{"id":23377,"date":"2017-06-23T10:11:02","date_gmt":"2017-06-23T14:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=23377"},"modified":"2021-04-22T13:34:43","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T17:34:43","slug":"discovering-a-unique-family-relic-through-newspapers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/discovering-a-unique-family-relic-through-newspapers.html","title":{"rendered":"Discovering a Unique Family Relic through Newspapers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of us have family heirlooms, but not many of those heirlooms date back to the very beginnings of America. During a recent research session on one of my Pilgrim ancestors, I discovered a unique family relic that\u2019s been used by more than 10 generations of the family.<\/p>\n

Samuel Fuller, M.D.<\/a> (1580-1633), Mayflower Pilgrim and signer of the Mayflower Compact, was my 10th great-grandfather. I\u2019m very interested in learning more about the descendants of these Pilgrim forefathers \u2013 so after examining Samuel\u2019s family tree, I decided to search GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> for Samuel\u2019s grandson, Isaac Fuller I<\/a> (1674-1727). Because \u201cIsaac Fuller\u201d sounded like a common name, I included the search term \u201cPlymouth\u201d because Isaac lived and died within the boundaries of Plymouth Colony.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This search brought up an interesting discovery: a Boston Herald<\/em> article about young Thomas Porter<\/span>, who, as a descendant of Mayflower passenger Samuel Fuller, was to be rocked in the historic cradle that the Fuller family has been using since colonial times.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 24 October 1920, page 52<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to this article:<\/p>\n

\u201cEleven generations of Americans have been rocked in that cradle, which is protected by a heavy plateglass covering. When this little boy comes to Plymouth this fall, that plateglass cover will be removed and the little fellow will be rocked in the cradle of his ancestors. Then the covering will be replaced, probably not to be removed for another generation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The article reports that Thomas was the first in 11 generations to be born outside of the Plymouth, Massachusetts, area. Before him, his great-grandfather Deacon Henry Noyes of Abington, Massachusetts, was the last family member to be rocked in the cradle.<\/p>\n

This article also provides another interesting detail: the Pilgrim Hall Museum<\/a> must allow any descendant of Samuel Fuller to rock their child in the cradle if requested.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Boston Herald (Boston, Massachusetts), 24 October 1920, page 52<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Apparently, the news of young Tom Porter\u2019s cradle ride traveled far, because the next search result I found was another account about his cradle ride \u2013 published in the Seattle Daily Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Source: GenealogyBank, Seattle Daily Times (Seattle, Washington), 22 November 1920, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to this newspaper article, the cradle didn\u2019t originate in the colonies \u2013 it was brought with Dr. Samuel Fuller from his home in England:<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Samuel Fuller, physician of the Mayflower company, brought the cradle with him from England and it is supposed was himself sent to the land of Winken, Blinken and Nod many times in it, and 11 generations have been rocked in it. The second Samuel Fuller slept in it, and after him Dr. Isaac Fuller, in the third generation, and later a physician of Middleboro slumbered in its capacious quarters.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I was curious whether this legend about the cradle having been brought from England was true, so I checked with the Pilgrim Hall Museum, where the cradle is kept.<\/p>\n

It turns out they are not sure about the origins of this cradle. It might have origins in England, but it is also possible that it was made in the 1600s in Duxbury, Plymouth County, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

\"Information<\/a>
Source: Pilgrim Hall Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Are you also a descendant of Dr. Samuel Fuller?
\nAnd if so, were you rocked in the Fuller Family Cradle?<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Fuller Family Cradle. Source: Pilgrim Hall Museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Find your family\u2019s stories and relics by searching for them in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An article about the cradle that has been passed down through the generations of Mayflower Pilgrim Samuel Fuller\u2019s family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12713],"tags":[6482,12,2719,8263,2020,2683],"class_list":["post-23377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genealogy-research-tips","tag-family-heirlooms","tag-genealogy","tag-genealogy-search-tips","tag-mayflower-pilgrims","tag-newspaper-archives","tag-samuel-fuller"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/illustration-0720-2016-mayflower-4.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23377"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77447,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23377\/revisions\/77447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}