Susanna and Elizabeth in a codicil (dated Jany. 4, 1660), to his will, dated May 31, 1653, and proved May 10, 1666. The portion of the codicil to the will of Thomas Emerson referring to Susanna and Elizabeth is as follows: "Also in refrens to the twenty-fifth lin of this my wil it is to be understod that what ther is mentioned as to my daughter ffulor is my intent that it shall be holy and fuly devided between hur tow daughter at ye age of twenty yers or at ye day of mariadg Susanna and Elizabeth." The twenty-fifth line of his will alluded to in this codicil is as follows: "Item I give vnto my daughter Elisabeth ffullor the best fether bed and boulster with a paire of blanketts and the best couerlett and the bedsted to Injoy for hir use untill hir daughter Susana atayne the age of Twenty yeares or day of hir mariage if shall happen sooner and then she to inioy them alsoe. I giue vnto my sayd daughter the great carued chest & the carued box with a little Trunck with all yt is in it and a small carued chest with what is in it." John Fuller also mentions in his will his sons, John and William, to whom he "bequeaths no more because their uncle hath undertaken to give them sufficient portions." This very clause in the will, when taken in connection with other facts, seems to constitute strong evidence that the testator, John Fuller, was the son of Roger Fuller, of Topcroft, County Norfolk, England, 1572-1644. Mr. Edward F. Everett, of Charleston, Mass., in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (Vol. 53, p. 335) very truly says: "No town entries at Ipswich, Mass., record the marriage or death of these two sons, John and William, nor do their names appear on the church record there, therefore indicating they were not residents of Ipswich, yet we know they were living in 1689, as their names appear on the probate records in that year when the estate of their brother Thomas was divided. All other brothers and sisters, and their families, are on the Ipswich town records. It is thus necessary to look elsewhere for John and William. We find a deposition of a William Fuller, of Hampton, N. H., who states that he was seventy-three (73) years of age in 1681, and that he came from Ipswich to Hampton, that he had a brother and son John, the last thirty-eight (38) years old in 1681. We have seen that a William Fuller left England in May, 1635, accompanied by John Fuller (supposed to be a brother) in the ship Abigail, William's age being stated on the passenger list as twenty-five years and John's at fifteen years, which would make that William's age in 1681 possibly between seventy-two and seventy-three years, or in his seventy-third year. We have seen also that the William who was twenty-five years in 1635 settled at Ipswich, removed from there, sold his lands there in 1639, bought lands in Hampton in 1647, was a Representative in 1667 and died at Hampton May 26, 1693." "In Hampton also," says Mr. Everett, "we have a John and a William, Jr., whose parentage has never been decided, only supposed, who will fill the requirements of our John and William (sons of John of Ipswich) with an uncle William (Sr.) able to "undertake to give them sufficient portions." It has been conceded that William Fuller, Sr., of Hampton, was the son of Roger Fuller, of Topcroft, County Norfolk, England, and the Topcroft Parish Register of Baptisms (see New Eng. Hist. and Gen. Reg., Vol. 48, p. 345) contains the following entry: "1611— William, son of Roger, baptized Dec. 14." If this be the same William Fuller who in May, 1635, sailed with John Fuller from England on the ship Abigail, his age would be about twenty-five years, as set forth on the passenger list of that ship. In addition to this Roger Fuller, of Topcroft, in his will proved in the Archdeaconry of Norwich, August 1644, mentions his son William. It is true that the will of Roger Fuller does not mention any son named John nor does the parish register disclose the baptism of any child of Roger bearing the name John, but neither did the will of Roger nor the parish registers mention Giles Fuller as a son of Roger, and yet in the probate court at Hampton, N. H., it was shown by indisputable evidence that Giles Fuller, who died at Hampton in 1673, was a son of this Roger Fuller of Topcroft. I am inclined to think, from all the evidence now at hand, that John Fuller of Ipswich, Mass., was the son of Roger Fuller, of Topcroft, County Norfolk, England. It is possible, however, that he may be the son of some other member of this English family of Fuller, whose descendants were very numerous in the parishes of Redenhall, Harleston, Wortwell and Topcroft, County Norfolk, England. Mr. Francis H. Fuller, of Jamaica Plain, Mass., furnished to the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (Vol. 55, p. 192, and Vol. 48, p. 345) the record of baptisms, marriages and burials from the parish registers of Redenhall, Harleston, Wortwell and Topcroft, County Norfolk, England. These registers shows (among others) the following baptisms: 1609-Wyllym Fuller, son of John Fuller, deceased, and Margaret, bapt. 30 June. 1609-William Fuller, son of Rafe Fuller and Elizabeth, his wife, bapt. 15 Aug. 1611-William Fuller, son of William and Elizabeth Fuller, bapt. 5 March. 