John Fussell, “near 100 years old,” was killed on February 21, 1676 in the burning of Jonathan Adam's house in "The Raid on Medfield" (link for further reading).

Brief biography

From WellsWooster.com Genealogy

Henry Adams' widow, Edith (Squire) Adams married (2) John Fussell of Weymouth, MA. where he bought the house of Richard Sylvester (1640) of the "Mary & John" of 1630. Fussell was burned in this house by Indians about 1676. He may have come from Somerset, England where the name flourished and had been acquainted with the Adams'es and Squire'es. They had a child, Mary Fussell, who married Nathaniel Adams, 1677. [???] Banks (1937-146) says John Fussel came from Wookey, co. Somerset (2 miles W. of Wells). Banks also claimed Robert Lovell, who came with Rev. Hull's group in 1635, came from this town. John Fussel may have been the son of Thomas Fussel of Wells, whose will was dated 18 Feb 1614/15. He mentions son John in his will. !M&J 17:121

Vexed family

John Fussell was not a known son of John Fussell, of Braintree (died 1663)

Supposedly he first married Elizabeth in England, prior to 1600, who would have died in Weymouth, Mass. before 1651. As of April 2018, there are no primary records supporting that relationship and those events.

In 1651 John Fussell married Edith Squire (died 1672), widow of Henry Adams (died 1646). They had no children together.

Various children have been attributed to John. They do not withstand scrutiny.

• Nicholas Fussell was from a totally different part of England
• A John Fussell Jr has been proposed as a 1st husband of Elizabeth Adams. No sign of him.
• Elizabeth Fussell is noted as living in his household as a daughter in 1663 (History of Weymouth), and she is said to have been the wife of Jonathan Adams. But Adams was Fussell's step son, not son in law. According to The Great Migration Project, Jonathan Adams married Elizabeth Holman by 1666, a marriage that cannot be found in vital records, but was mentioned as taking place in Medfield in 1665 (History of Medway). In 1672, after the death of his wife Edith, John Fussell joined the Jonathan Adams household, and died in his home in 1676. This gives him a “daughter Elizabeth” (“son’s” wife). It seems likely there never was an "Elizabeth Fussell".
• Marie Fussell is said to have married Nathaniel Adams in 1677. But the only Adams getting married in Medfield that year (Vital Records of Medfield) was Captain Jonathan Adams to Mary Adams. In addition, for a daughter Marie to marry in 1677, she would be born say 1655 - when John was married to Edith, well past her child bearing years. So that seems entirely erroneous and there never was a "Marie Fussell."

Although it seems odd he had no children of his own, there is no colonial American record of any.

Notes

From http://nscda.org/historical-activities/ancestor-biographies/

On 3 May 1654, Edward Adams and his step father, John Fussell were admitted freemen of the Massachusetts Colony, their names being next to each other on the roll of that date, (Mass. Col. Records, vol. 4, part 1, page 460). About 1654 Edward Adams settled in Medfield, Massachusetts, where his brothers Henry and Peter had already located ....

From page 20 of The History of Medway, Mass., 1713 to 1885 By Ephriam Orcutt Jameson

It appears that January 25, 1659, John Fussell received a grant of eight acres of upland lying on a little plain above the corner of the great swamp west of Charles River. This is the field on the south side of Union Street, near the railroad crossing. It formed a part of the Sylvanus Adams farm, now occupied by Cyrus Daniels. Mr. Fussell settled here afterward, and when the Indians destroyed Medfield his house was burned with him in it. Jonathan Adams, who married Mr. Fussell's daughter, afterwards rebuilt the house in which he died.

From https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52375644

HE WENT TO MEDFIELD ABT 1651 TO A FARM BELONGING TO THE HEIRS OF GERSHAM [SIC: Henry] ADAMS, AFTER HIS MARRIAGE TO MRS. EDITH SQUIRE ADAMS. IN 1663, ONE DAUGHTER WAS IN THE HOME, ELIZABETH.
JOHN WAS BURNED TO DEATH BY INDIANS IN 1676 DURING AN INDIAN RADE ON MEDFIELD. REF. - "HISTORY OF. THE TOWN OF MEDFIELD, MA" BY WILLIAM S. TILDEN

Burial

Find A Grave Memorial# 52375644

Henry Adams of Braintree, Mass : "IX. Edward, baptized at Kingweston, 19 Apr. 1629; emigrated to New England with his parents in 1638, went with them to Braintree, Mass., and is first found mentioned there in the will of his father in 1646. On 3 May 1654 he and John Fussell [his stepfather] were admitted freemen of the Massachusetts Colony."

Death of John Fussell, in 1676, taken from the Bio from mayflower history

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/11180118/person/-459878869/story/2a9..., describes:
John Fussell, nearly one hundred years old, burned by the Indians in Jonathan Adams' house.

John Fussell & Edith Squire http://methuen.essexcountyma.net/Messer Family/WC01/WC01_092.HTM

John Fussell & Edith Squire Henry Squire (~1563 - ) m. abt 1651, Massachusetts John Fussell Edith Squire b. abt 1575, England d. bur. occ. edu. rel. b. Charlton-Mackrell, Somerset, England d. bur. occ. edu. rel. Spouses: 1 , 2 Contents * Index * Surnames * Contact

Edith Squire's Parents

Father: Henry SQUIRE Mother: Dorothy Hesketh Birth: ABT. 1587, Charlton Mackrell, Somerset, England Baptism: 29 MAY 1587, Charlton Mackrell, Somersetshire, England Death: 21 JAN 1673, Medfield, Massachusetts

Partnership with: Henry ADAMS Marriage: 19 OCT 1609, Charlton Mackrell, Somersetshire, England

Child: Henry ADAMS Birth: 1610, Barton St. David, Somerset, England

Child: Thomas ADAMS Birth: 1612, Barton St. David, Somerset, England

Child: Jonathan ADAMS Birth: ABT. 1614, Barton St. David, Somerset, England

Child: Samuel ADAMS Birth: ABT. 1617, Barton St. David, Somerset, England

Child: Urusula ADAMS Birth: 1619, Barton St. David, Somerset, England

Child: Peter ADAMS Birth: 1621, Kingweston, Somersetshire, England

Child: John ADAMS Birth: ABT. 1622, Kingweston, Somersetshire, England

Child: Joseph ADAMS Birth: 9 FEB 1626, Kings Weston, Somerset, England

Child: Edward ADAMS Birth: ABT. 1629, Kingweston, Somersetshire, England

Partnership with: John FUSSELL Marriage: ABT. 1651, England