Hannah Fuller
  b: 1636 - Scituate, New Plymouth Col.
  d: ~Mar-Apr/1697 - Piscataway Twp., Middlesex Co., East Jersey Prov.

Father: Samuel Fuller
Mother: Jane Lothrop

Spouse: Nicholas Bonham
  m: 1/Jan/1658(1659) - Barnstable Twp., New Plymouth Col.

Child-1: Hannah - b: 8/Oct/1659 - Barnstable Twp., New Plymouth Col.
                            d: 19/Aug/1689 - Piscataway Twp., Middlesex Co., East Jersey Prov.
                           m: Daniel Lippington - 19/Sep/1677 - Piscataway Twp., East Jersey Prov.
          2: Mary - b: 4/Oct/1661 - Barnstable Twp., New Plymouth Col.
                         d: ~1741 - Piscataway Twp., Middlesex Co., NJ
                        m: Edmund Dunham - 15/Jul/1681 - Piscataway Twp., East Jersey Prov.
          3: Sarah - b: 16/Feb/1664(1665) - Barnstable Twp., New Plymouth Col.
                          d: ~1737 - unorg. Hunterdon Co., NJ
                         m: John FitzRandolph - 1/Oct/1681 - Piscataway Twp., East Jersey Prov.
          4: Elizabeth - b: ~1665
                              d: ~1718 - Middlesex Co., NJ
                             m: Edward Slater - 9/Jan/1684(1685) - Middlesex Co., East Jersey Prov.
                             m: Rev. John Drake - ~1703 - Middlesex Co., NJ
          5: Nicholas, Jr. - b: 1666/1667
          6: Hezekiah, Sr.
          7: Elijah - b: 1669
          8: Samuel - b: 7/Sep/1672 - Piscataway Twp., New Jersey Col.
                            d: 1/Oct/1682 - Piscataway Twp., East Jersey Prov.
          9: Jane - b: 29/Jan/1675(1676) - Piscataway Twp., New Jersey Col.
                        d: 25/Feb/1675(1676) - Piscataway Twp., New Jersey Col.
        10: Priscilla - b: 11/Nov/1677 - Piscataway Twp., East Jersey Prov.
                           m: John Langstaff

Biographical Details:

Only a few details are known of the life of Hannah Fuller.1  She was the oldest child of Samuel and Jane Lothrop Fuller and was born about 1636 at Scituate in the New Plymouth Colony.  Her father was one of the last survivors of the original "Mayflower" party having only been a child on the original voyage.  Hannah and Nicholas Bonham were married at Barnstable on January 1, 1658 (1659 N. S.).  However, they remained in the New Plymouth Colony only until about 1665 or 1666 after which they left New England and settled at Piscataway in territory recently seized by the English from the Dutch, which subsequently became the colony of New Jersey.  Moreover, it would seem beyond reasonable doubt that Hannah became a Baptist along with her husband, Nicholas (who certainly has been identified as an early Baptist).  Within this context, it is known that many of the early settlers at Piscataway were Baptists who had left New England because of the religious intolerance of the Congregationalist Puritan authorities.  Therefore, it is probable that this was also a motivation for Hannah and Nicholas to settle in this locality in which they apparently remained for the rest of their lives.

It is not known when Hannah Fuller Bonham died.  She was apparently living in October of 1683 since she was mentioned in her father's will.  Likewise, she was named as an executor of her husband's estate the following year.  It would seem that she was still living in January of 1696 (1697 N. S.) since "widow Bonham" was mentioned as an abutting property owner in a real estate conveyance from Peter Elston to John Langstaff, i.e., Hannah's son-in-law, husband of daughter, Priscilla.2  However, precisely four months later, Hezekiah Bonham, was confirmed "in right of his late father" to real estate in Piscataway Township.  This suggests that Hannah Bonham may have died during the intervening months, perhaps, March or April, but this is merely speculation.  Within this context, there is substantial doubt as to the existence of the two sons, Nicholas, Jr., and Elijah, attributed by Monnette to Nicholas and Hannah Fuller Bonham.  Indeed, no documentary records of Elijah seem to exist, although Mr. H. E. Bonham has asserted that Elijah Bonham received an allotment of land at Piscataway in 1695.  It is not clear on what basis Mr. Bonham was able to make such an assertion.  Alternatively, Bruce C. McGunnigle, writing for the Mayflower Society, suggested that the source of name "Elijah" was merely a misreading of the name "Ezekiah" in early handwritten records and, thus, Elijah and Hezekiah Bonham were one and the same person.  Similarly, there is little evidence of a son, Nicholas Bonham, Jr.  Accordingly, some researchers simply presume that he died as a child and left no further record.  Even so, in 1697 Nicholas Bonham was mentioned as an adjoining landowner in East Jersey real estate records involving Hezekiah Bonham.  These may simply be anachronistic references to Hezekiah's father, even though at that time he had been deceased for at least ten years, but they might also indicate a living Nicholas, presumably Hezekiah's brother.  Nevertheless, if Nicholas, Jr., and Elijah Bonham were alive in the 1690's, some explanation must be given as to why they were not mentioned in their father's will, which was made a decade earlier.  Indeed, this provides strong circumstantial evidence against any presumption that they survived to adulthood or, perhaps, that they even existed at all.

