 |
| Insert from Moseley's 1733 Map Be sure to click images to enlarge. |
Edward Fuller was the first Fuller to settle in the Core Sound area of Carteret County, North Carolina. His wife’s name was Hannah. The following is an overview of research done on Edward and some of his extended family.
Carteret County Court Minutes
and deeds:
- March 1728/29—a lawsuit between George Bell and William Fuller was brought to court but was not executed. (Vol. 1, page 18). Could he have been a brother of Edward?
- June 1743—Edward Fuller (Sr. or Jr.?) came to open court and made oath that he had four white and one black person in his family. (Vol. 1, page 62)
- June 1743—John Williamson, administrator for the estate of Jane Williamson deceased, signed an order dated 10 March 1743 payable to Edward Fuller for £27 with receipt annexed. John Williamson signed a second order dated 8 June 1743 payable to Edward Fuller for £28 current money with receipt endorsed. (Vol. 1, page 62)
- Edward Fuller and Dedrick Gibble were appointed commissioner of the road from Beaufort Town to Core Creek Bridge. (Vol. 2, page 127.)
- Sept Court 1756 - Ordered that Edward Fuller, Joseph Fulford Esq, Cornelius Canaday be recommended to the Governor for him to appoint and commission one of them to be Sheriff for the County.
- 8 Dec 1757—deed to Joseph “Morss” which gives him right-of-way privileges to Point Lookout Bay. witnessed by Edward Fuller
- 8 Dec 1757—deed to “Edward Fuller, Esq. planter” [Edward Jr.?] £13 for a 200 acres tract on the east side of Old Topsail Inlet.
- Nov 9 1764 Wm. Fulford, Wm. Dennis, and Joseph Morss Jr. patented "300 acres in Carteret on the W. side of North River, joining Joseph Morss Sr., Edward Fuller, a Savannah, and Shacklefords Creek." (Patent Book 17, #7437, p.114). Note: Original land grant 178, #394, B17, p.114, says 250 acres, as does land grant 178, #445, B18, p.103, both on "W. side of North River."
- 23 Nov 1764 Edward Fuller—135 acres in Carteret County, “on the west side of North River between James Shackelford and land called Albertson’s, joining said Fuller, Joseph Moss Sr., the woods, a Savanna, Cowpen Creek to the mouth thereof, and the said River.” (Colony of North Carolina: Abstracts of Land Patents 1735-1764 by Margaret M. Hoffman.)
(Above from: Carteret County Court Minutes 1723-1820 transcribed by Rebecca Willis Sanders - Published by the Carteret County Historical Society)
 |
| 1798 North Carolina Survey - Jonathan Price - North Carolina Map Collection |
By 1734, Edward Fuller Sr. came south from Fairfield, Connecticut and became the first Fuller to settle in the Core Sound area. Though not documented, Edward may have been the son of Joseph Fuller (1658-1731) and Rebecca Belcher, married 30 Nov 1687 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts (American Marriage Records Before 1699 by William Montgomery Clemens).
An inventory of goods belonging to the sloop Middleborrough, Edward Fuller, Master, was made 15 February 1734. Goods included two blubber spades, three oars, four “Lances for Whaling,” a blubber hook, and 39 empty barrels. (NOAA—Vice-Admiralty Papers, Volume I, Archives and History, Raleigh, NC)
In Chaper V, Factors in the Economy of Colonial Beaufort, of his thesis Colonial Beaufort: The History of a North Carolina Town, Charles Paul noted, “In 1757 John Shackleford, who owned the beach between Topsail Inlet and Cape Lookout, sold two tracts of that beach to men connected with the whaling industry. These two men were Joseph Morse and Edward Fuller, and the deeds which they received for these tracts also gave them ‘privileges at Point Lookout Bay that is to have liberty to fish and whale in said Bay and also to have a landing at the said Point Lookout Bay.’” (Carteret Deed Books, F, 456.)
