Continuing... Here is information that Clark & Ernie did not know (but made the trip to Salt Lake City so worthwhile!) The Fultons of Pennsylvania On 8 July 1808, Hugh Fulton, farmer, of Lower Chanceford Township, York County, Pennsylvania, sold 4 tracts of land and a ferry right in Chanceford Township to George Urey for L700. (York Co Deed B 2T, page 358) This deed further explains that the ferry was purchased on 20 May 1789 by Samuel, Hugh, and John Fulton, in partnership. Hugh Fulton, administrator for Samuel Fulton, deceased, was acting on behalf of John Fulton, now a resident of "Lincoln, Ontario County, New York." Now you know the source behind one of the yellow Post-It notes in Roberta Hirth's Rand-McNally database. Background Back in the 1980s, after years of aimless wandering through genealogy collections, I finally submitted a query to "The Fulton Family Letter" published by the late Robert DeWard Fulton. I received answers from Blanche Tompkins and DeWayne Fulton of California. I learned that I was probably a descendant of David Fulton of Grayson Co, Virginia. Further, I learned that David Fulton was the grandson of Samuel and Elizabeth (Stewart) Fulton of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, through their son, Samuel Fulton. (Don't bother to write that down -- it is SO UNTRUE. I'll explain more about that in another installment.) Excited to learn more about my new-found Fulton ancestors, I read everything I could about the Fultons of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which is the birthplace of you-know-who, THE Robert Fulton. (No, I'm not related to him, either.) Struggling to find the ancestor of MY Fulton (David), I focused on the Fultons of York County, Pennsylvania. Why? Because in the 1880s, Wm. Henry Egle, MD, a genealogy hobbyist, and historian Samuel Evans, wrote that the sons of Samuel Fulton of Lancaster County settled at York County, before 1790. Trust me on this, some of that last statement is true. Unfortunately, there were a lot of Fultons living in York County, Pennsylvania, in 1790. A lot! I really struggled to sort them out and identify my ancestor, Samuel Fulton [Jr], son of Samuel & Elizabeth (Stewart) Fulton. (Never found him.) In the process, I did identify several distinct Fulton families at York County, PA: James Fulton, d 1772, wife Mary. James Fulton, d 1800, wife Margaret. James Fulton, d 1808, wife Mary. Does this look familiar? Rather than discuss the lengthy proofs, here's the short version: James Fulton, d 1772, wife Mary, was born in Scotland. He is the ancestor of James H. Fulton of Arkansas and Forrest Fulton of California. Dorothy Fulton (AK) and Irene Fulton (CA) have shared a lot of information on this family and traveled with us to Scotland (Fulton Reunion 1995) where they found baptism records, three marriages of James Fulton (or was it four?) and two wives named Mary (or was it three?). This James Fulton is NOT the son of Samuel Fulton of Lancaster Co, PA, but he's certainly an interesting gent, don't you think? James Fulton, d 1808, wife Mary, is James "Fullton", merchant of Philadelphia. This man is interesting because he is a common denominator between almost every Fulton living in Colonial America. (More about him some other time.) He is NOT the son of Samuel Fulton of Lancaster Co, PA -- but he did co-sign a mortgage with James Fulton, the oldest son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Stewart) Fulton, who is: James Fulton, d 1800, wife Margaret. James Fulton died before 4 March 1800, the date his son Samuel Fulton received Letters of Administration (York Co. Admin Bonds, DB 2A, p 278). "Bond for estate of James Fulton, Chanceford Twp, granted to Samuel Fulton, his eldest son, administrator." Unfortunately, Samuel Fulton died before 13 March 1807, the date his brother Hugh Fulton received Letters of Administration (York Co. Admin Bonds, DB 2B, p 421). "Estate of Samuel Fulton single man of Lower Chanceford Township, Hugh Fulton of Lower Chanceford, Administrator...Inventory filed 13 May 1807." So Hugh Fulton had to take care of two estates, his father James Fulton and his older brother, Samuel Fulton, which he completed on 12 August 1808 (York County Administration Accounts). But how, you ask, do I know that THIS James Fulton is the son of Samuel & Elizabeth (Stewart) Fulton of Lancaster Co, PA? Well, you need two separate documents to prove this: (1) The Will of Samuel Cooke of Lancaster County, PA (signed 4 March 1804) provides for his wife (not named) and brothers James Cooke, John Cooke, and David Cooke, and includes a special bequest to the "heirs of James Fulton of Donegal Township." (Recorded 11 April 1804). (2) The Will of Margaret Fulton of Chanceford Twp, York Co, PA (signed 2 October 1804) provides for daughter Mary Fulton, friend Hugh Fulton of Chanceford, and references "a legacy to the testatrix from Samuel Cooke of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania." (York Co. Wills, Book L, p 219, Recorded 19 Feb 1805.) And, just because it's connected, here's one more piece of information, just for good measure: The Will of Joseph Reed of Chanceford Twp, York Co, PA (signed 5 October 1804) provides for (among others) a "granddaughter Margaret Fulton." (York Co. Wills, Book L, p 188, recorded 3 December 1804.) There is no Will on record for James Fulton of Chanceford Twp, York Co, so we don't have a single document that identifies his children. Luckily, James Fulton and family were still residing in Donegal Township, Lancaster County, PA, in 1776, the year a new minister, Rev. Colin McFarquahar arrived from Scotland. As his first order of business, McFarquahar, minister of the Donegal Springs Presbyterian Church, prepared a list of all church members. "Rev. Colin McFarquhar's Catechism Roll, Donegal Springs Presbyterian Church" was transcribed and is included in the multi-volume, "Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Series" collection (1926). Handwriting! Here we go again, the transcriber of the Catechism Roll was unfamiliar with early handwriting and abbreviations. Here is how the transcript appears in print: Family #99: Joseph Fulton Margaret Fulton Samuel Fulton Hugh Fulton John Fulton Joseph Fulton Elizabeth Fulton Checking all surviving tax records and land records of Donegal Twp, Lancaster Co, PA, there is NO Joseph Fulton -- but there IS a James Fulton, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Stewart) Fulton. (The abbreviation for James is Jas, with the "as" above the line. The abbreviation for Joseph is Jos, with the "os" above the line. I contend that this is yet another transcription error and the correct version should be: Family #99: James Fulton Margaret Fulton Samuel Fulton, the eldest son (d bef 1807) Hugh Fulton John Fulton James Fulton Elizabeth Fulton Because widow Margaret Fulton provided for a daughter, Mary Fulton, we can add one more daughter born after 1776. Summary: In 1789, Samuel, Hugh, and John Fulton, partners, purchased a ferry business that crossed the Susquehanna River between Lancaster and York Counties, Pennsylvania. One of the Fulton boys married a daughter of Joseph Reed and had a child, Margaret Fulton, born before 1804. Sometime before 1808, John Fulton moved to Lincoln, Ontario Co, NY. >From the information you have read so far, don't you think that brothers James and Hugh made their way to Ontario County, too? Patrice (Fulton) Stark Lone Tree, Colorado