The John Fuller Farm – Family Farmstead      1644-1800

This page shows the original owners of each family farmstead within John of Newton’s original land purchase of 750 acres starting with each of his sons and following the successors to about 1800.

Names and dates were taken from the 1700 Map of Newton, as well as the Jackson and Smith books (Sources below).

Family Farmsteads
(Locate the corresponding numbers on Farmstead Map).

1John Fuller Sr. b. 1611. d. 7 February 1698, m. 1644/45

1.1; John Sr. m. 1644/45 (map 1644)[1]
1.2; (None of the three sources show a successor or a next resident for this farmhouse, although we know that John’s wife Elizabeth, lived there until her death in 1700 and we also know that the land was distributed to their 5 sons.)

2John Fuller Jr. b. 6 June 1645, d. 21 January 1720, m. 1682

2.1; John Jr., m. 1682 (map 1682)[2]
2.2; Stephen White (map) 
2.3; Benjamin White (map)

2aJohn Fuller Jr. b. 6 June 1645, d. 21 January 1720, m. 1682

2a.1; John III, 2 Jul 1685; d. 7 April 1737, m. Aug 1709 (map 1709)[3]
2a.2; Capt. Joseph, b. 15 Aug 1727; d. 3 Mar 1807, m. 4 May 1756

2bJohn Fuller Jr. b. 6 June 1645, d. 21 January 1720, m. 1682

2b.1; Richard Fuller, b. 23 Oct 1728; m. 16 Nov 1757[4]
2b.2; Park family (Richard’s mother was Abigail Park (1693-1792)

2cJohn Fuller Jr. b. 6 June 1645 – d. 21 January 1720, m. 1682

2c.1; Joshua Jackson (map 1749)[5]
2c.2; Maj. Daniel Jackson b. 1753; d. 1833, m. cir. 1783

2dJohn Fuller Jr. b. 6 June 1645 – d. 21 January 1720, m. 1682

2d.1; Joseph Fuller (map)[6]
2d.2; John Murdock

3- Jonathan Fuller b. 1648; d. 12 August 1722, m. 2 May 1684 (no children)

3.1; Jonathan, m. 1684 (map 1684)[7] 
3.2; Capt. Jonathan (s. of Joseph), b. 7 July 1686, d. 1 Dec 1764, m. 1717 (map 1717)
3.3; Capt. Edward (son), b. 17 Dec 1735, d. 12 Dec 1810, m. 1759 (map 1759)[8]
3.4; Ezra (son), b. 16 Sept 1769, d. 25 Apr 1854, m. 1797 (map) (no children)

3a- Jonathan Fuller b. 1648; d. 12 August 1722, m. 2 May 1684 (no children)

3a.1; Capt. Amariah Fuller, b. 1729, d. 1802, m. 1757 Anna Stone. (map)[9] 
3a.2; Anna Fuller, (d. of Amariah), b. 1770, d. 1840, m. 1797 Henry Craft. 

4-Capt. Joseph b. 10 Feb. 1652, d. 5 Jan. 1740, m. 1681

4.1; Capt. Joseph, b. 1652, d. 1740, m. 1681 Lydia Jackson (map 1680)[10]
4.2; Lieut. Joseph (s. Capt Joseph) , b. 4 July, 1685, d.23 Apr 1766, m. 11 May 1719 (map 1719)
4.3; Judge Abraham, b. 23 Mar. 1720, d. 20 Apr. 1794, m. 13 Apr. 1758 (map 1758)
4.4; Sarah Fuller, (d. of Abraham), b. 1759, d. 1826, m. Maj. William Hull, 1781, (map 1781)
4.5; Governor Claflin, in Newtonville. (Smith p117)

4a-Capt. Joseph b. 10 Feb. 1652, d. 5 Jan. 1740, m. 1681

4a.1; dau. Elizabeth Fuller, b. 1701, d. 1786, m. Josiah Bond (1695-1781), 1719/20 (map 1720)[11]
4a.2; Thankful Fuller (Cousin), b.1730, m. Phinehas Bond, (1724-1802), 1749 (map 1749)

5- Joshua Fuller b. 2 April 1654, d. 27 June 1752, 

5.1; Joshua Fuller had no living sons, m. 1.1680, 2.1692, 3. 1742[12]

6- Lieut. Jeremiah Fuller b. 4 Mar. 1658; d. 23 Dec. 1743, m. 1. 1683, 2. 1694, 3. 1700, 4. 1710

