Robert Fuller (abt. 1615 - 1706)

Born about 1615 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Sarah (Bowen) Fuller — married 23 Apr 1639 (to 14 Oct 1676) in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts

Husband of Margaret (Felton) Fuller — married 1678 (to 30 Jan 1699) in Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony

Descendants

Died 10 May 1706 at about age 91 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts

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Robert Fuller migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 123) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disputed Origins

A previous version of this profile claimed, without source, that he was son of Thomas Fuller and Anne Audrey Gylman and born 1615 in Redenhall. There was no such son Robert baptized in Redenhall in the correct time frame. The parents have been detached.

This Robert Fuller was also not the brother of Edward and Samuel Fuller of the Mayflower. Their father Robert Fuller, had a son Robert about 1581, but did not name son Robert in his 1614 will, so presumably he died before then.^[1]

Biography

Robert Fuller was born about 1615 in England.

He appears to have been related to the Fullers from Redenhall, Norfolk, England, but the exact relationship is unclear. Y-DNA results have made him a significant figure in the effort to identify the actual parentage of Capt. Matthew Fuller; those results have shown that Robert and Matthew were related, and have negated the long-held view that Matthew was a son of Mayflower passenger Edward Fuller. The possibility however remains that Matthew was a son of Edward Fuller's wife if she had had a previous marriage to a reasonably close relative of Robert's^[2].

Thomas Fuller of Salem and Woburn may have been his brother.

Robert emigrated about 1638.

Based on his first record in Massachusetts (see below), Robert Fuller emigrated about 1638^{[3] [4]}.

His passage was probably on the ship Bevis of Hampton. The Bevis made only one voyage to America in 1638 and Robert's name does not appear in the ship's manifest. However, he may have worked for his passage as an ordinary seaman, in which case, his name would not have appeared among those of the regular passengers.

The first record of Robert Fuller in America was in Salem, Massachusetts in 1639 when he requested five acres to plant.^{[citation needed]} On 23 April 1639 in Salem, he married (first) Sarah Bowen of Weymouth.^{[5] [6]} Their first child was born the following year.

Sarah was born in Wales in about 1616 to Richard and Ann Bowen who had initially settled in Weymouth. The Bowens (and by extension Robert Fuller) were probably followers of Rev. Samuel Newman who with his congregation planned the move to Seekonk (later Rehoboth).^[7]

Robert became a freeman in Salem in 1641.^[8] He was a bricklayer.

By 1643 he was in Weymouth where he joined Reverend Samuel Newman's congregation in planning to relocate to Seakonk (later Rehoboth).

"The first meeting of the original Planters of Rehoboth on record, is dated at 'Weimoth the 24th of the 8th month * [October, 1643.'^[7]" Later in 1643/4 "the proprietors were required individually to give in the value of their estates, in order that the allotments of land might be made accordingly, . . . for the bringing in of their estates; that soe [sic] men's lotments [sic] might be taken up according to person and estate^[7]" He was on the list of allotments for and is included in the "Ring of Green" map (see below), which includes the earliest proprietors of Rehoboth."The Ring of Green.". The original planters removed to Seekonk (later Rehoboth, Massachusetts) by January 1643/4. He was not included on the list of those who in January 1643 lost their earlier allotments because they had not settled in Rehoboth.^{[citation needed]}

Rehoboth Ring of the Green Map

Their home was situated at the southwest end the settlement, called the "Ring of Green" which was on the Seekonk plain (now located in what is present day Rumford, Rhode Island). Robert was allotted subsequent portions of land as Rehoboth purchased them.

Rehoboth granted him freeman status on 22 February 1657/58.^{[citation needed]}

In 1675 and 1676, Rehoboth was attacked several times by the Wampanoag Indians in what was called "King Philip's War." Scores of townspeople were ambushed in the fields or killed in surprise attacks by angry natives. King Philip, or "Metacomet" (which was his Indian name), was the son of Massasoit, chief of the Wampanog tribe. Apparently, the Indians had become increasingly angry with the encroachments of the early settlers, and resorted to violence. As a result of these attacks, on 14 October 1676 Robert lost his wife, Sarah, and three of his children, John, Samuel, and Abigail. His daughter Elizabeth lost her husband, Nehemiah Sabin.

Shortly thereafter, Robert returned to Salem where he continued to work as a bricklayer.

Robert Fuller, was dismissed from Rehoboth church, to Salem first church in 1679.^{[citation needed]}

Soon after (and in Salem) he married (second) Margaret Waller,^{[citation needed]} whose husband had also been killed in the war.

By 1696-8 they returned to Rehoboth where Margaret died in Rehoboth Jan. 30th, 1700,^[9] and Robert died May 10, 1706.^[10]).