In his will, probated September 18, 1768, Edward Fuller Sr. left his son John “100 acres on the southwest branch of North River.” To sons Edward, Nathan and Belcher 100 acres each of the same, after John had his choice. To daughter Rebekah Jones “one cow and calf at my decease, my estate in New England in the County of Fair Field be equally divided among all children. Wife Hannah to have bed and furniture and other household goods and home Plantation during her widowhood, and then to my two sons David and Solomon Fuller. Wife Hannah, son Edward and William Robertson Executors to my will.” Witnessed: Rositer Simpson, Alexander Gillikin and Frederick Warren.
- Early Carteret County deeds, in regard to Edward Fuller Sr., recorded another daughter Sabra, who either died before her father’s will was drafted or was not included for some unknown reason: 4 Sep 1758, registered Sep 1758—“to dau Sabra Fuller one Negro girl named Rose.”
- 5 Sep 1758, registered Sep 1758—“to dau Rebecca Fuller one mulatto girl named Jinny.” Both deeds are witnessed by Thomas Lovick and Joseph Bell, and acknowledged before Wm. Robertson. (Deed book F, pages 466-468)
- Rebekah Fuller married Jesse Jones. In 1787, Jones sold "house and one half of lot #54" to Isaiah Paquinet. This house, on the east side of the first block of Orange Street, later became property of the Fuller family. In his 1828 will, Belcher Fuller left the house and one half of lot #54 to his daughter Julia Ann. (Kell, The Old Port Town of Beaufort NC)
Jones House circa 1787 - 116 Orange Street
 |
| 1770 Sauthier Plan of Beaufort - NC Map Collection |
Beginning with the June 1755 term of court, Edward and Hannah Fuller’s son Edward Fuller Jr. appears frequently within Carteret County Court Minutes as a justice.
In 1774 he was owner of lots 110 and 111 Old Town, now the site of Davis-Duncan House on the west end of Front Street, built by James Davis circa 1815.
Edward Fuller Jr. was one of nineteen included in the “Return of the Carteret Regiment of Militia from Octt 5th 1781 under the Command of John Easton Coll.” He was listed as a lieutenant.
An inventory of his estate included fishing items and household goods including carpenter and farm tools: “1 whipsaw, 1 crosscut saw, 1 hardsaw, 2 jointers, 2 planes, 1 broadax, 2 falling axes, 1 hatchet, 1 carpenter’s adze, 1 hard adze, 2 hammers, 5 hoes, 1 drawing knife, 2 augers, 1 plough, iron wedges, several tubs and barrels.” (Record of Inventories, Book A, page 38, NC Archives—cited in Kell, Carteret County during the Revolution)
Edward Fuller Jr. died before March 1788. He had a son Solomon who was bound to his Uncle Nathan. May 1793: “By application of Nathan Fuller Esq., Solomon Fuller, the son of Edward Fuller decd, is bound an apprentice to the said Nathan Fuller, he being thirteen years September last past, untill he is 21 years old to learn the trade of a waterman with education as the law directs.” (Carteret County Court Minutes)
Edward Jr. died intestate and his wife had an option to co-administer with his brother. March 1788: “Nathan Fuller appeared and applied for administration on the estate of Edward Fuller decd, which was granted and Mrs. Bathsheba Fuller to have liberty to appear at next court to join him in the said administration. John Easton, David Cooper securities.” (Carteret County Court Minutes)
 |
| Old Burying Ground - Beaufort NC Find A Grave photo |
son of Edward Fuller Sr.
Edward and Hannah Fuller’s son Nathan (Feb 1749/50—13 Dec 1800) married Mary Paquinet (1742-1817), daughter of Michael Paquinet (1690-1772) and Mary Powell (b. 1720).
Nathan served in the Revolutionary War as an ensign in the Carteret County Militia. In Beaufort’s Old Burying Ground Mamré Marsh Wilson wrote, “As a navigator and ship owner, Fuller sailed from Beaufort to the West Indies, England and Barbados bringing supplies into Beaufort harbor prior to the Revolutionary War.” Nathan was also a member of the assembly.