6.1; Lieut. Jeremiah, m. 1694 (map 1694)[13]
6.2; Capt. Joshua, b. 12 Apr. 1703, d. 23 Aug. 1777, m. 1746 (map 1747)
6.3; Lt. Joshua, b. 2 Mar. 1747, d. 8 Nov. 1817, m. 1773, 1778 (map 1772)
6.4; David Fuller, (s. of Lt. Joshua), b. c. 1775, m. Sally Phillips, 27 Nov. 1806.
6.5; Deac, Joel (Cousin) b. 10 Aug 1786, d. 18 Dec. 1848, m. 1815 (map 1815)[14]

6a- Lieut. Jeremiah Fuller b. 4 Mar. 1658; d. 23 Dec. 1743 

6a.1; Ensign Josiah (son) b. 2 Dec 1710; d. 10 May 1793, m. 14 Jan 1738/9 (map 1739)
6a.2; Deacon Joseph (son of Josiah) b. 29 Jul 1751; d. 23 Feb 1813, m. 25 Apr 1776 (map 1776)[15]

6b- Lieut. Jeremiah Fuller b. 4 Mar. 1658; d. 23 Dec. 1743 

6b.1; Eleazer Williams, (map 1695)
6b.2; Captain Thomas Oliver (map 1708)
6b.3; Goddard Taylor.
6b.4; Colonel Nathan Fuller, b. 3 Jun 1741; d. 21 Sept 1822, m. Beulah Craft, 4 Jul 1763[16]

 

SOURCES:

Map entitled ‘Plan of the town of Newton 1700, scale 100 Rods to an inch’; which we know has been updated for roads and houses to 1750 as indicated in the legend ‘Explanation’ on the map. Within that same Explanation legend both the ‘Town Line’ and ‘Present City Line’ boundaries are indicated, but not dated. However, we assume the Town line is from 1700 and the Present City Line is from after 1873 as that is when Newton became a city. The City Line shows land set off for Roxbury in 1838 as well as land set off for Waltham in 1847[17].   …..     1700, Newton-9  Map

Francis Jackson, 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, “of Boston, a Native of Newton”, Boston: Printed by Stacy and Richardson, 1854.

S.F. Smith, D.D. History of Newton, Massachusetts. Town and City from its earliest settlement to the present time. 1630 – 1880. Boston: The American Logotype Company. 1880.

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1.       The Map shows a date of 1644 by John Fuller of Newton’s farmstead, which agrees with the settlement date shown by Jackson on page 9. However Smith shows a date of 1658 (date John purchased the land) on page 118 in his section on the location of estates in Newton. The Map and Jackson date may indicate that John entered into a rental/purchase agreement whereby he rented from 1644 and eventually purchased the land in 1658.

2.       John Jr. died in 1720 and the Map indicates that the successors to this farmstead were Stephen and Benjamin White. However, in his Will, John Jr. left ½ of this farmstead to each of his sons, Jonathan and Caleb, who both married in Jan 1725. We do not have a Stephan White in our data base.

3.       The Map indicates that John III (John Jr., John of Newton) who married in 1609 was given a new farmstead on land owned by John Jr. In his Will of 1620, John Jr. left ½ of this new farm to John III “where he now lives” along with 79 acres of land and the other ½ to his brother Isaac (1695-1755) along with Isaac’s own 52 Acres. Isaac married in 1721. We note that Isaac’s son, Capt. Joseph Fuller b. 1727 is listed as a successor to this farmstead.

4.       John Jr.’s son Isaac (1695-1755) m. 1721, Abigail Park and their son Richard Fuller is shown as the owner of this farmstead, likely on the 52 Acres he inherited in 1720.

5.       Joshua Jackson m. 1749, Hannah Fuller who was the daughter of Jonathan Fuller (1700-17830 (John Jr., John of Newton) shown as owner of this farmstead and may be on the 34 acres of land Jonathan inherited in 1720.

6.       This Joseph Fuller is not obvious and could be one of a few who would have owned this farmstead in the early 1700’s. The reason this farm is slotted under John Jr’s as ‘2d’ is because the successor is John Murdock who married 1750 Bethiah Fuller, who was the gdau. of John Jr. via John’s son, Caleb Fuller (1702-1770).

