Continuing with the Fulton & Wynkoop family connections... Yes, Roberta. This is getting very interesting, indeed! I notice that my last two installments (Pts 11 and 12) focused more on the surname Yerkes than Wynkoop. I have received so much new information that I'm going to start another thread for the Fulton/Yerkes connections. "Fulton + Wynkoop" This thread will continue with the Fulton & Wynkoop connections identified in New York, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. (Yes, Kentucky, too.) "Fulton + Yerkes" This new thread will start with the Fultons of Shelby Co, KY and work backwards in an effort to identify their ancestors. So far, we've identified four Fulton families in Shelby County, KY: (1) James and Winifred (Hays) Fulton (2) David & Nancy (-?-) Fulton, (3) orphan children of James and Hester (Fulton) Baitie/Beaty raised by their aunt (4) Mary (Fulton) Middleton, wife of Adam Middleton. Are James, David, Hester, and Mary Fulton related? That's the first question. Can we prove it? That's an even better question. [Look for "Fulton + Yerkes (Pt 1)" for this new discussion.] * * * * * Fulton + Wynkoop (Pt 13) * * * * * "It's a gift to be simple, it's a gift to be free..." If you listen real close, you can hear me singing that old Shaker tune. You've heard the tune in commercials and you may even own some "Shaker-style" furniture, but did you know that Anna Fulton was an early member of the Shakers? Yes, I've been collecting way too much Fulton trivia. The Shakers, the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Coming, were a religious sect that first appeared about 1750 in Great Britain. This sect is described as a group of seceders from the Society of Friends ("Quakers"). In 1774, Ann Lee, of Manchester, England, introduced the sect in the United States, establishing the first community at Watervliet, New York, in 1776. She was called "Mother Ann" by her followers who regarded her as a female counterpart of Jesus Christ. [I didn't make this up -- see "The Shakers", Encarta Encyclopedia '99] By 1826, 18 Shaker communities existed here in the United States. "These communities held property in common, practiced asceticism, and honored celibacy above marriage." It was that last part that doomed the movement. Elisha and Anna (Fulton) Thomas were early members of the Shaker Community "Shakertown" located near Harrodsburg, Mercer Co, Kentucky. They appear to have joined the sect in 1805, after the birth of their seven children. Elisha and Anna (Fulton) Thomas Correspondent Bill Denney of Seattle, Washington, is to the Denney family what I am to the Fulton family -- a single-surname genealogy hobbyist who has run amuck with computerized information. (Bill has an excuse; he works for Microsoft Corporation.) Bill Denney is the source for the following information. Elisha Thomas was the son of Morris and Mary (-?-) Thomas of Bucks Co, Pennsylvania. [Bucks County is adjacent to the Manor of Moreland.] Two of Elisha's sisters married sons of David Denny of Winchester, Frederick Co, VA. (1) Rachel Thomas married Robert Denny and (2) Elizabeth Thomas married Samuel Denny. All three families settled near Harrodsburg, Kentucky territory, before 1790. 1. Rachel Thomas, b ca 1758, married 14 May 1778 at Winchester, Frederick Co., VA, Robert Denny, son of David Denny. She died 12 November 1808 at Mercer Co., KY, and is buried in the Shawnee Run Baptist Church Cemetery. Children of Robert and Rachel (Thomas) Denny: a. David Denny, b 1783. b. Elisha Thomas Denny, b 1784. c. Samuel Denny, b 1786. d. Joseph Denny, b 1788. e. William R. Denny, b 1790. f. John Denny, b 1793. g. Mary Thomas Denny, b 1795. h. James Denny, b 1798. i. Sarah Morris Denny, b 1799. [Morris or Marrs?] 2. Elizabeth Thomas, m Samuel Denny, son of David Denny. Samuel Denny sold his land in Frederick Co., VA in 1789 and moved west to join his brother, Robert Denny. Samuel and Elizabeth did not have any children but raised 13 orphans. They sold their land at Shawnee Run in Mercer Co., KY, in 1814, and moved to Washington Co., Indiana. In 1826, Samuel and Elizabeth (Thomas) Denny moved to Warren Township, Putnam Co., Indiana, where she died followed by her husband on 4 July 1843. Both are buried at the Deer Creek Baptist Church. 3. Elisha Thomas, born 25 September 1762 in Bucks Co., PA; died 5 October 1838 at Pleasant Hill “Shakertown”, Mercer Co., KY. He married before 1784 Anna Fulton, born circa 1765; died 15 July 1823 at Pleasant Hill, “Shakertown”, Mercer Co., KY. In 1781, Elisha Thomas volunteered in Hampshire County, Virginia, for military service as a spy and pilot during the Revolution. He claimed he was present at Yorktown when Cornwallis was captured. Elisha and Anna (Fulton) Thomas, along with three children, moved to Mercer Co., KY, in 1787. They purchased a 140 acre tract of land on both sides of Shawnee Run which adjoined the land of his sisters, surname Denny. [See #1 and #2 above.] Elisha and Anna were the parents of seven children, all born before 1805. In 1805, Elisha Thomas “confessed his sins” and was converted to the Society of Believers in Mercer County, Kentucky. This was the beginning of “Shakertown.” Children of Elisha and Anna (Fulton) Thomas: a. Elizabeth Thomas m ca 1805 Cornelius Banta b. Thankful Thomas c. Eunice "Jinny" Thomas d. Ursula "Sally" Thomas e. Anna Thomas f. Morris Thomas g. Martha "Patsy" Thomas Notice that their eldest daughter, Elizabeth, married Cornelius Banta. Banta is a distinctive name connected to the "Low Dutch" settlement at Harrodsburg, Mercer Co, KY. The Bantas are directly connected to Kingston, New York, home of the Wynkoops, another "Low Dutch" family. That's not the only Banta connection. In 1808, Samuel Fulton of Carlisle, Nicholas Co, KY, married Margaret Banta, daughter of Henry Banta [Sr]. I find another note (undocumented, sorry) suggesting that Henry Banta, son of Henry Banta [Sr], married Jenny Fulton. It certainly appears that I've identified a handful of Fultons living out in the middle of Kentucky (Mercer and Nicholas Counties) with possible ties to the "Low Dutch" (Bantas/Wynkoops) of Kingston, New York, and ties to some Baptists (Thomas) living at Bucks County, which is adjacent to the Manor of Moreland, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania ... deep breath ... which is where we started on this Fulton + Wynkoop story. And there's more. Patrice (Fulton) Stark Lone Tree, Colorado P.S. Roberta? Florence? -- where is Watervliet, New York?