3. Robert, b. abt 1514, m. Margaret, had children.
--->John, b. abt 1510, Redenhall, Norfolk, England, bur.9 Feb 1559.
Married abt 1533, name unknown, b. abt. 1514. Three children:
1. John, b. abt 1534 Redenhall, bur.15 May 1599,
#1m. Catherine, bur.23 Apr 1573.
#2m. 10 May 1574, Ann Bury (she m#2, Gyles Chalker)
Total of 11 children for this John.
2. Alice, b. abt 1537
3. Robert, b. abt 1539
--->Robert, b. abt 1539, Redenhall, Norfolk, England, (butcher)
bur.23 May 1614, #1m 29 Jan 1572 in Startston, Norfolk, England to Sarah
Dunthorne, aba. abt 1550, bur.1 July 1584 Redenhall.
#2m 1585 Frances, b. abt 1555 Redenhall, bur.28 Mar 1632. Because there was
another Robert Fuller having children christened in Redenhall at the same
time, with a wife Margaret, we are very fortunate that we have the will of
Robert Fuller, butcher and yeoman, naming his surviving children.
Children with wife Sarah:
1. Thomas, chr.13 Dec 1573
2. Edward, chr.4 Sept 1575, m.Ann abt 1600
3. Ann, chr.22 Apr 1577
4. John, chr.15 Mar 1578, m1 Ann, m2 Margaret Balls
5. Samuel, chr.20 Jan 1580, m1 Alice Glascock, m2 Agnes Carpenter,
m3 Bridget Lee
6. Edmund, chr.19 May 1583
Children with wife Frances:
1. Sarah, chr.4 Sept 1586, m. James Spaulding.
2. Christopher, chr.15 Dec 1588
3. Elizabeth, chr.29 Nov 1590
4. Mary (Marie), chr.13 July 1595, m. John Lowe.
Of course, the above Edward and Samuel was our Mayflower Passengers.
Hope this helps all of your research.
Norma Heiman
______________________________
------------------------------
The Mayflower Fullers
Peter Ashby
I have spent two years accumulating genealogical information
concerning the Mayflower Pilgrims, Edward and Dr. Samuel Fuller,
Edward appears in my family tree. I have received so many InterNet
inquiries concerning them, that I have consolidated all of my Fuller
notes into this combination summary, narrative, analysis and advice.
The two best overall references available are: General Society
of Mayflower Descendants project begun in 1959, "Mayflower Families
Through Five Generations." There are eight volumes in the series so
far, Edward (vol. 4), Dr. Samuel Fuller (vol. 1) and sister(?) Mrs.
William (Susana Fuller) White Winslow (vol. 1 and 5). These should be
your primary source(s) of information concerning descendants of the
Mayflower Fullers.
The second major reference is: "Fullers of Redenhall, England,"
an article in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register
in October 1901.
The Mormon's ancestral file lists several Redenhall ancestors,
but the entries are pretty sketchy. They are generally based on
"Redenhall parish records from 1558-1653," and "Redenhall marriages
from 1540-1753." Presumably these records are similar to those
contained in the following article, which is the most complete single
source on the Redenhall Fullers.
The article provides several interesting clues to these
brothers, but the links are rather tenuous, at best. Most
genealogical historians accept that Ed & Sam were most likely
from Redenhall, although there is no direct evidence that this is so.
MacGunnigle, who did extensive work on the Edward Fullers for the
Society states that there is no direct evidence that they came from
Redenhall.
MacGunnigle notes several facts supporting the argument that
the Edward and Dr. Samuel from Redenhall are not the same ones from
Leiden and the Mayflower:
1. Thomas Morton, writing about Dr. Sam in New English
Canaan (Amsterdam, 1637) describes Sam as a native of Wrington of
Somerset.
2. Drake's article detailing Pilgrim marriages in Leiden
lists Dr. Sam as being "of London" and his bride Agnes Carpenter as
the "spinster from Wrington."
3. Robert's will, described further below, leaves a tenement
to son Edward, apparently expecting him to live in it, even though
Edward was in Leiden.
4. Robert's will makes no mention that either son, Edward or
Dr. Sam, were absent and out of the country.
