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Lieutenant Thomas Fuller (c. 1618–1698)

Elizabeth Tidd (c. 1620–by 1684), daughter of Sergeant John Tidd and Margaret Unknown

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Thomas was born about 1618, based on his age at death. Thomas, Sr. died in June 1698, age 80, in Salem. [1] He married first Elizabeth Tidd on 13 June 1643 in Woburn. [2] He married second Sarah [Nutt] Wyman on 25 August 1684 in Woburn. [2] Sarah, the daughter of Miles Nutt, married first John Wyman on 4 November 1644. [3] He died on 9 May 1684. [3] Sarah died on 24 May 1688 in Woburn. [2] Thomas married third Hannah or Harriet (James) Wilson in 1688 in Woburn. [4]

Elizabeth, the daughter of John and Margaret Tidd, was probably born about 1620 and probably in England. [5] She died by 25 August 1684.

John Tidd mentioned his grandson Thomas Fuller in his will of 9 April 1656. [5]

Thomas was a blacksmith. In 1663 he purchased about 300 acres in Salem. He built a house and had a blacksmith shop. [6]

Thomas Fuller lived in the part of Salem that is now Danvers. The early settlers there were yeoman and that part of Salem was then called the Farms; the settlers were the Farmers. Later it was known as Salem Village. It was about five miles from the church in Salem—a long way to travel. Moreover, the men were called to serve in Salem's night watch which absented them from their own homes, making their wives feel unsafe. When a second meeting house was proposed in Salem, the Farmers were not enthusiastic about supporting another distant meeting house. Thomas Fuller was one of those who signed a 7 March 1669/70 objecting to paying for this additional meeting house unless the residents of Salem helped them built one as well. On 26 October 1670 the Farmers were allowed to secure a minister and were exempted from paying Salem. Fuller and others then petitioned be a local religious parish. on 16 October 1672 the Farmers were allowed to appoint of up to five people to collect taxes for building a meeting house and maintaining a minister. At the first meeting of the Farmers on 11 November 1672, Thomas was one of the five people chosen. [7]

Thomas was appointed to a committee to lay out a highway on 8 May 1672. [8] Thomas was engaged by the town to make a cart way on 22 September 1675. [8] On 1 November 1684 the town agreed with Sergeant Thomas Fuller to make a highway from Thomas Jr.'s house to the Andover line. [9]

On 9 December 1674 the selectman admitted Thomas Fuller, Sr. and his whole farm into Salem. On 9 February 1674/5, the court confirmed his citizenship and the addition of his farm to Salem. [8]

Thomas was a soldier in King Philip's War. [9]

Lieutenant Thomas Fuller made his will on 9 June 1698. He mentioned his daughter Dean, his daughter Ruth Wilkens, his daughter Deborah Shaw, his grandson David Richardson, his granddaughter Ruth Wheeler and Bethiah Fuller, his sons Thomas, Benjamin and Jacob. He named Jacob his executor. His witnesses testified on 4 July 1698. [10]

Children of Lieutenant Thomas Fuller and Elizabeth Tidd:

i. Thomas Fuller was born on 22 April 1644 in Woburn. He died between 27 November 1716 and 6 May 1718 in Windham County, Connecticut. He married first Ruth Richardson. He married second Martha Durkee.

ii. Elizabeth Fuller was born on 12 September 1645 in Woburn. [2] She married Joseph Dean of Concord. [11]

iii. Ruth Fuller was born on 17 May 1648 in Woburn. [2] She probably died before 4 November 1737, when she was not mentioned in her husband's will. [12] She married first Timothy Wheeler. [6][11] She married second Henry Wilkens as his second wife. [12] Henry, the son of Bray and Anna (Way) Wilkens, was probably born about 1651 in Dorchester. [12] He was baptized there on 7 March 1651/2. [12] He died between 4 November 1737, when he wrote his will, and 9 December 1737, when the executor posted bond. [12] He married first Rebecca (Baxter?). [12]

v. John Fuller was born on 1 March 1653 in Woburn. [2] John, the husband of Rebecca Putnam, died on 25 (6) 1675 in Salem. [1] John, the son of Thomas, married Rebecca Putnam on 22 (2) 1672 in Salem. [1] The widow Rebecca married John Shepard on 6 (10) 1677 in Salem. [1]

vi. Jacob Fuller was born on 14 May 1655 in Woburn. [2] He died on 15 November 1731. [8] He married Mary Bacon on 14 June 1683 in Salem. [1]

Jacob was a blacksmith. [8] Jacob, the son of Sergeant Thomas Fuller, killed a wolf and the town paid his father 30 shillings on 14 February 1680/1. [8] Jacob and Thomas each killed a wolf in the spring of 1690 and Jacob killed one in the winter of 1697/8. [9]

vii. Joseph Fuller was born on 8 August 1658 in Woburn. [2] He died young and unmarried. [11]

vii. Samuel Fuller was born on 9 May 1662 in Woburn. [2] He died on 1 January 1688/9, age 27, in Salem. [1]

Samuel's death record says, " at meeting ye Sab. day, well, before tusday was speechlys & dyed this day."

viii. Benjamin Fuller died on 5 October 1754 in Ashford, Windham County, Connecticut. [6] He married Sarah Bacon on 15 December 1685 in Salem. [1]

Benjamin was a yeoman. [8]

References:

1. Vital Records of Salem, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1849, 6 vols. (Salem: Essex Institute, 1916, 1918, 1924, 1925), vol. 1 (births): 330–1; vol. 2, vol. 3 (marriages): 392–3, vol. 4, vol. 5 (deaths): 265–6, vol. 6.

2. Edward Francis Johnson, Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, Part 1 (births), Part 2, (deaths) Part 3 (marriages) (Woburn: Andrew Cutlery & Co., 1890), Part 1, 102–3; Part 2, 77; Part 3, 107.

3. T.B. Wyman, Jr., "The Wyman Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 3 (1849): 33.

4. "New England Marriages to 1700," digitized books, AmericanAncestors, originally published as Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015).

5. Howard H. Tidd, A History of the Tidds of Ohio (n.p.: n.p., 1958?), 20–21. Available on Ancestry.

6. William Hyslop Fuller, Genealogy of Some of the Descendants of Thomas Fuller of Woburn (n.p.: printed for the compiler, 1919), 10–11.

7. Sydney Perley, The History of Salem, Massachusetts, vol. 2, 1638–1670 (Salem: Sydney Perley, 1924, 1926), ch. 8 Salem Village Parish.

8. Sydney Perley, The History of Salem, Massachusetts, vol. 3, 1671–1716 (Salem: Sydney Perley, 1924, 1926), ch. 2 New Town House.

9. Sydney Perley, The History of Salem, Massachusetts, vol. 3, 1671–1716, (Salem: Sydney Perley, 1924, 1926), ch. 4, 177, 237.

10. "Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638–1881," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, case 104221.

11. "Historical Notices and Genealogy of the Fuller Family, New England Historical and Genealogical Register 13 (1859): 135–63.

12. David L. Greene, "Bray Wilkins of Salem Village, MA and His Children," The American Genealogist 60 (1984): 1–18, 101–13.

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03-May-2023