https://www.geni.com/people/Samuel-Fuller/6000000092945075821?through=6000000096750952867 - Did those that arrived in bondage in the New World bring spouses?

Samuel Fuller is a mystery man. The only immigration record I can find via Ancestry shows him to have arrived in Philadelphia in bondage in 1761, if I read it correctly. The question is: where did his wife come from? Would she have accompanied him from England? Or would they have been married in the New World?

Samuel Fuller

Erica Howton, Geni's ability to start a discussion from a profile seems to be broken at the moment, hope this is clear enough...

Karl David Wright I had the same problem - I’ll raise it to Geni.

I’m not sure what you mean by “in bondage;” was there an indenture? My understanding is that people indentured themselves for ship’s passage and those indentures could be sold and traded on this side. And yes, married couples indentured for passage: it’s a different contract than apprenticeship, which traditionally was for seven years and no marriage allowed. Involuntarily shipped over as a convict, sure he could have been married already in England; I don’t really know what a wife would have done in those circumstances.

Erica Howton, that makes sense.

Here's the ancestry record; it refers to Coldham with a "bonded" label. If I understand you correctly I would therefore assume he married in England. Very little chance I suppose of figuring out where he came from. Never found a marriage record in the US either, or a death record either. He could have moved away from New Jersey at some point I suppose.

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=7486&a...

Try and find the context in Coldham.

COLDHAM, PETER WILSON. Bonded Passengers to America. 9 vols. in 3. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983. Vol. 5. Western Circuit, 1664-1775: Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, and Wiltshire, with a List of the Rebels of 1685. 95p.

http://genealogydecoded.com/2013/07/21/convicts-transported-to-colo...

He was a convict, and you can likely find the crime and the sentencing court. A good find - you can find ethnicity.

I would disagree and say he married on this side.

https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000103705934917&

He was from Somerset and sentenced for transportation. Coldham did not find the crime he was convicted of (which doesn’t mean it can’t be found).

“pproximately 50,000 men, women, and children were banished to the Americas from Great Britain between 1607 and 1776. There the convicts were sold to the highest bidder to labor for terms of seven years or more as the court had decided. ..”

From http://www.bookverdict.com/details.xqy?uri=Product-33574711334012.xml

Now the next question is: are you sure it’s this Samuel Fuller? NJ was not where these convicts went: they were Plantation fodder (Barbados, Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas).

Seems unlikely the daughter would rise “high” so fast.

Tons of New England Fullers, not to mention regular immigrants.

Erica Howton, well I cannot be sure of course. Looking around New Jersey doesn't find many, and we have only the one birth record from Winslow Township. Any other suggestions? Bear in mind that the daughter married the son of a deceased immigrant, so there wasn't that much social climbing required.

If we assume Samuel was born in New Jersey, then this would have been his sister perhaps:

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=3599&a...

There is also a "Daniel Fuller" who has a more extensive known pedigree but is listed as being from Gloucester. Given references to place names like "Lynn" and "Ipswich" I think this would represent New England Fullers. Not out of the question of course but the bar of proof would have to be higher.

What sold *me* on this tale was just how perfect the date of arrival was vs daughter Elizabeth's birthdate.

How about this for a possible birth record for old Samuel? Right place, right time:

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60856&...

Another possibility (though for some reason I don't like it as much):

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60856&...

“There the convicts were sold to the highest bidder to labor for terms of seven years or more as the court had decided. ...”

Banished 1761, child born 1764? How did he get out of the 7 year contract ?

Lots of Fullers ...

Seven years or more??
Yup, I agree, not the right guy.

Hmm, I took the step of looking for "Fuller" matches in my DNA match list. And I found some.

They are *New England* Fullers -- specifically Concord MA in 1645. I will look at a few more to confirm, but that makes it perhaps solvable if it pans out.

“Re: Bear in mind that the daughter married the son of a deceased immigrant, so there wasn't that much social climbing required ...”

Manlee Smallwood was a church member and carried a Colonel title; I could do with more bio details, but just based on those two facts, I am raising my eyebrows at his wife (2nd?) being a “criminal’s” daughter.

If you read a little bit in Coldham’s introduction, you will see that England was dumping its “undesirables” into the Colony, at a profit (including political agitators). From what I know of the history of the Jersey provinces, they were as class stratified as England, and this wasn’t the frontier. There wasn’t a known shared belief such as Society of Friends to act as an equalizing force. There’s no remarkable “rags to riches” story. So the place to begin is within Manlee’s community and then expand. I’d want to know, if possible, about her first marriage. ... where did she go?

You can probably eliminate the Mayflower Fullers easiest / fastest - look to see if any came to New Jersey.

Of course now I want to read this book:

https://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=14076

“Emigrants in Chains, by Peter Wilson Coldham, examines in detail an often overlooked piece of history. The forced colonization of the American colonies by English prisoners. The book outlines the social, economical, and political reasons England forced as many as 50,000 prisoners to emigrate. ....”

This is the Fuller trees one of my DNA matches ties into:

Mary Lothrop

Lothrops went to New Jersey - I’m related (I think). Well documented (except my line naturally). You’re getting warmer.

Here's another one:

Elizabeth Dean

And, they're related through the Mayflower. Small world. ;-)

https://www.geni.com/path/Elizabeth-Dean-Fuller+is+related+to+Mary-...

Ok, so now I just need to figure out where Samuel fits in!

I already looked for a Samuel Fuller born at about the right time in Geni and came up short. But have a look at this family:

Nathaniel Fuller

He's the brother of the Fuller that married the Lothrop. Note that he marries in 1738, and doesn't have his first child until 20 years later. Something fishy there. Looking at web trees, I find a few more children than he has in Geni -- will add those -- but plenty of room for half a dozen unrecorded children... Need to look at the records to see what's there.

Nathaniel might still be an option, but hey, I found a Barnstable Samuel from the right family born at the right time:

Samuel Fuller, Jr., of Attleboro

I hooked up Samuel and his bride to probable daughter Elizabeth and wrote a nice overview note explaining what I've got at the moment, subject to being disproved.

I also stumbled over the following profile, whose dates just plain do not work out, and whose name also conflicts with another family member: Samuel Fuller

I think this should probably just be disconnected? Thoughts?

The problem with this choice of Samuel is that the DNA doesn't work out (too distant). For example:

https://www.geni.com/path/Karl-Wright+is+related+to+Robert-Bruce?fr...

We need someone 8th cousin or closer in my experience.

I'll create trees for some other Fuller matches and see whether we can find a closer Samuel to them.