Most historians list Redenhall as the most likely home of these
Fullers, apparently because no one has found any other better origins
for the family. John Robinson, the Pilgrim pastor at Leiden, lived at
Yarmouth, before moving to Scooby, the origin of the main group of
Pilgrims. Yarmouth is about 25 miles from Redenhall. Since Dr. Samuel
Fuller was active in church affairs, he may have had contact with
Robinson then. William Bradford, the Pilgrim leader for years, was
from Norwich, which is in the same county as Redenhall. We know that
the Samuel Fuller in Leiden was not from Scooby, as he was the
religious representative of the non-Scooby Pilgrims.
The Redenhall article consists of seven pages of listings of
baptisms, marriages, burials and a few extracts from wills, from the
registers of the parish of Redenhall cum Harleston and Wortwell.
These parishes have gone through several reorganizations through the
centuries. The listings also seem to contain editorial comments,
presumably of the author, but the originator of the footnotes is not
identified. There is no other analysis or conclusion made by the
author.
The article states that there were Fullers, or ffullers, as was
the spelling then, in Redenhall as early as 1482. There are
references to a John in 1482 and William in 1488.
The baptisms listing starts in 1559 and does not include the
name of the mother until 1599 so it is virtually impossible to create
any family tree for the early Fullers we are interested in. The
baptismal listings with a possible match to our Fuller family are as
follows: (These are not the complete listings, I have includes only
those that seem to pertain to the Fullers of interest)
1573 Thomas ffuller, son of Robert fuller, bap. 13 Dec.
1575 Edward ffuller*, son of Robert ffuller, 4 Sept.
(* footnote states "of the Mayflower?")
1577 Ann ffuller, dau. of Robert ffuller, butcher, bap. 22 Apr.
(underlining added)
1578 John ffuller, son of Robert ffuller, bap. 15 March
Ann ffuller, dau. of Robert ffuller, bap. 21 Dec.
1580 Samuel ffuller*, son of Robert ffuller, butcher, bap. 20
Jan.
(* footnote states "of the Mayflower?")
1581 Robert ffuller, son of Robert ffuller, bap. 22 Oct.
1582 John ffuller, son of Robert ffuller, bap. 25 March
1583 Edmund ffuller, son of Robert ffuller, butcher, bap. 19 May
1585 Alan ffuller, son of Robert ffuller, bap. 13 Feb.
1586 Sara ffuller, son of Robert ffuller, butcher, bap. 4 Sep.
1588 Christopher ffuller, son of Robert ffuller, butcher, bap. 15
Dec.
Rose ffuller, dau. of Robert ffuller, bap. 22 Dec.
1590 Elizabeth ffuller, dau. of Robert ffuller, bap. 29 Nov.
1591 Thomas ffuller, son of Robert ffuller, bap. 31 Oct.
1594 Valentine ffuller, dau. of Robert ffuller, bap. 16 Jan.
1595 Mary ffuller, dau. of Robert ffuller, bap. 13 July
1603 Matthew ffuller**, son of John ffuller and Margaret his
wife, bap. 16 Oct.
**(Footnote states "Afterwards of Plymouth?")
The Robert popularly referred to as the father of our Mayflower
brothers was thought to be a butcher. The birth listings above
indicating "Robert ffuller, butcher" are likely to be siblings to our
brothers. Those without "butcher" are less likely, but still
possible. Obviously they cannot all be the product of a single
Robert, many of the dates are too close together to be the same
mother. There is a footnote to the baptisms list indicating that a
gift was made for a church bell in 1588 by Robert Fuller, "bocher,"
and Robert Fuller, "Tanner." Thus confirming that all of the Roberts
listed are not the butcher we are interested in.
None of the marriages listed seem to match our Fullers.
Some of the burials match:
1580 John Fuller, son of Robert, Feb. 10
1584 Sara Fuller, wife of Robert, July 1
1590 Christopher Fuller, son of Robert, July 12
1593 Margaret Fuller, wife of Robert, Feb. 16
1602 Valentine Fuller, son (?baptism states "dau."?) of Robert,
Oct. 24
1608 Robert Fuller, July 19
1614 Robert Fuller, May 23
The 1584 listing seems to be Sara Dunckhorne, listed by the
Mormons as Robert's first wife. They record their marriage for Jan.
29, 1572 in the nearby town of Starston, apparently Sara's home, and
Sara is presumed to be the mother of Robert's children before her
death. The last listing appears to be our Robert, his will is
documented below. The other Robert apparently is the "Tanner."
There is an extract of a will from the Episcopal Consistorial
Court of Norwich, detailing a will of a John Fuller, the Elder, dated
4 Feb. 1558/9, proved in May 1559, giving to his son John Fuller
some land and to "my son Robert Fuller, ú10." Son John was the
executor.