In 1779, importer Nathan Fuller was noted in a tax assessment (Carteret County Dist. 2*) as owning 100 acres, 2 Negroes, 15 cattle and ½ lot valued at £920; by 1784 that acreage had increased to 400 acres.
*This same 1779 Carteret County tax assessment recorded other Fuller family members (researched by Jean B. Kell, Suzanna Nicholas and Wilma Reusch):
- David Fuller—2 tracts, 185 acres, 1 Negro, 14 cattle, 6 horses—value £43+
- John Fuller—7 cattle, part of 1 lot—value £278+
- Edward Fuller [Jr.]—1 tract, 25 acres, 8 cattle, 2 lots—value £800
- Belcher (1772-1828) married Zilphia Guthrie.
- Mary (1775-1795) married Archibald Roberson (Robinson).
- Nathan (1780-1795) died at age fourteen.
- Catharine (1783-1823) married first cousin William Fisher (1776-1812) 8 Oct 1799, George H. Dudley in 1814 and widower John Hatch Hill 20 Aug 1823.
- William (1784-1788) died at age three.
- Jane (1787-1800) died at age thirteen.
- Hannah (1790-1823) married John Hatch Hill 17 Aug 1806.
- Hope (b. abt 1792 - d.18 June 1855) married Buckner Hatch Hill about 1810 and William J. Parks 24 Feb 1848.
 |
| William Borden House circa 1768 (Nathan Fuller purchased in the late 1800s) (1936 Frances B. Johnston) |
- To
wife Mary: "the dwelling house where I now live to include the lot 23 in
Beaufort being 55 feet wide and twenty poles in length reserving the right of my son Belcher, if he shall think fit to build a house, between my house and Elijah Bells house." *See Borden-Fuller properties summary below.
- To son Belcher: 150 acres on Gales Creek, 200 acres at head of Core Creek, 100 acres on east side of Core Creek and 100 acres on Bogue Banks being the choice of Jonas Small, “in right of his wife**, agreeable to the will of her grandfather William Borden dec’d,” 200 acres in common with my daughter Katherine Fisher, 50 acres on Bogue Banks, “being the choice of John Mace agreeable to the will of his grandfather William Borden.”
- To Hannah and Hope as tenants in common, lands bought on Bogue Sound
- Appointed son Belcher as guardian to my two youngest daughters, including managing their property. (Carteret County Wills 1700-1880 by Rebecca Willis Sanders, 1996 revised edition)
Belcher Fuller (1776-1828) was a North Carolina state senator from Carteret County from 1809-1813. He was also a notary public, justice of the peace and a lieutenant colonel in the 1823 militia.
Belcher married twice. By the first marriage he had the following children:
- Mary “Polly” Fuller (1800-1878) married Benjamin Leecraft in 1816. Mary “Polly” and Benjamin had four sons—Benjamin III, William, Lafayette and Nathan Franklin—and four daughters, Susan Benjamin, Zilphia Ann, Mary and Julia Frances. Zilphia Ann Leecraft married Michael Fisher Arendell, son of Bridges Arendell and Sarah Fisher.
- Nathan Fuller, born 1803, married Charlotte M. Marshall 26 Nov 1823. (He represented Carteret County as a senator in 1827.)
- Christopher Columbus Fuller (1805-1880), a merchant, married Sarah Kelly Willis 23 April 1854.
 |
| 1827 Hatsell House 117 Orange Street |
- Charity Fuller (1807-1891) married Andrew Lee Hatchell (1803-1841) 16 Nov 1826; Charity’s father left or gave them property on the west side of the first block of Orange Street, where they built the 1827 Hatsell House on the southern portion of Lot 55 Old Town. They had two sons and two daughters, William Fuller Hatsel, George Andrew Hatsell, Jane B. Hatsell and Mary E. Hatsell.
- Zilphia Ann Fuller (1810-1876) married Thomas Marshall 24 Jan 1821.
- Julia Ann Fuller was born 1812.
- Jane Belcher Fuller (1815-1822) died at seven.
- Belcher Fuller Jr. (1817-1870), tailor and deputy sheriff, married Amanda A. Lindsay 22 June 1852.