7.       Jonathan Fuller “(s. of John, Sen.,) m. Mindwell, dr. of James Trowbridge, Sen., no issue. By his will he bequeathed his estate to Jonathan, s. of his brother Joseph.” Jackson p279.

8.       In his Will of 1764, Cap. Jonathan Fuller (1686-1764) left the original homestead of 40 acres plus an additional 21.5 acres of timber and pasture land to his son Edward Fuller, This house was added to the National Register of Historical Places, 1986 (59-71 North Str.); see Wikipedia, Fuller House.

9.       This may be the house located at 351 Craft Street in Newton and although not in the historical registry, is standing and occupied today. The house may have been taken over by Nathan Craft,(s. of Henry), b. 1811, d. 1892, in 1835 when he married Serena Houghton.

10.    Joseph Fuller; “…..son of John Fuller, senior, (d. 1740). His father-in-law, Edward Jackson, gave him twenty three acres of land out of the westerly end of the Mayhew farm, which he bought of Governor Bradstreet, and from his father he inherited two hundred acres more. On this estate he erected his mansion house, covering the same spot where his grandson Judge Fuller lived, the site of the mansion of General William Hull, and later of Governor Claflin, in Newtonville. This farm descended to his son Joseph, his grandson Abraham, and his great-granddaughter Sarah, who married Colonel William Hull in 1781. In 1766, Abraham Fu11er built an addition to his father’s old house, of which he had lately come into possession, and in 1814 General William Hull removed the old part which had been built by Joseph Fuller in 1680, and built a new addition, so that the house, as removed and afterwards occupied by J. L. Roberts, Esq., was built partly in 1766 and partly in 1814.” Smith p 137.

Joseph Fuller (known as Captain Joseph), also had a residence east of the Watertown Wear lands, but not the river: “The southeasterly part of Edward Jackson’s estate passed to Rogers (1646) and Angier (1730). Southwest of Edward Jackson was Samuel Hastings and Hon. Ebenezer Stone (1686); successor’s, John Jackson (1700), Philip Norcross (1720), Captain Joseph Fuller (1700); then John Jackson (1647), twenty acres, Captain John Jackson (1708) and Richard Parke (1647).” Smith p 116 and can also be seen on the Map.

11.    Joseph’s daughter, Elizabeth Fuller married 31 Jan 1719/20 Josiah Bond in Newton. The Map shows ‘Josuah’ Bond but Smith correctly spelled the name of the owner of this farmstead on p117 as ‘Josiah’ Bond 1720. This farmstead is also discussed by Smith, p132, Phineas Bond; “The Bonds lived on the Fuller farm, the southern part, remotest from the Charles River.” Smith may be referring to the fact that Josiah Bond’s son Henry and Henry’s son Amos may have lived on this farmstead. Refer to the Will of Thomas Fuller (1701-1748).

12.    We gave Joshua Fuller farmstead #5, even though we did not find his farm on the Map, or in either of the two other sources. John of Newton states in his Will that he gave a farm to his son Joshua; “…….the housing and lands he now liveth on….”. At the time of his death in 1752, Joshua’s estate was worth some 2,204 pounds, but no land. Joshua was the first of John’s sons to marry, in 1779 and it is possible that John was not ready to divide the original Fuller Farm, so may have purchased one for Joshua. On page 136 in a footnote, Smith states “……in 1676, April 15 [13], this John Fuller purchased of one John Magoon twenty-two acres of land with a dwelling-house and barn; also five acres near the Falls on Charles River”. Again Smith on page 131, when describing Gershom Beale stated, “(d. 1723), bought five acres of land from Joshua Fuller at the Newton Upper Falls, in 1712”. [see details of this purchase on this website under ‘Land Agreements’]

13.    John of Newton states in his Will:  “I give and bequeath to my son Jeremiah Fuller the lands I formerly gave him whereon he now liveth, adding thereto out of the farm abovesaid as much as maketh up what he already enjoyeth, one hundred and fifty acres as the farm is now butted and bonded, to him and his heirs forever, and it is further my will that if any of my above named sons shall by a joynt consent agree to the altering of any of the bounds of the lands above given and bounded to them, nary thing contrary notwithstanding, and also it is my will that my above said sons shall eatch & every one of the have equall liberty to dig and cart of clay from my clay pits in the above s[ai]d farm.”

