John Fuller of Cambridge/Newton

Born: 1611, England, UK

Married: abt. 1644, Elizabeth Cole

Emigrated From: Lavenham Parish, Suffolk, England, UK

Immigrated To: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Residence: 1644, one of the first settlers of Newton, Massachusetts

Land: 1658, purchased 750 Acres from Joseph Cook

Died: 7 February 1698, Newton, Massachusetts

Will: 30 Jan 1695/6

Probate: 28 Feb 1697/8

Buried: East Parish Burying Ground (Centre Street Cemetery), Newton, MA

 

Sources

Pope(1) [FULLER] John, farmer, maltster, Cambridge, propr. (proprietor) 1644 [Pope is suggesting that John was a land owner in 1644 – we have not found evidence of that]. He deposed 16 (3) 1656, ae. about 40 years. (Mdx. Files.) He d. Feb. 1697-8, ae. 87. Will dated 30 Jan. 1695-6, prob. Feb. 28, 1697-8, beq. to wife Elizabeth; ch. John, Jonathan, Joshua, Jeremiah, Bethia Bond; Jonathan Hide, son of dau. Elizabeth H., dec; also to gr. ch. Mary Brown, Elizabeth and Hannah Hides.

Fuller(2)  John Fuller, one of the first settlers of Cambridge Village, was born in England in 1611, came to America about 1635, and settled in Cambridge Village—now called Newton—about 1644.

Newton was established as a town in 1691, and in 1873 was incorporated as a city.

In December, 1658, John Fuller bought 750 acres of land for about $1.00 per acre, the tract being bounded on the north and west by Charles River. Later he increased his holdings to upwards of 1,000 acres, and became one of the two largest land owners in the village. His tract was long known as the “Fuller Farm.” He divided his land among his children in his lifetime, confirming the division by his will, with the proviso that they should not sell to any stranger, until they, or their next relation, should have the offer of it. Twenty-two of his descendants, it is said, went into the army of the Revolution. Pope in his “Pioneers of Massachusetts” says he was a farmer and a maltster. He made his will in 1696, and died “Feb. 7, 1697-8, aged 87,” according to his gravestone record.

Banks(3) (Name of Emigrant) John Fuller; (English Parish, Emigrated from) Lavenham, Suffolk; (New England Town, Immigrated to) Cambridge, Massachusetts;  (Various/Reference) New England Historic Genealogical Register 49/491.

Coldham(4)  1653 – September.” “Probate of will of Walter Cole of Lavenham, Suffolk, whose daughter Elizabeth married John Fuller of New England.

Jackson(5)  Fuller, John, one of the first settlers of Camb. Village. He was born in 1611, and settled in Cambridge Village about 1644. In Dec, 1658, he purchased of Joseph Cooke, of Camb., seven hundred and fifty acres of land, for £160, bounded N. and W. by Charles river, the winding part of the river W.; E. by land of Thomas Park, and s. by Samuel Shepard’s farm, being a straight line between. His house stood on the s. side of the road, and w. side of the brook, and within a few rods of both road and brook. By subsequent purchase, he increased his tract to upwards of one thousand acres. Cheese-cake brook ran through it. This tract was long known as the “Fuller farm.” He divided it among his five sons, by his will, dated 1696, (s. Isaac having d. in Oct. 1691,) with the proviso that they should not sell to any stranger, until they, or then’ next relative, should have the offer of it. These five sons lived to the following ages: John 75, Jonathan 74, Joseph 88, Joshua 98, and Jeremiah 83.

Waters(6)  [Walter Cole Will]; WALTER COLE of Lavenham, Suffolk, barber chirurgion, 13 August 1652, proved 24 September 1653. My will is that Susan my well beloved wife shall have, hold, occupy and enjoy ……. But the said Anne my daughter shall pay unto my daughter Jane the now wife of Thomas Day of Colchester, Essex, fifteen pounds, within a year after the decease of Susan my wife, and also twenty shillings more unto my daughter Elizabeth the now wife of John Fuller in New England, to be paid within three years after the decease of Susan my wife. I give to my daughter Susan ….. The residue I give to my said wife whom I make sole executrix.