- William Fuller was born 1820.
- To his wife Zilphia all of his “estate both real and personal, to dispose of as she sees fit, but should she marry she to have a childs part.”
- To daughter Mary Leecraft “one lot number 70 in Beaufort.”
- To daughter Zilphia Marshall “One lot 74 in Beaufort.”
- To daughter Charity Hatchell “one lot 55 in Beaufort.”
- To daughter Julia Ann Thompson, “one half lot 54 and half of lot 62 in Beaufort old town.” As mentioned above (Jones House circa 1787), this one-half lot 54 had belonged to Isaiah Paquinet, who purchased it from Jesse Jones, husband of Rebekah Fuller.
- To sons Belcher and William, “my lot 23 in common, land on wading creek, and another tract willed to me by my father containing 250 acres, at the death of my wife.”
- To son Nathan, “my pistol, quadrant and book and charts.”
- To son Christopher, “a setoff books charts and quadrant.” (Carteret County Wills 1700-1880 by Rebecca Willis Sanders, 1996 revised edition)
Mary was born 23 September 1775. She married Archibald Roberson 19 July 1794—bondsmen Malachi Bell and Joseph Roberson. Witness Benjamin Fulford. Mary died 3 December 1795 and was buried in Beaufort’s Old Burying Ground.
Catherine and Hannah Fuller – Daughters of Nathan Fuller and Mary Paquinet
Catherine was born 29 March 1783. She first married her first cousin William Fisher 8 October 1799. (William’s mother Charity Paquinet Fisher, was sister of Mary who married Nathan Fuller.) Of their three children—Mary, Nathan and Charity Jane—only one survived. Charity Jane Fuller, born 1807, married Richard Roberts 25 December 1823.
After the death of husband William Fisher, Catherine married George H. Dudley in 1814. In 1823 Catherine married John Hatch Hill (1778-1837), who first married Catherine’s sister Hannah in 1806. Hannah, born about 1790, died in April 1823 and Catherine died in August 1823, making Hill a widower twice in the same year. His last marriage was to Abigail Ward.
John Hatch Hill and Hannah Fuller Hill had three children:
- Catharine Hill (1807-1870) married Anthony Hatch 6 October 1822; they had five children.
- Gaston Hill (abt 1810- bef 1866) married Mary P. Moore in 1838; they had six children.
- Edward Hatch Hill (born abt 1820) married Mary C. Williams about 1844; they had two children. Edward returned to the old Hill family plantation in Cedar Point in 1855 and built the historic “Octagon House” or Hill-Jones House; John S. Jones inherited the house from his mother Mary Hill Jones, daughter of Edward the builder.
 |
| Capt. Belcher Fuller |
▪ Capt. Belcher Fuller – husband of Zilphia; “Aged 51 years __months & 6 days”
 |
| Nathan Fuller Esq. |
▪ Jane Fuller (b.1787-d.22 Oct 1800); “fourth daughter of Nathan Fuller Esq and Mary his wife who departed this life the 22nd day of October 1800 Aged 13 years and 7 days”
▪ Mary Fuller (b.1742-d.5 Apr 1817); “Consort of Nathan Fuller Esq Aged 74 years
▪ Nathan Fuller Jr. died 23 Jul 1795; Second son of Nathan Fuller Esq and Mary his wife who departed this life the 23rd day of July 1795. Aged 14 years 10 months 5 days”
 |
| Mary Fuller |
Esq and Mary his wife who departed life the 9th Day of January 1788 Aged 3 years 1 month and 16 days
▪ William Fuller (b.22 May 1774-d.16 Jul 1812)
 |
| Charity Fuller Hatchell |
▪ Zilphia Fuller died 8 Oct 1846; “Consort of Belcher Fuller who died Oct 28 1816 Aged
▪ Charity Fuller Hatchell (1807-1891) – Marker for Charity and Andrew Lee Hatchell; the marker also includes commemorations to two of their grandchildren, Leonidas Mace 1862-1865, Rosalea Mace 1864-1865.