The time frame of this will makes it likely that the Robert
listed as a beneficiary in the will is the father of our brothers.
Robert apparently had an older brother named John and a sister named
Ales (Alice).
Another extract in the article is from the Norfolk Archdeaconry
Court of Norwich, of the will of a Roberde Fuller, of the parish of
Redenhall, dated 19 May, 1614, proved 31 May, 1614, by his widow and
son Thomas. It grants property to his wife Frances and makes grants
to sons Edward, Samuel, and Thomas, and to daughters Ann, Elizabeth
and Mary. It also made a grant to grandson John, son of John, with
the payment to be made by his son Thomas, when the grandson John came
of age. The will also mentions a son-in-law named James Spalding, but
does not indicate which daughter he married. Spalding's marriage does
not appear on the listings. The baptism list includes only one Edward
(1575), only one Samuel (1580), one John (1578), two Thomas's (1573
& 1591), one Ann (1577) dau. to the butcher, one Elizabeth
(1590), and one Mary (1595). Not all of these listings included "the
butcher" and there is one child "of the butcher" (Sara-1586) that
does not appear in the burials list or in the will. Obviously the
record keeping was not exact or these children left the parish before
Robert died. Another "son of the butcher", Edmund (1583) apparently
died the following year.
This also appears to be our Robert, at least the one accepted
by most historians. It confirms many of his children. It implies that
his son John, the father of grandson John, is dead. There is a
footnote, added to grandson John by the author indicating "a brother
to Matthew Fuller of Plymouth?" There is no baptism for a John, son
of Robert. Thomas could be the one born in 1573 or 1591, thus he
could be the first born, or the youngest of the sons, but the only
one remaining in the area. We know that Samuel was in Holland by
1608, it seems likely that Edward joined him there before 1614.
The author of this article apparently believed Matthew to be
the son of John Fuller, which is not unusual, but more on that issue
later.
Two other will extracts are summarized, but the descendants do
not appear to be direct ancestors.
The following are biographical sketches of the Fullers:
William Fuller, born 1423 to 1430 (Mormon Ancestral File),
father of:
John (and Alice) Fuller, 1460-1511 (Mormon Ancestral File),
father of:
William Fuller, 1483- . (Mormon Ancestral File), father
of:
John Fuller, "the elder," died in 1559 and his will (detailed
above) makes a bequest to a Robert Fuller, thought to be our Robert.
Other sources list his birth date from 1510 to 1522 and his marriage
about 1547. In addition to Robert, the will mentions an older son
John and a younger daughter Ales. (The will is witnessed by a Thomas
Fuller, "the elder." Thomas Fuller, "the younger," married a Margaret
Ashby, the family name of your author, and she may be a family
connection from my Ashbys of nearby Norwich.)
Robert Fuller was born in 1543, and grew up in the parish of
Redenhall in Harleston, near the center of the Hundreds of Eastham,
Norfolk County, England, which is listed as the ancient seat of the
family. Robert was a butcher and apparently successful, as he
provided amply for his family at his death.
Robert was first married to Sara Dunckhorne in 1572/3. Sara
died in 1584, but they had five children, including Samuel and Edward
and Ann. At the time of his death, Robert was married to Frances, but
there is no record of this marriage. They apparently had two
daughters, Mary and Elizabeth.
Edward Fuller was born in the parish of Redenhall in 1575. By
the time he was 45 he was part of a religious group living in
Holland. There is nothing concerning his early life.
During the 1500s the Church of England dominated religious
activity. Luther's Protestant reformation had just gotten started in
1517. By the early 1600s separatists, unhappy with what they
perceived to be overly restrictive religious thought, moved to
Amsterdam and Leiden (or Leyden), a free-thinking university town.
Edward's group of Separatists, opposed to the Episcopal jurisdiction
and rites and discipline of the Church of England, formed their own
church in Scooby, England. Scooby was the home of William Bradford,
the primary Pilgrim leader.
Although not actively persecuted, the group was actively
subjected to ecclesiastical investigation and to the mockery,
criticism and disfavor of their neighbors. To avoid the contamination
of their strict beliefs and to escape the church they hated, the sect
moved to Boston (England?) in 1607, where they were jailed. They
returned to Holland in 1608, when Edward's more prominent brother,
Samuel, joined this group. There is no record of when Edward came to
Holland.
