The Fullers of Lowell Massachusetts

My 4th great grandparents were John Fuller (1773-1842) of Campton New Hampshire and Sarah "Sally" Bean (1781-1841) of Sandwich, New Hampshire.  John Fuller was born to Samuel Fuller and Lois Andrews of Campton.  I believe that this is the same Samuel, born 1733 in East Haddam, CT, who is the proven 5th generation descendant of Edward Fuller of the Mayflower, because but I have yet to establish proof that this Samuel was father to my John Fuller, with the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.

Further complicating my quest to get Mayflower certification, I am unable to verify that this John is truly my ancestor (through my proven ancestor Samuel Bean Fuller), as I cannot locate a birth record for Samuel.  I'm currently looking for assistance with baptismal records for John's children, including Samuel (although I don't think they were religous).

As for John's wife Sally, there are some records of a "Mary" Bean being born in 1774 in New Hampshire, but I don't think there is a connection, and some Fuller researchers have maintained that John's wife was Mary (but I disagree).

Our "Sally" was indeed buried in 1841 in Lowell, Mass. at age 60.  John & Sally's marriage occurred in 1801 in Moultonborough, NH, and their names were listed as Jonathan Fuller & Sally Bean. John & Sally had 11 children together, two sets of these kids being twins. The 1810 Census appears to have them living at New Holderness, just south of Campton, NH.

The Move from Moultonboro to Peacham

In 1817 or so, they moved from Moultonborough, New Hampshire to Peacham, Vermont (90 miles away), where they ran a farm on MacBean Road near John's brother Bethuel, who had moved there about 20 years prior.  John's elder sister, Mary Mercer Fuller-Wheeler, had settled in nearby Danville, VT by 1790.  According to the family, John's son, Samuel Bean Fuller, didn't move to Peacham with the family.  He stayed behind in New Hampshire, living on his uncle Samuel Bean's farm in Meredith.  John moved his family to Lowell, Massachusetts in 1836.  Around the same time, his brother Bethuel left Peacham for West Bloomfield, Michigan.  I wonder what happened in Peacham in the 1830s to cause both brothers to leave their farms behind?   According to a Peacham historian, farming in Peacham was always hard, but the 1830's were a period of relative prosperity and the sheep boom had not yet ended. Indeed Peacham reached the zenith of its population in 1840. The westward migration started in the 1840's. There were many Fuller farms in Caledonia County, Vermont at that time, and some preliminary research indicates that many were descendants of other colonial Fullers than this line.

The Move to Lowell, Mass

From 1836-1839 (per Lowell City Directories), the Fuller family lived in a boarding house at 38 Merrimack Street in downtown Lowell, near the corner of Central Street, John worked as a stone layer.

FORMER SITE OF FULLER HOME
38 MERRIMACK STREET
LOWELL, MASS.

By 1840, the Fullers had moved to a boarding house at Low Street.  John and Sally died in 1842 and 1841, respectively.  John died of bladder disease.  They are buried at Old English Cemetery in Lowell.   Below is a photo Sally's gravestone, which appears to have held up, but John's, likely in the vicinity, didn't survive due to the fact that many old graves in the area were made of marble, which is a poor choice for braving the harsh New England weather.

Here is a brief summary of collected, and ongoing, research regarding the children of John & Sally, and two sets of these 11 kids were twins: 

1.  Moody B. Fuller (1802-1855) was born in New Hampshire (probably Moultonborough).  Since this was John's first born son, I'm thinking that Moody may have been a nickname for John.  Sally's mother's maiden name was Moody, so this is likely the source of the name.  There are 1830 and 1840 Census entries for his very unique name (and the age seems to match) in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and was married with several children, so for now it makes sense.  He worked as a scythe grinder (1855 census) and died of consumption in Blackstone, Mass (10 miles north of Smithfield).  He is buried in Millville Cemetery, Mass.  Moody's death record in Blackstone does list his parents as John and Sally.

2.  Hannah M. Fuller (1808-1887), according to her death record was born in Holderness, New Hampshire (although some sources claim Peacham, VT).  In 1830 in Peacham she married Hiram Russell of New Hampshire.  They had three children (Charles, Edward, and Helen) in Lowell, Mass., but later moved to Lawrence, where they ran a large boarding house.  I have yet to find a birth record that definitively links her to her father John, and I still cannot locate her burial site.

3.  Samuel Bean Fuller (1812-1890) was my 3rd great grandfather.  He was born in New Hampshire, just before the family's move to Lowell, Mass.  He later moved to Waterville, Fairfield, and Winslow Maine to work on the railroad, and eventually settled out in Ottumwa Iowa during the Civil War, setting up a dry goods business which burned down not long after it started.  Samuel had 7 children and 18 grandchildren.  Many of his descendants ended up in Missouri, Seattle, California, Chicago, and Maine, but none of them stayed in Iowa.  I have yet to find a birth record that definitively links him to his father John, and that makes it more difficult to apply to the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (although DNA accounts have linked me to Edward Fuller of the Mayflower).