▪ Mary Fuller Leecraft (1799-1878) – (wife of Benjamin)
▪ Mary Fuller Robinson (1775-1795) – Second daughter of Nathan Fuller Esq and Mary his wife and consort of Archibald Robinson who departed this life 3rd day of December 1795 Aged 20 years two months and eleven days.
 |
| Jane Fuller |
 |
| Nathan Fuller Jr. |
 |
| Mary Fuller Robinson |
Southwest Corner of Front and Orange Streets
Lot #23 and Lot #24 - Images below
1768 – Jean Bruyere Kell, historian and owner of the properties, with husband Copeland Kell, from 1965 until 1985, noted, “1768 is the date when the William Borden house was first mentioned…William Borden Jr. purchased the corner lot 24 and stated therein ‘next to lot 23 where my house now stands’…we can surmise that at least an early portion of the Borden house was built before 1768.” During the later part of the eighteenth century, William Borden sold the property to Nathan Fuller.
1800 – In Nathan Fuller’s 1800 will, he left to wife Mary “the dwelling house where I now live to include the lot 23 in Beaufort being 55 feet wide and twenty poles in length reserving the right of my son Belcher, if he shall think fit to build a house, between my house and Elijah Bells house.”
1828 – Belcher Fuller left wife Zilphia his real estate “to dispose of as she sees fit,” but also left to sons Belcher Jr. and William “my lot 23 in common…”
On January 8, 1841, Zilphia gave properties to son William, including Lots 23 and 24 with all improvements (Deed Book Z, Page 123, written 8 Jan 1841, registered 8 Mar 1847 at Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions). According to handwritten notes by historian Jean Kell, William Fuller relinquished ownership to his brother Belcher.
In June 1852, Belcher Fuller Jr. (1817-1870) sold the western portion of Lot 24, corner of Front and Orange Streets, to William Fisher Bell, "a certain half of lot of land...number twenty four Old Town, being the westernmost half of said lot bordering on Orange & Front Street...To have & to hold the said premises..."
1858 – William Bell sold this half of Lot 24 to Capt. Thomas Thomas. Thomas paid taxes on lot in 1866. (Kell) Gray’s 1880 New Map of Beaufort shows the house on lot 24 designated to Thomas Thomas.
______________
From Heritage of Carteret County Vol. I
Transcribed as written by Mary Warshaw - January 2013
The Fullers
By descendant Minnie S. Simpson
Sources: One Dozen Pre-Revolutionary War Families, by Primrose Fisher, family records, sources quoted in the article and personal knowledge.
The story of the Fullers in the town of Beaufort, North Carolina began with Edward Fuller who came to Carteret County from New England in the 1730s. His wife was Hannah. Named in his will were his sons: John, Edward, Nathan, Belcher, David and Solomon, and his daughter Rebecca, who married Jesse Jones. The will also mentioned “My estate in New England, County of Fairfield Norwick.”
The Fullers were seafaring people, engaged in nautical trade. They were prosperous and accumulated property. The block in Beaufort adjoining Orange Street, Ann Street, Turner Street and Front Street was known as Fuller land. Through the generations we find the Fullers engaged not only in nautical trade, but in other occupations as well. Some were merchants, one was a tailor, one a market clerk and one a deputy sheriff. Whatever the calling, it would have been a contribution to the growth of a developing town.
Edward’s son Nathan was a navigator and importer. Because of his procurement of goods during the Revolutionary War, he was noted for Patriotic service in the DAR Patriot Index. Nathan married into a seafaring family. His wife [was] Mary Pacquinet [Paquinet], daughter of Michael and Mary Pacquinet who were French Huguenots. Michael and Mary received a grant of 400 acres in Carteret County on March 11, 1740. According to one writer, the Pacquinets were pioneers of ocean going boats that brought merchandise from the West Indies.
Nathan Fuller died at the age of 50. He was survived by his wife, Mary Pacquinet Fuller, one son, Belcher and four daughters, Catherine Fisher, Charity Smith, Hannah Fuller and Hope Fuller. Nathan’s son Belcher was a Senator in the North Carolina Legislature, 1809-1813. Belcher’s son, Nathan II, was also a Senator in the N.C. Legislature.