One of the prime reasons for the religious reformation was
increased literacy, people for the first time could read the bible
themselves and interpret it, rather than having it read to them and
interpreted by their minister.
Life in Holland for the Separatists was not easy. Most of them
were farmers and few had titles or education. War with Spain was
looming and many Dutch held the English immigrants in low esteem, so
they actively looked for a new home where they could practice their
religious beliefs. It took three years of negotiation with English
investors to satisfy the separatists, the king, and the bishops, and
still keep the religion of the dissenters pure. The Separatists were
too poor to afford travel at their own expense.
Sponsored by the Virginia Company the Separatists, including
our Edward, his wife Ann and their son, Samuel, left Leiden, along
with thirty other members of their Pieterskirk congregation. The
group embarked from the port town of Delftshaven, on July 22, 1620
aboard the Speedwell, to join the rest of the party in Southampton,
where the Mayflower was waiting for them. The original plan called
for the Speedwell to sail with the Mayflower and then to remain in
the colonies to be used as a fishing ship and to provide coastal
transportation for the colonists.
Problems arose immediately. The Virginia Company changed the
contract with the Pilgrims, some of whom objected and dropped out of
the expedition. Administrative problems hampered loading and
modifying the ships for the Atlantic crossing. The Speedwell had been
re-masted for the ocean trip but it proved un-seaworthy and was left
behind. The Fuller families and other Speedwell passengers were
transferred to the Mayflower at Plymouth, England. It finally
departed Plymouth on September 6, 1620 for North America. First
landfall was at Cape Cod on November 11. By December 11 the party
reached Plymouth, they would name their settlement after the last
port of embarkation. Each of the Separatists spent the eight months
crammed into a space the size of a small straw mattress, with a five
foot ceiling, where they washed, ate, cooked, dressed, slept and
stored clothing. The Mayflower displaced 180 tons, by comparison the
Queen Mary was 81,000 tons. The trip could have been worse, the
Mayflower had been a wine hauler, and smelled much better than ships
used to haul fur or animals.
The original charter provided that the settlement would be
located up the Hudson River, and historians differ as to why the
Pilgrims wound up at Cape Cod. Because the settlement would be
outside the jurisdiction of the sponsoring Virginia Company, the
Pilgrims created a political agreement of their own, which they
called the Mayflower Compact. It was signed by most of the adult male
members, and was patterned after their church covenant. It bound the
signers in a "civil body politic" to enact "just and equal laws ***
for the general good of the colony." The order in which the signers
names appear is a good indication of the social pecking order of the
group. Miles Standish, the best known of the signers, was the sixth,
Samuel Fuller, the Doctor, was fifteenth, Edward was the 36th out of
42. The Compact was intended to preserve order in the colony through
a rule of law sanctioned by the colonists themselves until their
right to self-government could be confirmed by a valid company patent
or royal charter. It remained in force until the colony was absorbed
by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691.
On December 16, the Pilgrims left the ship and started their
settlement. It was not easy. Two people had died aboard ship,
including Dr. Sam's servant. The Virginia settlement at Jamestown had
existed for 14 years. Thus the Fullers extended family made up 11% of
the passengers aboard the Mayflower, Sam and his two parents, his
aunt Susanna, her husband and two sons, and his uncle Samuel, and the
three servants of the aunt and uncle.
A harsh winter combined with dysentery would be fatal for many
of the Pilgrims, including Edward and his wife Ann. Their son Samuel
survived and lived in Plymouth with his uncle, Dr. Samuel Fuller, for
whom young Samuel was named.
Dr. Samuel Fuller was baptized in Redenhall in 1580. He married
Elsie (Alice) Glascock, probably in England, before 1612. He was with
the Pilgrims in Leiden as early as 1608, where he married first Agnes
Carpenter in 1613 and then Bridget Lee in 1617.
The priorities of the Pilgrims can be inferred from the fact
that Dr. Sam was most noted for his assistance in founding Salem's
first church, patterned after the church at Plymouth, where Dr. Sam
was a deacon from 1620 until 1633. The bill of lading for the
Mayflower indicates that Dr. Sam shipped more religious books than
medical ones. The Governor of the colony would write in his diary
that Dr. Sam was "godly," and "being much missed after his death."