1611-William Fuller, son of Roger Fuller (of Topcroft), bapt. 14 Dec. Any one of these Williams would closely answer the description of the William Fuller who embarked on the Abigail, 1635, then aged twenty-five years, and also be sufficiently close to the William Fuller of Hampton who was about seventy-three years of age in 1681. There are also several of the name of John Fuller whose baptisms are mentioned in these parish registers and whose ages would closely correspond to that of our John Fuller of Ipswich, Mass. There were in this very large family of Fuller at Redenhall, Wortwell, Topcroft, Mendham and vicinity-all closely related-very many named John and William, so that it is hard to distinguish them and easy to mistake one for the other, but no matter which we take or what their relationship to each other may have been the ancestry of each and all of them leads us directly back to one and the same ancestor who was a still older John Fuller, who died at Redenhall May 3, 1558. I will therefore proceed with a brief synopsis of the English ancestry of the Fuller family, embracing to some extent all the principal branches, from which it will also be seen that Dr. Samuel Fuller and Edward Fuller, his brother, the Mayflower Pilgrims; Surgeon-General Mathew Fuller, Thomas Fuller of Dedham, Giles Fuller of Hampton, William Fuller of Hampton, and our John Fuller of Ipswich, Mass., whose daughter Elizabeth married James King of Suffield, Conn., were all closely related. In following out the several lines, however, I shall proceed upon the theory, which I think is the best supported by the evidence, that John Fuller of Ipswich was the son of Roger Fuller of Topcroft, County Norfolk, England. For this English ancestry I am indebted to an article in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (Vol. 55, p. 192) written by Mr. Francis H. Fuller of Jamaica Plain, Mass. ENGLISH ANCESTRY. There were living in Redenhall, County Norfolk, England, in 1482 and 1488, John and William Fuller, both freeholders, as they were serving on a jury. In 1508 William Fuller and John Fuller, Jr., were named as grantees in a deed of land in Redenhall. This land was bounded on one side by the "Free land of John Fuller." A copy of this deed may be seen in the Egerton Mss. 2713, fol. 7, British Museum. These Fullers, who lived at Redenhall and owned estates there prior to 1482, were the progenitors of those whose names are given below, but as there were no parish records in England before 1538 no record of baptisms, marriages or burials prior to that time can be given. I shall therefore begin the English ancestry of the family with John and William Fuller, A. D. 1482, and continue it down to 1635, when a John and William Fuller emigrated from England to America. In giving the issue of the several ancestors below named I have omitted the great majority of their children to save space and because they are unnecessary to my purpose, which is simply to show the direct lineage of John Fuller of Ipswich, Mass., in 1635, whose daughter Elizabeth married James King of Suffield, Conn., March 23, 1674. FIRST GENERATION. JOHN FULLER and WILLIAM FULLER were freeholders in Redenhall, County Norfolk, England, in 1482, 1488, 1508, etc. They are the first ancestors of our Fuller family of whom at present we have a definite record. The child of one of these—probably of John, since John, Jr., is mentioned in the deed above referred to made A. D. 1508—was. ISSUE: 2 i. JOHN, b. ; died in Redenhall, May 3, 1559. SECOND GENERATION. 2 -. JOHN FULLER, (John1), born; died in Redenhall, May 3, 1559; married He left a will. Register, Coleman, fol. 325. "Will of John Fuller, the elder, dated 4 Feb., 1558-9, proved 12 May, 1559. Gives to son, John Fuller, all lands and tenements. both bound and free, in Redenhall, Wortwell or elleswyer," he paying my son Robert Fuller £10. To Ales, my daughter, £6 8s. 4d. (Several small bequests.) Son John, executor; witnesses, Thomas Fuller, Thomas Warde, John Barne, William Norton." ISSUE: 3 i. JOHN, born ; died May 15, 1599; married Ann who survived him and married Giles Chalker. ii. Robert, born - died May 23, 1614; married. ISSUE: I 2 Edward, born Sept. 4, 1575; died in New England 1621. Was a passenger on the Mayflower to New England, 1620. Samuel (Dr.), born Jany. 20, 1580; died in New England, 1633. Was a passenger on the Mayflower to New England, 1620. 3 Mathew, of Barnstable (1640.) Surgeon-General of Plymouth Colony, 1673. THIRD GENERATION. 3 ; died May 15, 1599; JOHN FULLER, (John,2 John1), born married Ann Collinge, who survived him and married Giles Chalker. I suppose this John Fuller to have been the grandfather of our John Fuller, of Ipswich, Mass., in 1635. He left a will dated Jany. 28, 1598-9, proved May 8, 1599, in which he names among his sons "Thomas, the younger" and "Thomas, the elder;" "Younge William my sonne" and "Ould William, my sonne," also names other children. The following are some of his children, the names of several being omitted here. ISSUE: 4 i. William, called in his father's will "Ould William," a son William, baptized March 5, 1611, who may iii. ROGER, born Oct. 19, 1572; died April 30, 1644; married April 24, 1600, Jane Gowan. |