Anderson(7)   Volume II (C-F) – Joseph Cooke

“On 22 December 1658, ‘Joseph Cooke of Cambridge … gent.’ sold to John Fuller of Cambridge ‘his farm in Cambridge aforesaid, containing seven hundred & fifty acres (part meadow & part upland)’ ‘[MLR 2:180-81].

Sumner(8)  John Fuller was born in England about 1611, as his death record in Cambridge, Mass., 2-7-1698 (1699?), gives his age as eighty-seven. His wife was Elizabeth, ‘daughter of Walter Cole, a surgeon, of Lavenham, Suffolk, England, whose will, probated on 9-24-1653, mentioned his “daughter Elizabeth, now wife of John Fuller in New England.” Elizabeth died in Cambridge on 4-13-1700.   John Fuller was one of the first settlers of Cambridge, about 1635. He took an active part in the affairs of the town, serving as Selectman from 1684 to 1694. He was a maltster by occupation, and a very extensive land holder.

Savage(9)  John, Cambridge, in that part now Newton, may seem the youth wh. came with John Winthrop, jr. in his sec. voyage in the Abigail 1635, call 15 yrs. old, but that Jackson, wh. perhaps quotes the gr.st says he d. 7 Feb. 1699, in 87th yr. and he was freem. 1690, tho. his first four s. were together made freem. ten yrs. earlier. His wid. Eliz. d. 13 Apr. 1700. He had John, b. 1645; Eliz. Jonathan, 1648; Joseph, 10 Feb. 1652; Joshua, 2 Apr. 1654; Jeremiah, 4 Feb. 1658; of wh. two were in Capt. Beers’ comp. in Philip’s war 1675, and still, after his d. serving in Apr. 1676; (and John, wh. is call, of Dedham, and prob. not one of these, was a corporal of Moseley’s comp. and wound, in the gr. Narraganset fight, 19 Dec. 1675); Bethia, 23 Nov. 1661; and Isaac, 2 Feb. 1665, wh. d. 5 Oct. 1691. All the other five s. liv. from 74 to 98 yrs. Bethia m. 27 Feb. 1685, Nathaniel Bond; and Eliz. m. 1663, Job Hyde, and d. 28 Nov. 1685. Hon. Abraham, a descend, in 4th generat. b. 23 Mar. 1720, was rep. for N. 20 yrs. begin. 1764; and parts of the ancestr. est. are now enjoy, by the seventh and eighth degr.

Bond(10)  [Vol. I]; JOHN FULLER settled in Newton (then a part of Camb.), about 1650 [Bond is the only historian suggesting a settlement date other than 1644 and my be only one that is close to the actual date]. He purchased 800 acres of land on the south side of Charles River, a little distance above Angier’s Corner. He afterwards added 200 acres to it, making 1000 acres, all in one body, which, by his Will, he left undivided to his live sons then living, with a condition that they were not to sell any part of it. nor let it pass out of the possession of families of the name of Fuller.

[Vol. II]; William Fuller, aged 25, and John, aged 15, embarked in the Abigail, in May, 1635, for New England. This age of John does not correspond with the age of the first John Fuller of Newton, who d. Feb. 7, 1698-9, aged 87. Perhaps there is an error in one of these dates. Elizabeth, wid. of John Fuller, of Newton, d. Ap. 13, 1700.

The family and descendants of John Fuller, of Newton, are so very intimately associated with Watertown families, and what was printed on pp. 227-8, [Vol I] contains some errors, and so many deficiencies, that a brief, condensed genealogy is here inserted. That large tract of land called the Fuller Farm, and upon which most of the families of this name have resided, was situated in the bend of the Charles River, opposite to Waltham Plain. It included nearly all the land lately taken from Newton, and annexed to Waltham. It was, however more extensive, extending farther down, and farther back from the river. For a view of the topography of this farm, and a more copious account of this family, see Jackson’s excellent History and Map of Newton, to which we are much indebted.