14.    See note 15

15.    Deacon Joseph Fuller died at age 62, intestate (without a Will) and his eldest son, Joel Fuller was the administrator of the estate which had a great deal of assets but also had a great deal of debt. So the farm was sold in 1814 and each of the 10 children received $140. Joel was forced to find another farm and that is why he shows up as a successor on the farm of his great grandfather, Jeremiah Fuller.

16.    Lieut. Jeremiah Fuller in his Will of 1743/4 left the following to his son Thomas (1701-1748): – 85 Acres – “…where he lives E. of my farm, 2 Acres of meadow on W. side of Cheese Cake Br.; 5.5 Acres of upland joining the Charles R. Gangway 1.5 Rods wide between our houses & same from my house to the upland;  1/3 of 4 acre marshland in Cambridge …..”. Thomas left the following to his son Nathan in his Will of 1748:- 23 Acres, 3 Rods and 10 Perches of land, Bounded Westerly by land of Amos Bond. Northerly by land set to brother Thomas. Easterly by a Road. Southerly by land heirs of Josiah Goddard; Marsh Land lying in Cambridge. Col. Nathan Fuller had no children; and in his Will of 1822 left his farmstead of 55 acres to his nephew, Benjamin Fuller (1782-1857). Col Nathan may have given up his farm when his nephew married in 1804 and moved to a farmstead as shown on the Map. Lastly, Smith on p 137 makes the following entry regarding Col. Nathan Fuller: “(d. 1822), had in the West Parish a homestead of fifty-five acres, appraised at $2,890. He gave to the West Parish an acre and a half of land for a buying place, in 1781”.

17.  Plan of Newton [Undated]  “We annex a plan of the Town, the outline of which is taken from the survey of Elijah F. Woodward, Esq., and William F. Ward, made in 1831, and so varied as to show the houses of the original settlers, as they were prior to 1700, and the roads they laid open; also the houses and roads that were built and opened, from 1700 to 1750.

These homesteads of the early planters have been ascertained from the Town records for laying out and renewing the bounds of highways, by an examination of the early volumes of deeds and wills, and from the recollection of aged persons in different quarters of the town. Much labor has been expended upon this skeleton plan; nevertheless, under these circumstances, we cannot claim for it much exactness; it is a proximate location of the ancient dwellings and roads, but the bound marks of their acres, except in a few instances, are past finding out; the stakes, marked trees, and fences, for the most part, have long since disappeared. The original grants of land to Jeremiah Dummer, Thomas Mayhew, Rev. Thomas Shepard, Joseph Cooke, and Major Samuel Shepard, passed into the hands of Gregory Cooke, Edward Jackson, Richard Park, John Fuller, and Captain Isaac Williams, who were the first actual settlers thereon. These tracts, containing about two thousand five hundred acres, extending from the northerly part of the Watertown and Dedham road, to the West Parish Village, can all be traced out now, with a pretty near approach to certainty.

A white oak tree, whose diameter at its butt measured four feet, was the bound mark of the southerly corner of the Fuller farm, of seven hundred and fifty acres. It was also the bound mark of the north-east corner of the Williams’ farm, of five hundred acres. It also marked a side line of the Park farm, of six hundred acres. This oak tree (which the “woodman ought to have spared”) was cut down about ten years ago; its stump still remains, about thirty rods north of the house formerly occupied by Deacon Josiah Bacon, but so much decayed that portions of it can be pulled up by hand.

The “Haynes farm” of one thousand acres, and the Pond, is another important part of the town. Its location, we think, is nearly right, beginning at the centre of the town, and extending south-westerly, it touched the Kenrick farm southerly, came near to the Woodward farm westerly, and joined Jonathan Hydes’ northerly. This was the earliest and largest grant in the town, and was made to John Haynes, Esq., in 1634. He came over in company with the Rev. Mr. Hooker, in 1633; in 1635, was chosen Governor of Massachusetts; removed with Hooker’s company, to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1636; was Governor of Connecticut in 1639; died in 1654, and this tract of land passed to his heirs.

This farm, or those portions of it that were not conveyed by him or his heirs, was probably hired by Captain Thomas Prentice many years; the records several times state that it was a long time in his possession, either as agent or lessee. The first actual settlers upon it were Elder Thomas Wiswall and sons, (Noah and Ebenezer,) William Tucker, Samuel Pettee, Stephen Winchester, Sen., and John Hammond.

We have prepared this Plan, not only to show the progress of the settlement, but also to aid those who may be desirous of finding the spot where their ancestors first erected their habitations, which became the birth-place of many generations.” Jackson p113