Dr. Samuel was not the sort of M.D. we think of today. He was
facetiously referred to as a butcher, because in that era a Doctor
used his knife more than any other instrument. Some speculate that
he learned this part of his medical training from his father, the
butcher. Blood-letting and amputations were the primary doctoring
skills in use. Many ministers of this era were also practicing
physicians and Samuel was known to be a Deacon and an educated man
for the times. His attentions to scurvy victims in Salem was noted
but most of his accomplishments were religious, not medical.
Dr. Samuel died of smallpox in Plymouth in 1633.
Another controversial issue involves Robert's daughter Ann. The
Redenhall baptism listing (1577) and Robert's will refer to this
daughter Ann. Several historians, including Noyes and Willison, are
of the opinion that this daughter Ann is the same Susanna Fuller,
wife to William White, both Mayflower passengers. MacGunnigle is not
convinced that she is a sister. The woman who marries William White
in 1612 in Leiden, is referred to as Anne in the Dutch marriage
records. If the Leiden Anne Fuller was the Redenhall Ann, she would
have been about 35 years old, a real spinster for that era. Noyes
referred to her as Anna Fuller, as does the Leiden marriage record.
Later in the colonies Bradford recorded her (Mrs. William White) as
Susanna, although in some records she is Susana.
The White family of Sturton Le Steeple, located near Scooby,
were a large and well to do family. Bridget White of this family,
married John Robinson, the primary Pilgrim minister, who was a local
preacher, and came from Norwich. It is thought that William White,
the Pilgrim who married Anna Fuller in Leiden, was from this same
White family.
Susanna Fuller White, gave birth aboard ship, the day after
arriving at Cape Cod. Peregrine (the word means Pilgrim) White would
be the first white child born in New England. Her husband was among
those that died that first winter and she remarried in May of 1621,
the first marriage in New England by the colonists. Her new husband
was Edward Winslow, prominent enough to have been the third signer of
the Mayflower Compact, ahead of Miles Standish. His wife had died
just two months before. Winslow would later become governor, as would
one of Susanna's sons.
McGuyre is even more sure that the Leiden and Mayflower Susanna
was not the Ann Fuller born to Robert in 1577, stating that it "is
highly unlikely, if not impossible." She would have been 43 when she
remarried Winslow, who was 25 at the time, and would have been 53 at
the birth of her last child. Winslow wrote to a friend in England in
1623, to be remembered to his father-in-law, when Robert Fuller died
in 1614. Robert's will refers to daughter Ann Fuller, over two years
after Susanna married White. Dr. Samuel's 1633 will mentions only one
sister, Alice Bradford, who was actually his sister-in-law. Susanna
remained a mystery not only concerning her origins, but also as to
her death. It seems ironic that the mother of the first born and the
first bride in New England, and wife and mother to governors died
without a record.
The Shermans even doubt that the William White-Anna Fuller
marriage in Leiden is the same Mayflower couple, and they present
evidence that another William White, a tobacco merchant, was the
Leiden groom in question, remaining in Leiden until his death in
1631.
Sam Fuller, son of Edward, was listed on the Mayflower manifest
as being five years old, he was probably born in England although he
could have been born while the Separatist group was in Holland. His
uncle Sam was living in Leiden as early as 1608, probably before our
Sam's birth. We do not know when Matthew and Sam's parents joined the
group of English Separatists in Leiden.
After Matthew and Sam's parents died in 1621, Sam lived with
his Uncle Samuel, the Doctor, who lived in Plymouth until his death
in 1633, from smallpox. In 1623 Sam had three acres in Plymouth, two
apparently being inherited from his parents share in the new colony.
The land assigned to him was on the south side of the town brook, "to
the woodward" and included what is now Watson's Hill. One of his
neighbors was the Indian Hobomok.
During the Fall of 1621, the Governor of Plymouth, William
Bradford, was so thankful that his colony of Pilgrims had survived,
that he declared a three day feast to celebrate their deliverance.
The local Indians were invited, and Thanksgiving became a national
tradition.
Life in Plymouth was a struggle until 1630 when the townspeople
began to prosper by selling provisions to the flood of new immigrants
coming into Massachusetts, most of whom passed through Plymouth.
Plymouth is a small port town halfway between Cape Cod and Boston. By
1630 the population reached 300. It would remain relatively small,
although it had grown to 3,000 by 1660. Sam was made a freeman in
1634.
In 1635, Sam married Jane Lothrop, in Scituate, Massachusetts.
