RE:CORDS OF ROBERT FLJLLER RECORDS OF ROBERT FULLER of Salem and Rehoboth AND SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS by Clarence C. Fuller Foxboro, Mass. Privately Printed in Norwood, Mass. Printed in the United States of America by NORWOOD PRINTING COMPANY, Norwood, Mass. 1969 THE GOOD SHEPHERD Memorial window at the First Baptist Church, Mansfield, Mass. ''In memory of Deacon Pierpont M. Edwards and Susan Fuller Edwards'' Dedicated J u1y 1914 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. Historical Sketches . 1 Early History of Salem . 1 Early History of Rehoboth . 3 II. Roberti Fuller, ca. 1615 - 1706 . 17 Original Rehobo~h Land Records concerning Roberti Fuller . 48 Recorded Deeds of Robertl Fuller . 60 Recorded Deeds of Robert and Margaret Fuller . 66 The Bowen Family of Early Rehoboth . 73 III. Samuel2 Fuller, ca. l 649 - 1724 . 77 Samuel's Estate . 81 Ide Family of Early Rehoboth . 86 IV. Samue13 Fuller, 1676 - 1724 . 87 Estate of Samuel3 Fuller . 96 Land Owned by Samuel3 Fuller .... _. 108 Wilmarth Family of Early Rehoboth . 117 V. Timothy4 Fuller, 1710/11 - 1782 ................ 121 Timothy's Estate . 144 Land Transactions of Timothy4 Fuller ........... 159 Recorded Deeds of Timothy4 Fuller . 165 Hannah Bliss and Her Father's Estate ............ 172 Bliss Family of Early Rehoboth ................ 176 Notes on the Thurber Family Genealogy . 180 VI. Timothy5 Fuller, 175 l - 1809 .................. 184 Estate of His Mother, Elizabeth (Thurber) Fuller ... 191 Settlement of Timothy's Estate . 196 Land Transactions of Timothy5 Fuller . 21 O Notes on the Medbury Family ................. 220 V vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Vil. Timothy6 Fuller, 1799 - 1866 .................. 222 Timothy's Estate ........................... 229 Division of the Fuller Homestead . 233 Timothy6 - Land Transactions ................ 237 Recorded Deeds of Timothy6 Fuller . 240 Notes on the Horton Family .................. 254 Notes on the Cornell Family .................. 256 VIII. Hiram7 Dexter Fuller, 1835 - 1891 .............. 258 Estate of Hiram Dexter Fuller . 281 Susan Carpenter (Perry) Fuller . 283 Estate of Susan C. (Fuller) Edwards ............. 291 Recorded Deeds of Hiram and/or Susan C. Fuller .. 292 The Perry Family of Rehoboth . 299 The Carpenter Family of Rehoboth . 300 IX. Fuller Genealogy ............................. 302 Glossary . 334 Abbreviations ................................ 335 Bibliography . 336 Acknowledgements . 340 Index of Fullers . 341 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page "The Good Shepherd" window, Baptist Church, Mansfield, Mass. (Frontispiece) "M F" gravestone, Newman Cemetery, East Providence, R.I. 4 7 Map locating Salem land of Robert and Margaret Fuller . 70 Facsimile of deed, May 26, 1696, Robert to son Jonathan . 72 Facsimile of inventory, Aug. 29, 1676, SamueJ2 Fuller estate . 83 Map of Fuller gravestones, Palmer River Cemetery, Rehoboth, Mass. 97 Signature of SamueJ3 Fuller . 98 Signatures of Samuel4 Fuller, Ebenezer4 Fuller, and others . l 02 Signatures of Dorothy Fuller, Samuel Peck, Jonathan Bliss ............. 105 Facsimile of "Choyce for garden" by Timothy4, Dorothy, and Ruth ..... 106 Reproduction of Dorothy Fuller gravestone, Palmer River Cemetery ..... 120 Framework of Timothy4 Fuller house . 128 Froe used to split shingles . 129 Drawing of Timothy4 Fuller house on Rocky Hill, Rehoboth . 131 Floor plan of Timothy4 Fuller house . 13 2 Signature of Elizabeth Fuller . ........... 145 Signatures of Timothy5 Fuller, Thos. Carpenter, Ebenezer Peck . 146 Signature ofTimothyS Fuller .....................- .............. 153 Signatures of Elizabeth Fuller, Thos. Carpenter, Timothy Fuller ........ 153 Map of Timothy4 estate and division of March 31, 1784 . ........... 160 Reproduction of Hannah Fuller gravestone, Palmer River C.:metery ...... 179 Signatures of David Perry, Jr., Jeremiah Wheeler, Jr., Isaia'1 Allen . I 94 Timothy Fuller house in 1957 . .......... 197 Floor plan of original house and addition to west end . 198 Gravestone of Timothy6 and Olive Fuller, Village Cemetrry ............ 227 Photos of Timothy6 and Olive Fuller and eight of their children ........ 230 Map of land division March 29, 1821, Timothy5 Fuller fstate .......... 238 Photo of Hiram Dexter 7 Fuller . 260 Signature of Hiram D. Fuller .................................... 260 Photo of Susan (Perry) Fuller ................................... 260 Signature of Susan C. Fuller .................................... 260 vii viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Hiram D. Fuller house, Perryville Road, Rehoboth ................... 261 Map of Perryville I 871 ........................................ 262 Two-wheeled dump cart . 264 Photo First Baptist Church and No. Main St., Mansfield, ca. 1882 ....... 