Descendants of Nathan Fuller Sr., through his son Belcher, are living in Beaufort at the present time. Belcher married Zilphia Guthrey. Their children were: Belcher Fuller Jr., William Fuller, Nathan Fuller II, Zilphia, Charity and Julianne.
Belcher’s daughter Zilphia married Thomas Marshall. Zilphia’s descendants are Minnie Simpson, Emma Brake, Virginia Bursch, Josephine McCabe, Alstyne Provost, Sally Smith, Helene Newby, Eunice Stephenson and Jacqueline Quisenberry, and their children and grandchildren.
Belcher’s daughter Charity married Andrew Hatchel. Her descendants are Carl Hatsell and Francis Hatsell and their children.
Nathan Fuller and his wife Mary, Belcher Fuller and his wife Zilphia, and some of their children are buried in the Old Burying Ground in Beaufort.
Transcribed as written by Mary Warshaw - January 2013
The Fullers
By descendant Minnie S. Simpson
Sources: One Dozen Pre-Revolutionary War Families, by Primrose Fisher, family records, sources quoted in the article and personal knowledge.
The story of the Fullers in the town of Beaufort, North Carolina began with Edward Fuller who came to Carteret County from New England in the 1730s. His wife was Hannah. Named in his will were his sons: John, Edward, Nathan, Belcher, David and Solomon, and his daughter Rebecca, who married Jesse Jones. The will also mentioned “My estate in New England, County of Fairfield Norwick.”
The Fullers were seafaring people, engaged in nautical trade. They were prosperous and accumulated property. The block in Beaufort adjoining Orange Street, Ann Street, Turner Street and Front Street was known as Fuller land. Through the generations we find the Fullers engaged not only in nautical trade, but in other occupations as well. Some were merchants, one was a tailor, one a market clerk and one a deputy sheriff. Whatever the calling, it would have been a contribution to the growth of a developing town.
Edward’s son Nathan was a navigator and importer. Because of his procurement of goods during the Revolutionary War, he was noted for Patriotic service in the DAR Patriot Index. Nathan married into a seafaring family. His wife [was] Mary Pacquinet [Paquinet], daughter of Michael and Mary Pacquinet who were French Huguenots. Michael and Mary received a grant of 400 acres in Carteret County on March 11, 1740. According to one writer, the Pacquinets were pioneers of ocean going boats that brought merchandise from the West Indies.
Nathan Fuller died at the age of 50. He was survived by his wife, Mary Pacquinet Fuller, one son, Belcher and four daughters, Catherine Fisher, Charity Smith, Hannah Fuller and Hope Fuller. Nathan’s son Belcher was a Senator in the North Carolina Legislature, 1809-1813. Belcher’s son, Nathan II, was also a Senator in the N.C. Legislature.
Descendants of Nathan Fuller Sr., through his son Belcher, are living in Beaufort at the present time. Belcher married Zilphia Guthrey. Their children were: Belcher Fuller Jr., William Fuller, Nathan Fuller II, Zilphia, Charity and Julianne.
Belcher’s daughter Zilphia married Thomas Marshall. Zilphia’s descendants are Minnie Simpson, Emma Brake, Virginia Bursch, Josephine McCabe, Alstyne Provost, Sally Smith, Helene Newby, Eunice Stephenson and Jacqueline Quisenberry, and their children and grandchildren.
Belcher’s daughter Charity married Andrew Hatchel. Her descendants are Carl Hatsell and Francis Hatsell and their children.
Nathan Fuller and his wife Mary, Belcher Fuller and his wife Zilphia, and some of their children are buried in the Old Burying Ground in Beaufort.
______________________
Handwritten Research Notes by historian Jean Bruyere Kell
regarding Lots 23, 24 and Fuller family
(These notes contain some speculation as she searched for facts.)
(These notes contain some speculation as she searched for facts.)