The town had only been settled in 1628 and did not officially become
a town until 1637. Their children would be born in Scituate until
1641, and by 1644 they were living in Barnstable, Massachusetts, and
Sam was still living there at his death in 1683.
Jane was the minister's daughter, her father Reverend John
Lothrop, educated at Oxford, was pastor for London's First
Independent Church. He arrived in Scituate in 1634 where he was the
first minister, and then moved to Barnstable in 1639 where he was
also the first minister.
Even though Jane's father was the minister in Scituate, Sam and
Jane were married at the home of Mr. Cudworth, by Captain Miles
Standish, the town magistrate.
The year following their marriage, 1636, Sam and Jane built a
pallizadse style house in Scituate, located on Greenfield Street. It
had walls of poles, filled in with stones and clay, with a thatched
roof, windows of oiled paper and a floor of hand sawed planks. They
had 20 acres of land, probably a grant from the town. Sam was a
constable and also served as a juryman and on committees to settle
difficulties with the Indians.
In 1639 Reverend John moved to Barnstable, at the time the most
easterly settlement on Cape Cod, where he was the minister. If Sam
and his wife did not follow him immediately, they did so within a few
years. Sam bought land from the Indian Secunke, in that portion of
Barnstable called Scorton or Sandy Neck. He bought other lands as
well. Sam died at Barnstable in 1683 and it is believed that he was
buried at Lothrop's Hill in Barnstable, but there is no gravestone.
Matthew Fuller was not a Mayflower passenger, and there is some
doubt that he was the son of Edward and Ann. The issue of Matthew's
parentage has been debated for over 100 years. MacGunnigle's 1986
article, describes in detail the evidence pro and con. This author,
who also was the primary author of the Five Generations book on
Edward Fuller, concluded that Matthew was the son of Edward Fuller,
of the Mayflower. His main arguments are land grant eligibility at
Plymouth and a reference to family relationships contained in a deed
at Essex County, Massachusetts. The argument against Edward's
parentage is the extract of registers from Redenhall recorded by F.
Fuller, detailed above, listing the baptism of a Matthew Fuller, on
October 16, 1603, as "the son of John ffuller and Margaret his wife."
Matthew was born in 1603 and is described as being very
different from his brother Sam, talented but perverted according to
the political methods of the day. Apparently he was a populist who
freely debated sensitive issues and then sided with whichever side
gained popular approval. Sam on the other hand was quiet, pious and a
conformist to the religious and social mores of the times.
Matthew was 17 when his parents sailed on the Mayflower, and
there are no indications as to why he remained in England, living
there with friends of the family (according to Patterson). Matthew's
first wife is thought to be named Hannah and they had a daughter
named Ann. He married Frances, probably in England, and they arrived
in Plymouth with three children by 1641. Matthew was declared a
freeman in 1642 and in 1643 made sergeant in the newly established
"military discipline." He was still living in Plymouth in 1649 but by
1652 he was in Barnstable, when he was elected Lieutenant in the
Barnstable militia. Two years later he was appointed Lieutenant under
Captain Miles Standish, commanding a 50 man troop to fight against
the Dutch at Monhatoes, New York, but peace was declared before the
troops could move out.
Matthew appeared in court several times in 1658 for speaking
blasphemy and slandering the governor. His opinions were correct by
todays standards but were considered illegal in the colonies.
Apparently Matthew was also controversial in legal matters as well as
religious and he frequently litigated issues which a more "discreet
man would have settled without appeal to the courts." He is described
as having sound judgment but being indiscreet.
In Barnstable he was "Captain in the military, surgeon-general
of the Colony troops and served as chairman in the Council of War in
1671." He was a Captain of the Plymouth Colony forces in King
Philip's War, the colonists' struggle with the New England Indians.
Matthew was one of the first regular physicians to settle in
Barnstable. He took a stand for the then unpopular Quakers and
received a fine for his views. His family lived in the northwest
corner of Barnstable at Scroton Neck, but also owned land in Falmouth
and Middleboro which had been granted by the Colony for distinguished
service. He was a wealthy man for the times.
The property of Matthew and his brother Samuel, located on the
west edge of Scorton Neck became involved in a controversy with the
bordering town of Sandwich, the matter being the issue of conflicting
court orders beginning in 1672 and finally resolved in 1680.