SAMUEL BEAN FULLER

4.  Abner Fuller (1810-1861) was born in NH, and died in Chelsea, Massachusetts (his death record erroneously cites his birthplace as Peacham).  His parents are listed on his death record as John & Sarah Fuller.  This notation first came to me from Henrietta Chapman's diaries, until I was able to establish records myself.  He is not to be confused with an Abner M. Fuller who was born in 1813 in Mass, but died in Ohio in 1886.  He may be the same Abner who was a painter in 1848, Charlestown Mass.  Abner was married to Lucinda Pulsifer in Dorchester, 1832.  I cannot seem to find their burial locations to date.

5.  Harrison H. Fuller (1814-1885) was born in Moultonborough, NH (along with his twin brother Porter).  He married Arvilla Hill of Epping, NH, (sister to Parsons Hill, who married Harrison's sister Caroline).  Harrison and Arvilla they stayed in Lowell, where Harrison worked as a police officer.  They had five children.  Their sons, Edwin and Charles, fought in the Civil War.  His parents are listed on his death record as John & Sarah Fuller.

6.  Porter W. Fuller (1814-1853) was born in Moultonborough, NH (along with his twin brother Porter).  He worked on a farm in Lowell most of his short life, and died of dropsy in the Almshouse at age 38.  He is buried at Old English Cemetery in Lowell near his parents.  His parents are listed on his death record as John & Sarah Fuller.

7.  Sarah Ann Fuller (1816-1882) was born in Holderness, New Hampshire, and named after her mother.  She married a baker named Corbin Gould of Orange, Mass., and they settled in the West End of Boston with six children.  On her death record, she was already widowed, and it lists Holderness as the birthplace, with unknown parents.  That seems interesting, in that whomever filled out the forms (likely one of her kids) was unaware of who the parents were.  I've been unable to locate burial location for Sarah.

8.  Josiah Fuller (1817-1895) was born in Peacham Vermont, according to all census records and his death record.  He married Ellen A. Smith, and settled in Chicopee, Mass.  They had one son, Willie, who became the 13th Mayor of Chicopee, and married into the Eaton/Crandall family, who were related to Martin Van Buren.  Josiah worked as an almoner, and had two daughters.  I cannot locate his VT birth record.  His 1900 census record states his parents were born in VT, which is wrong.  However, his Chicopee marriage record states that his father was named John, and his death record states that his parents were John and "Mary".   I've been unable to locate burial location for Josiah.

9.  Mary Bean Fuller (1818-1885) was born in Vermont, according to all census records, and her death record.  She married a brickmason named Daniel Chapman, and they had five children.  She ran boarding houses in Lowell and in Lawrence, which housed many Irish and Scottish immigrants.  Mary died of apoplexy in 1885, at her son in law's house, next to Broad Street Cemetery, and is buried at Edson Cemetery in Lowell, with three of her children.  Her death record, interestingly enough, lists her parents as Josiah Fuller and Mary Bean, both of New Hampshire.  I'm pretty sure this is an error.  The only Josiah in this family was her brother (listed above).  I couldn't find any couple matching those names for the appropriate time period of her birth. Was John's middle name Josiah??

Mary's daughter, Henrietta Chapman, was an avid genealogist, and some of her notes and records were passed down to Fuller kin.  I've been able to secure copies of some of them, including her 1929 papers.

10.  Caroline W. Fuller (1821-1881) was born in Peacham, Vermont, with her twin Juliet.  She married Parsons Hill of Epping, NH, (brother to Arvilla Hill, who married Caroline's brother Harrison).  Their wedding in Lowell was one year after Caroline's father John had passed away.  She and Parsons moved southeast to Lynn, Mass, where they had three children together.  Their eldest, Caddie, died at age 15.  Their son Herbert had a daughter he named Caddie, who died at one year of age.  This family is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, Mass.  Her death record states that her parents were John and Sally Fuller.  I've been able to trace Caroline's descendants far enough to prove that she had no living descendants after 1977.  All of her children and grandkids died young, or without children of their own.

11.  Juliet W. Fuller (1821-1862) was born in Peacham, Vermont, and was a twin to Caroline.  She married Charles Wentworth, and had one child, Frank.  They settled in Worcester, Mass.  On her death record, it is stated that her parents were John and Sarah Fuller.  She died while attempting to give birth, just after she turned 40.



My great uncle, Harold Fuller, was very much into genealogy, and tried to establish a link to the Mayflower Fullers during his lifetime.  His own research notes relied heavily upon the papers of Henrietta Chapman-Young (written in 1929).  Henrietta believed that John's father was named Moody Fuller, and that his wife's name was Mary.  I do believe they were mistaken on these two points, after my having reviewed many records noted above.  Moody was clearly the maiden name of John's mother-in-law, Abigail Moody-Bean, and more records state that their children's mother was named Sally than do Mary.