Researching my Mayflower ancestor Dr. Samuel Fuller has led me to many discoveries, one of the best being information about distant cousins who were also notable historical figures. One of these cousins in Dr. Samuel Fuller’s line is the Rev. Homer Taylor Fuller (1838-1908).
I discovered Rev. Fuller during a search in GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives for our common Mayflower ancestor. Because Dr. Samuel Fuller was mentioned in the text, Rev. Fuller’s obituary in the Caledonian came up as a result.
The article told me that Rev. Fuller was born in Lempster, New Hampshire, on 15 November 1838 and was “undoubtedly the most distinguished son of Lempster in educational work.”
Rev. Fuller attended the Andover and Union Theological Seminaries, graduated from Dartmouth, and served as principal of the Fredonia Academy and president of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Aside from his notable educational and public service accomplishments, the Caledonian also describes him as a gracious and kind person:
“We shall always remember Dr. Fuller as a Christian gentleman. His bearing was dignified and gracious. Something of the urbanity of former generations seemed to be surviving in him.”
I wanted to learn more about Rev. Fuller, so I searched for him in GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives.
From this search, I found that the St. Albans Daily Messenger also published an obituary for Rev. Fuller in which the writer called him “one of the leading educators in the state.”
This article also gave me information about Rev. Fuller’s children: his oldest daughter, Mary, was a history teacher at Smith College; his son, Henry, was the head of the Canadian-Fairbanks Company; and his youngest daughter, Anna, was married and lived in Springfield, Missouri.
I did a quick Google search and turned up this article in the Granite Monthly magazine which described Rev. Fuller as “one of the most noted educators in the country.”
This article also told me that not only was Rev. Fuller a descendant of Mayflower Pilgrim Dr. Samuel Fuller, he was also the grandson of a Noah Fuller (1758-1843) who fought in the American Revolution.
Being from such a distinguished line of American patriots, Rev. Fuller was surely very proud of his heritage. In fact, the Caledonian said the following about his feelings:
“His Puritan ancestry and traditions he held as a priceless heritage.”
Genealogy Tip: Searching for your ancestors can be a great way to also discover other distinguished relatives that you may not have known about.
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