Matthew died in Barnstable in 1678 and his death created an
interesting incident. Among the inventory of possessions in his
estate was a box of jewels valued at ú200. Soon after his
death the box came up missing and Robert, the Fuller's Scotch
servant, was charged with having stolen it. There was no proof that
he had taken it, he was simply a suspect. Robert was so affected by
the charge that he starved himself to death, dying of starvation and
grief. He died in winter and there was deep snow. He was buried in
the spring and his grave was marked with two stones. For 200 years
the "Scotchman's ghost" was reported to inhabit the area and the
ghost's presence was threatened by mothers to frighten their children
into obedience.
Matthew and Frances had five children including Elizabeth.
Fuller- Name derived from the occupational surname, dating from
the 12th century: one who fulls cloth, or cleans cloth.
Major References:
Bowman, George Ernest, The Mayflower Reader, A Selection of
Articles from the Mayflower Descendant, Baltimore, Genealogical
Publishing Company INC., 1978.
Caffery, Kate, "The Mayflower," New York, Stein and Day, 1974.
Cutter, William Richard, "Genealogical and Family History of
Central New York," New York, Lewis Historical Publishing Company,
1912.
Drake, Samuel G., Publisher of the New England Historical and
Genealogical Register, "Items From the City Records at Leiden,"
Boston, The New England Historical & Genealogical Society,
Volume 15, January 1861.
"Encyclopedia Americana," Danbury, Grolier Inc., 1992. (History of
Pilgrims)
Fleming, Thomas, One Small Candle, The Pilgrim's First Year in
America, New York, W. W. Norton and Company, INC., 1963.
Fuller, Francis H., "Fullers of Redenhall, England," article in
The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Boston, The
New England Historical & Genealogical Society, Volume 55,
October 1901.
Gill, Cripin, "Mayflower Remembered," New York, Tapinger
Publishing Company, 1970.
Haxtun, Anne Arnoux, "Signers of the Mayflower Compact,"
Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1968.
Holmes, Frank R., "Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England
Families 1620-1700," Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company,
Inc., 1984.
MacGunnigle, Bruce Cambell, "Mayflower Families in Progress,
Edward Fuller of the Mayflower," Plymouth, General Society of
Mayflower Descendants, 1987.
________, "Mayflower Families Through Five Generations," (Edward
Fuller), Volume 4, Plymouth, The General Society of Mayflower
Descendants, 1990.
________, Robert M. Sherman, and Robert S. Wakefield, "Was Matthew
Fuller of Plymouth Colony A Son of Pilgrim Edward Fuller?," article
in The American Genealogist, Published by R. W. Sherman, Warwick
(RI), Volume 61, Number 4, July/October 1986.
McGutre, Ruth, and Robert S. Wakefield, "Mayflower Families
Through Five Generations," (Winslow) Volume 5, Plymouth, The
General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1992(?)
Morrison, Samuel Eliot, Editor, "Of Plymouth Plantation,
1620-1647, By William Bradford, Sometime Governor Thereof," New
York, The Modern Library (Random House), 1952.
Noyes, Ethel J.R.C., "The Women of the Mayflower and Women of the
Plymouth Colony," Plymouth, 1921, Republished by Gale Research
Company, Book Tower, Detroit, 1974.
Otis, Amis, Genealogical Notes of Barnstable (Massachusetts)
Families, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company INC., 1978.
Patterson, D. Williams, Genealogy of East Haddam, Connecticut,
East Haddam, Undated hand written ledger, Microfilmed by the
Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford.
Radasch, Katherine Warner, and Arthur H. Radasch, authors of
segment on Samuel Fuller, in "Mayflower Families Through Five
Generations," (S. Fuller and White) Volume 1, Plymouth, The General
Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1975. Segment on William White
authored by Ruth Wilder Sherman and Robert Moody Sherman. Editor of
entire book was Lucy Mary Kellogg.
Rhoades, Nelson Osgood, Colonial Families of the United States of
America, volume VII, Baltimore, 1912 (Republished by Genealogical
Publishing Co. in 1995)
Roser, Susan E., "Mayflower Increasings, for Three Generations,"
Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1989.
________, "Mayflower Marriages," Baltimore, Genealogical
Publishing Company, Inc., 1990.
Stratton, Eugene Aubrey, Plymouth Colony, Its History and People,
1620-1691, Salt Lake City, Ancestry Publications, 1986.
Thompson, Lesba Lewis, "The Descendants of Rev. John Lothrop,"
L.L. Thompson, 1965.
Willison, George F., Saints and Strangers, The Lives of the
Pilgrim Fathers, New York, Time INC., 1945.