Edward FULLER - Mayflower

Signing of the Mayflower Compact

Edward Fuller (baptized 4 September 1575, Redenhall, Norfolk, England – died between 11 January and 10 April 1621, Plymouth, Massachusetts) crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower. Edward's brother Samuel, who was the Plymouth Colony doctor, and his wife, Bridget, were on the same Mayflower voyage, and both brothers, Edward and Samuel, signed the Mayflower Compact.
Both Edward and Ann died in the first winter in Plymouth, in early 1621, and their son Samuel was raised by his uncle Samuel and Bridget. Samuel Fuller, the MD, died in Plymouth, MA, in 1633. Edward's son Samuel lived until 1683. His son Matthew came from England to Massachusetts at some point, with a wife named Francis he married in 1630. Matthew died in Barnstable, Massachusetts, in 1678. (Wikipedia)
Baptism: 4 September 1575, Redenhall, Norfolk. (See notes in the Biographical Summary below).
Marriage: Married, but name of wife unknown. (See notes in the Biographical Summary below).
Death: Sometime the first winter at Plymouth.
Children: Matthew, Samuel

Biographical Summary

Edward Fuller has been generally identified as the son of Robert and Sara (Dunkhorn) Fuller, baptized on 4 September 1575 at Redenhall, Norfolk. However, a number of genealogical scholars and Mayflower researchers, including Robert S. Wakefield, Robert Sherman, Robert Leigh Ward, Robert C. Anderson, Eugene Stratton, Leslie Mahler, and others, have all questioned the identification over the past couple of decades. The current identification is based upon circumstantial evidence only: the fact that the names Samuel, Edward, and Ann occur within the same family; and the fact the father is identified as a butcher. Thomas Morton, writing in 1637, says that Samuel Fuller was the son of a butcher. The name Matthew also occurs in this Redenhall Fuller family. The counter-evidence is primarily that the ages for the Fullers appear to be too old, when compared to their marriage dates, the ages of their spouses, and with the births of their children.

The name of Edward Fuller's wife has not been discovered. In James Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England (1860-1862), Edward Fuller's wife was given as "Ann". However, there are no American or English records which give her name. I suspect James Savage may have made a simple typographical error: Mayflower passenger Edward Tilley had a wife Ann; or perhaps he was thinking of their sister Ann Fuller. None-the-less, numerous sources published after 1860 have utilized Savage's Genealogical Dictionary, and so the identification of Ann can be found in numerous other books and online resources.

So, in truth, very little is known about Edward Fuller. His English origins and the name of his wife are widely disputed. What is known is that he, his wife, and his son Samuel came on the Mayflower in 1620 to Plymouth. A single Leiden judicial document mentions Edward Fuller, and proves that he, like brother Samuel Fuller, were living in Leiden. Both Edward and his wife died the first winter, but son Samuel (who would have been about 12), survived. An older brother, Matthew, had stayed behind, and came to America later.

13th great grandfather Edward FULLER b.1575 and wife both on Mayflower  / son Samuel FULLER b.1612 on Mayflower / Mary FULLER b.1644 / Sarah WILLIAMS / Benjamin ROATH b.1701 / Mary ROTH b.1726 / Mary SANGER / Lucretia JEFFORDS b.1766 / Amariah RAWSON b.1787 / Adaline RAWSON b.1811 / Mary DUNN b.1833 / Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859 / George Ensign SMITH b.1898 / Camilla SMITH / Lark / JR.