He was a man of means in money and estate, holding much land in Rehoboth, Attleboro, Seekonk and on the Pawtucket River. ^{[citation needed]}

Of Robert Fuller family and his early descendants it is said: "The Fuller families were of strong Puritanical character; marked for integrity, industry, a strict regard for truth and justice, accompanied by an affability or manners both pleasing and of controlling influence."^{[citation needed]}

Children

All children were by his first wife, Sarah.^[11]

1. Jonathan Fuller (abt. 1640 Salem, Massachusetts – 10 Feb 1708/09 Attleboro, Massachusetts) on 14 Dec 1664 married Elizabeth Wilmarth/Willmot^[12] (4 APR 1647 Braintree, Massachusetts - 4 OCT 1690 Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts) daughter of Thomas Wilmarth of Braintree, Massachusetts
2. Elizabeth Fuller (c.1645-1688) on 1 Aug 1672 in Rehoboth married (1) Neheiah Sabin^[13] who was killed by Indians; (2) Eleazer Wheelock whose grandson was the founder of Dartmouth College
3. John Fuller (c. 1647 – 23 Aug 1676 killed in King Phillips War) on 25 Apr 1673 in Rehoboth married Abigail Titus^[14] (18 FEB 1652 Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts - 31 MAY 1734 Attleboro, Bristol, Massachusetts). The widow Abigail Fuller married on 16 Oct 1676 Thomas Cushman (1637-1726 Plymton, Massachusetts) as his second wife
4. Samuel Fuller (c. 1647 - 15 Apr 1676 died in King Philip's War) married Mary Ide. His widow married John Redaway.
5. Abigail Fuller b. 1653, d. date unknown Note: This may be the widow of John Fuller.
6. Benjamin Fuller (1658 – 27 Jan 1711/12) married (1) Mary ___; (2) Judith Smith

There were no known children from his second marriage to Margaret (Felton?) Waller.

Sources

1. ↑ Fuller, Francis H. "Fullers of Redenhall, England" New England Historical and Genealogical Register 55:415. (1901)
2. ↑ "Matthew Fuller of Barnstable in the Plymouth Colony: Was He a Mayflower Descendant?", by Donald G. Blauvelt, The Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 70 (Summer 2022), p. 121
3. ↑ Frederick A. Vikus, editor. Immigrant Ancestors: A List of 2,500 Immigrants to America before 1750. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1964. 75p. Repr. 1986.
4. ↑ Meredith B. Colket, Jr., Founders of Early American Families: Emigrants from Europe, 1607-1657. Cleveland: General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, 1975. 366p.
5. ↑ U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700
6. ↑ The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, 1847-2011
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Leonard Bliss, Jr., (1836), “The History of Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts: Comprising A History of the Present Towns of Rehoboth, Seekonk, and Pawtcket, From their Settlement to the Present Time, Together with Sketches of Attleborough, Cumberland, and a part of Swansey and Barrinigton”. (pp 24, 31, 38, 43, 48, 49, 67, 118, 128 for Robert) Boston, MA., Otis and Boarders, Accessed 23 Sep 2018. Link
8. ↑ Massachusetts, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890
9. ↑ Vital record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896 : marriages, intentions, births, deaths : with supplement containing the record of 1896, colonial returns, lists of the early settlers, purchasers, freemen, inhabitants, the soldiers serving in Philip's war and the revolution by Arnold, James N. (James Newell), 1844-1927,page 825, https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordofreh00arno/page/824/mode/2up?q=1699+
10. ↑ Vital Record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896. Marriages, Intentions, Births, Deaths, with Supplement containing the Record of 1896, Colonial Returns, Lists of the Early Settlers, Purchasers, Freemen, Inhabitants, the Soldiers serving in Philip's War and the Revolution. Vol 1 Page 825, https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordofreh00arno/page/824/mode/2up?q=1699+
11. ↑ Dorsey, Jean Muir, Robert Fuller of Salem, Massachusetts and some of his descendants, Urbana, Ill.: unknown, 1961.
12. ↑ Massachusetts, Compiled Marriages, 1633-1850
13. ↑ Rehoboth, Massachusetts, Vital Records, 1642-1896
14. ↑ Massachusetts, Compiled Marriages, 1633-1850

See also:

• Records of Robert Fuller of Salem and Rehoboth and Some of His Descendants, by Clarence C. Fuller, Norwood, Mass. : [Printed by Norwood Print. Co.], 1969; "First Generation", p. 304; https://archive.org/details/recordsofrobertf00full/page/304/mode/2up [additional text: limited availability, as preview only]

• S00009 Horace A. Abell, Ancestors of Arunah Shepherdson Abell, Rochester, NY: Privately Printed, 1933;

• S00260 James N. Arnold, Vital Records of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, 1642-1896, Providence, RI: 1897; reproduced on CD by Search & ReSearch Publishing Corporation, Wheat Ridge, CO

Acknowledgements

This profile was created by the generosity and kindness of the following individuals. Thank them for their contributions:

Cynthia Edgemon Rushing - created the profile, added available image, sources and the original bibliography.

Brian McCullough-WikiTree profile Fuller-1134 created through the import of BDM7-7-11.ged on Jul 8, 2011.

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/MPQC-17G