Source Notes and Citations:
1. Lucy Mary Kellogg et al. (eds), Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Plymouth, MA, 1975-1995: Vol. 4, pg. 11.
     "Hannah Fuller b. Scituate ca. 1636; d. Piscataway, New Jersey after 23 Aug. 1686 when she posted bond as executrix of the will of her husband with Edward Slater as fellow bondsman.  She m. Barnstable 1 Jan. 1658/9 *Nicholas Bonham, b. England ca. 1630; d. Piscataway 20 July 1684.  They had relocated to Piscataway NJ by 6 May 1667.  Nicholas signed the Oath of Allegiance in 1672 and served as a sergeant in 1681.  The will of Nicholas Bonham of Piscataway was drawn 6 Feb. 1683, proved 4 Jan. 1684/5, but witnesses testified on 18 Dec. 1694.  His wife Hannah and son Hezekiah were named executors; mention was made of their children (not named); witnesses included Edward Slater and Isaac Smalley who were also overseers and took the estate inventory on 28 July 1684.  Children (Bonham) first 3 b. Barnstable, others Piscataway NJ.  References: MD 2:214 (m.); 18:198 (m.; b. Hannah, Mary). NEHGR 2:64-5 (m.; b. Hannah, Mary, Sarah).  NYGBR 29:38 (Piscataway Pioneers); 33:176 (Brainerd's Fuller Gen.).  Fuller Gen. 1:31-33.  Bonham Gen. pp. 17, 26.  NJ Archives (1st series) 23 (wills); 1:45 (Nicholas Bonham).  Proc NJ Hist Soc (3rd ser.) 2:73 (b. Jane, Priscilla, Samuel).  Monette 2:299, 242; 4:588.  NJ Unrec. Wills 8:323 (overseers; inv. Nicholas Bonham est.).  East Jersey Deeds A:259 (original source for Nicholas Bonham's will).
*Note: Nicholas Bonham has been called a son of George Bonham of Plymouth.  George Bonham d. April 1704 'being upward of 85 years of age' (MD 16:64 or 'being about 95 years of age' (Plymouth Ch. Rec. 1:199).  If we accept the younger age and conclude that George was born about 1614, the chronology is very tight, for both George and his putative son Nicholas would have had to marry at the age of 19.  If George lived to be 90 or older, the chronology becomes considerably more likely.  But even though the asserted relationship is chronologically possible, no evidence for it, besides surname identity, has been seen.  No evidence has been found to support Monette's suggestion of sons Nicholas and Elijah."  The assertion that probate of Nicholas' will was not completed until December 18, 1694, is in error.  Extant civil records clearly give a date exactly ten years earlier, which is more chronologically consistent and suggests that the year has been transcribed incorrectly in a subsequently published will extract.  (Deborah Sweet; database - :2451407; worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com, 2003.)
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2. William Nelson (ed), New Jersey Archives - First Series (alt. title Calendar of Records in the Office of the Secretary of State, 1664-1703. Part I: East Jersey Records. Part II: West Jersey Records), New Jersey Historical Society, Trenton, NJ, The Press Printing and Pub. Co., Paterson, NJ, 1899: Vol. 21, pg. 258.
     Oct. 26, 1685.  "Do. Jediah Higgins of Piscataway to Peter Elston of Woodbridge, for a house in Piscataway with the lot thereto belonging, N. a road, E. the burial place, S. a swamp and beyond it Capt. Drake and the Widow Bonham, W. the road to Piscataway upper landing."
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Additional Citations:

3. James Savage, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England - Vols. 1-4, Little, Brown and Co., Boston, MA, 1860-1862: Vol. 2, pg. 218.  (Reprint available from Genealogical Publishing Co., 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD, 21202-3897)

4. William Hyslop Fuller, Genealogy of Some Descendants of Edward Fuller of the Mayflower, C. B. Fiske & Co., Palmer, MA, 1908: pgs. 31-3.

5. Orra Eugene Monnette, First Settlers of ye Plantations of Piscataway and Woodbridge, olde East New Jersey, 1664-1714, a period of fifty years, The Leroy Carman Press, Los Angeles, CA, 1930-35: Part 4, pg. 229.

6. Olive Barrick Rowland, Genealogical Notes of the Sutton and Rittenhouse Families of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, Garrett & Massie, Pub., Richmond, VA, 1935:  pg. 124.

7. Howard Eugene Bonham and Jean Allin, Bonham and Related Family Lines, Bonham Book(s), 5104 Bridlington Ln., Raleigh, NC, 27612, printed by Genie Plus, Bradenton, FL, 1996: pgs. 13-14.

8. Bruce Campbell MacGunnigle (comp.) and David L. Greene (ed), Edward Fuller of the Mayflower and His Descendants for Four Generations, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Plymouth, MA, 1987: pgs. 13-14.

9. Clarence Almon Torrey, "New England Marriages Prior to 1700", manuscript.  (Republished by Genealogical Publishing Co., 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD, 21202-3897, 1985 & 1992: pg. 82.)

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