267 Photo looking north on Main St., Mansfield, ca. 1882 ................. 267 Photo corner East, West, and Main Sts., Mansfield, ca. 1882 ............ 269 Photo Mansfield Railroad depot, ca. 1882 .......................... 269 Facsimile first advertisement of H. D. Fuller, "Mansfield News." ........ 271 Photo of Hiram and Susan Fuller gravestone, Spring Brook Cemetery .... 28 I Signature of Susan C. Edwards .................................. 290 Map of H. D. & S. C. Fuller property, School Street, Mansfield ......... 298 Genealogical outline of eleven generations ......................... 303 THE NAME FULLER Fuller is an old English occupational surname. Employed by woolen cloth manufacturers, a "fuller" scoured the cloth after weaving to render it whiter and more compact, thicker, and consequently more durable. As early as the fifteenth century, many fullers were in the southeastern coastal counties of Suffolk and Norfolk. The original home of the fullers may have been in these counties where many woolen manufacturers were located. In these and other counties the trade of a fuller was of importance, as the quality of the finished cloth would be largely dependent on the expertness of these craftsmen. The earliest method of processing included sprinkling the woven cloth with a clay known as "fullers' earth." The cloth was folded in a tub with water where the fuller would walk on it, presumably with his bare feet, u.1til the objective of fulling was accomplished. This part of the process was also the occupation of a "walker" from whence the surname Walker was derived. In due time the early fashion of treading out the cloth became replaced by simple machinery called fulling mills. The introduction of machine methods met with resistance as is often the case when a change in established procedures takes place. A complaint made to King Edward IV (1461-1483) began by saying "hats, caps, and bonnets hitherto made, wrought, fulled, and thickened in the wonted manner, that is to say, with hands and feet," and then proceeded to urge that the use of mills brought inferior articles into the market. Reference to the fuller's trade is made in an old story which illustrates the process of cloth making: ix X THE NAME FULLER Cloth that cometh fro the wevyng Is nought comely to wear Til it be fulled under foot, Or in fullying stokkes Washen wel with water, And with taseles cracched Y-touked, and y-teynted, And under taillours handle. The "taseles" mentioned were the common teasel, a rough prickly plant, similar to the. thistle, which when dried was used for scratching the woolen cloth, and thereby raising the nap. In an old statute of Edward IV it was required "that every fuller ... in his craft and occupation of fuller or tayseler of cloth, shall exercise and use taysels (teasels) and no cards which deceitfully impair the cloth." Y-touked presumably means tucked or stretched on a tenter frame previous to being dyed (teynted), after which the finished cloth is ready for the tailor. The adoption of surnames in England beginning in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, was the result of a growing necessity due to increasing population as well as expanding commerce and industry. It became increasingly impossible to maintain current identity of individuals unless each assumed a name which became his property. In the case of the fullers it was by adopting the name of the craft they followed, which gave them a fixed identity for life and was eventually passed on to their direct descendants. It will be seen, therefore, that all persons now bearing the occupational surname Fuller did not descend from one common ancestor of that name. PREFACE Eight successive generations of my ancestors lived all or part of their lifetime in the village of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, beginning with Roberti Fuller, who was one of the earliest settlers, through and including the five children of Hiram Dexter? Fuller. This covers a continuous span of about 232 years, or two and one-third centuries, during which the welfare and prosperity of each family was influenced by the events which shaped the history of Rehoboth. Important local and general events of contemporary history will be outlined briefly for the earlier generations. Although my original objective was to write a specific genealogy of my own lineage, a great deal of related material was found while searching the old records for documentation. It seemed to me that such material, taken from town and county records, would add worthwhile information about the activity of each of the ancestors. It should put some "flesh on the bones" of the individuals who, in many genealogies, are simply a listing of names and dates. None of the ancestors in the early generations were great or near-great, but each generation left its imprint, and their histories and records survive. It is hoped that the