Clarke(11)  John Fuller, supposed to have come with J. Winthrop, Jr. in the Abigail, Hackwell, master, in 1635, was born in England in 1620.* [this first sentence has since been proven to be attributed to the wrong John Fuller] He settled in Cambridge village (now Newton), in 1644.  In Dec., 1658, he purchased of Joseph Cooke, of Cambridge, 750 acres of land in the Northwest part of Newton, for 160 pounds sterling. It was bounded North and West by Charles river. East by land of Thomas Park, and South by S. Shepard’s farm. His house stood on the South side of the road, and West side of the brook, within a few rods of both. By subsequent purchases he increased his tract to upwards of 1000 acres. Edward Jackson and John Fuller were the largest land-holders in the town. Cheese-cake brook ran through this tract, which was long known as the “Fuller Farm”. He divided it among his live sons by will (son Isaac having died in 1691), with the proviso that they should not sell to any stranger, until they or their next relative should have the offer of it. Twenty-two of John Fuller’s descendants were in the army of the Revolution, from Newton.** …… John Fuller married Elizabeth _____. He died Feb. 7, 1698, aged 78. Wife died April 13, 1700.

Footnotes:

* In The Abigail, Hackwell, master, May 4, 1635 came Wm. Fuller 25; Jo. Fuller 15.

– James Samuel Newton ‘Historical Collections.’

**Jackson’s History of Newton.

 

Notes

(1)    Charles Henry Pope, Pioneers of Massachusetts, Boston, Mass., Published by Charles H. Pope, 221 Columbus Ave., 1900., page 178.

(2)    William Hyslop Fuller, Fuller Genealogies,  “VOLUME III. Genealogy of some descendants of Captain Matthew Fuller, John Fuller of Newton, John Fuller of Lynn, John Fuller of Ipswich, and Robert Fuller of Dorchester and Dedham, with supplements to Vols. I and II. 8 vo., cloth, 14 Plates of illustrations, 325 pp. Price, Post paid, $5.00” Published and for Sale, 23 School St., Palmer, Mass. Sept., 1914, page 95.

(3)    Charles Edward Banks, Topographical Dictionary of 2885 English Emigrants to New England 1620-1650, (Originally published, Philadelphia, 1937), Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, (fifth printing) 1976, page 157.

(4)    Peter Wilson ColdhamThe Complete Book of Emigrants 1607-1660,  Published by Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, Maryland, USA Copyright 1987; Sixth printing, 2008, page 266.

(5)    Francis Jackson, A History of the Early Settlement of Newton, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts: From 1639 to 1800 – with a Genealogical Register of its Inhabitants prior to 1800. By Francis Jackson (of Boston) a Native of Newton. Boston: Printed by Stacy and Richardson, 1854, page 278.

(6)    Henry F. Waters A.M., Item XX ….Genealogical Gleanings in England, The New-England Historical and Genealogical Register, VOL. XLIX – January, 1895, Boston: Published by the New-England Historical Genealogical Society. 1895, Page 490/91.

(7)    Robert Charles Anderson, HEHGS,  The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635,  “The goal of the Great Migration Study Project is to create comprehensive biographical and genealogical accounts of all immigrants to New England from 1620 to 1643, from the arrival of the Mayflower to the decline of immigration resulting from the beginning of the Civil War in England. ………. the Project officially began on November 15, 1988.”, page 180.

(8)    Edith Bartlett Sumner,  Ancestry of Edward Wales Blake and Clarissa Matilda Glidden with Ninety Allied Families; Compiled and typed by Edith Bartlett Sumner, 960 South Oxford Avenue, Loss Angeles 6, California; Lithoprinted from Author’s Typescript; Edwards Brothers, Inc., Lithoprinters, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1948; page 100.

(9)    James Savage,  Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, VOL. II., Boston, Little Brown and Company, 1860., page 216.

(10)  Henry Bond M.D., (Family Memorials.) Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown Massachusetts, including Waltham and Weston to which is appended the Early History of the Town. with Illustrations, Maps, and Notes, VOL.I, Genealogies; VOL. II., Additions, Corrections, and Early History., Boston: Little, Brown & Company. New York: John Eiley, 351 Broadway., Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston., Cincinnati: H.W. Derby. 1855, Vol. I, page 227; Vol. II, page 766.

(11)  Samuel C. Clarke, Records of some of the Descendants of John Fuller, Newton, 1644-98, Compiled from Jackson’s History of Newton, And other sources, “Boston”, Printed by D. Clapp & Son, 1869, pages 3/4.

NOTE 1: John Fuller’s signature at the top of this page, is from p. 3 of this Samuel C. Clarke book.

NOTE 2: For additional detail information pleas see … Some Information…