My FULKERSON Branch – names, dates, places and a story or two
from Valenciennes to New Amsterdam to the Northwest
GUILLAUME (GULEYN) VIGNE and ADRIENNE CUVELIER (1st Generation)
Guillaume Vigne and Adrienne Cuvelier were from Valenciennes – which is now in France, but in those times was part of the war-torn southern Netherlands. Both were born about 1590. They emigrated to Leiden, Holland, probably along with other Walloons seeking refuge from war and persecution, by 1623. The Vignes were among the first 30 French Walloon families the Dutch West India Company sent to establish the New Netherlands colony in North America in 1624. They had three daughters and one son: CHRISTINE, Maria, Rachel and Jan.
DIRCK VOLCKERTSZEN (2nd Generation)
ca. 1600-1678
Dirck Volckertszen De Noorman (AKA Volckerson, Holgersøn, Volckertsen, Volkertszen] was the founder of the Fulkerson families in America. He was born about 1600, possibly near Bergen, Norway. He arrived in America between 1625 and 1630, and died about 1678 in what is now Brooklyn. He was a ship’s carpenter when he arrived in the New World. He married Christine Vigne in 1630/31. Information on his offspring is found at The First American Generation.
VOLKERT DIRCKS (3rd generation)
b. 15 Nov 1643 d. in or before 1698
Volkert married Annetje Phillips. She was the daughter of Phillip Langelan, who brought his family from the Netherlands on the ship “Faith” in 1659.
Volkert worked the 200 acres he contracted and later received from his father, from the age of 22. He was assessed taxes for 200 acres in 1683, and sold some of the land in 1685 to Peter Praa. He was listed in village records in 1687, but had died by the time of the census in 1698.
Volkert and Annetje had 10 children, all born in Boswyck. Their surnames retained the patronymic system and Dutch spelling, Volkertsz, Volkertson or Volkerse: Dirck (1667), Neeltje (1669), PHILIP (1670), Nicholas (1672), Grietje (1675), Sara (7 Jan 1680), Lydia (twin, 26 Feb 1682), Machtelt (26 Feb 1682), Rachel (16 Nov 1683), and Rebecca (24 Mar 1686).
PHILIP VOLKERSE (4th generation)
b. 1670 d. 1740
Philip Volkerse (Volkers, Volckerson and Folkerse in other records) married Ann Van Clieft in 1696. She had a daughter, Volckertjie, by her first husband Volkert De Witt who died in 1695. Several of their children were born in Boswyck before they moved to New Jersey. The 1698 census for Brooklyn shows Philip having a wife and 2 children. They had 8 children altogether: Annetje (1st, died young), Folkert, Johannis, Rebecca, PHILIP, Annetje (2nd), Joseph and Dirck. All of these children used the FULKERSON surname.
Philip and his brothers Dirck and Nicholas operated a mill near Bound Brook on lower Millstone River, for which they were assessed taxes. Dirck and the two brothers each inherited from their father Volkert one third of the 164 acres at Bushwick, Long Island. On Mar 26, 1718/19 they made a joint sale of all this land to Peter Praa. Under this sale there passed from the Fulkerson line all that remained of the large estate acquired by their grandfather. The stone house occupied by their grandfather and father on Noorman’s Kill became known as the Calyer Estate.
Sometime between about 1715 (?) and July 1722, Philip married Mettie Van Arsdale. Born about 1672, she was the daughter of Simon Janse van Aersdal of Gouda, Holland, and the widow of Evert Jansen Van WICKELEN of Flatbush. Philip dated his will on Jan. 15, 1740, naming brother Dirck as one of the executors. Philip died in Somerset County, New Jersey, in 1740. On June 17, 1740 the will was read. On June 19, two days later, Dirck renounced his executorship, possibly because of his own advanced age (however, Dirck survived his brother by 14 years).
JOSEPH VOLKERTS (5th generation)
b. 1708
Joseph VOLKERTS was born in 1708 in Somerset Co., NJ. He m. Aeltje RAPALJE and had 8 children baptized at the Raritan (Somerset County) First Reformed Church between 1733 and 1751. On the 1735 Franklin Township tax list he had 4 head of cattle but no land. He probably died by 1755, when wife Aeltje – recorded as ‘Aelte Voescke’ -witnessed the baptism of their grandson Joseph.
PHILIP FULKERSON (6th generation)
bpt. 20 Sep 1733
Little is known about Philip FULKERSON, chiefly because he was one of several Philips living in New Jersey in the mid-1700s. There were a number of Philips on tax lists, etc., but it is impossible to accurately match any of that information with any particular Philip. This is what we know of him: he was baptized at the Raritan, Somerset Co., NJ First Reformed Church; he married Margrita FARLEY (bapt 1738 at the Raritan DRC, daughter of Caleb FARLEY); and they had at least two sons, Joseph (1755) and Caleb (1762) and possibly 2 daughters. Margrita’s FARLEY, HUNGERFORD and royal ancestry goes back to the late 6th Century….all the way back to my 48th great grandfather.
CALEB FULKERSON (7th generation)
b. 17 Jan 1762 d. 4 Mar 1848
Caleb was born in Hillsborough, Somerset County, New Jersey. He married Deborah Tunison (27 Jul 1772-28 Dec 1859) on 6 Apr 1787 and they moved to New York State in 1805. They had 12 children: Philip (1789), Margaret (1791), Deborah (1793), Joseph (1796), Ann (1799), Letticia (1802), Elinor (1804), Peter M. (1807, twin), SAMUEL (1807), Caleb Jr. (1809), Rebecca (1811), and William G. (1813).
SAMUEL FULKERSON (8th generation)
b. 16 Mar 1807 d. 30 Apr 1851
Samuel married Jane Ellen Norman (16 Oct 1808-29 Aug 1883) in 1831. Jane was the daughter of Solomon Norman (b. 8 Feb 1761) of the Parish of West Acklam, Linthorpe (a small town near the river Tees), Cleveland, Yorkshire, England, and Susanna Charles (b. 10 Aug 1785) of Delaware. They were on the 1810 census in the town of Benton, Yates Co., New York. Solomon Norman’s parents were James Norman and Mary Mann. James was christened 5 Dec 1736 in West Acklam. Mary was christened 14 Nov 1736 in Eston, Yorkshire, England. They were married the 17 May 1758 in West Acklam, and James was the constable in Linthorpe. James father was John Norman and his mother’s first name was Mary. Mary Mann’s father was Solomon Mann: christened 31 Oct. 1704 in Eston. Mary Mann’s mother was Esther Cornforth. They were married 13 Nov. 1733 in Stokesly, Yorkshire, England.
The following interesting information is from cousin David Smith, who also descends from the Fulkerson-Norman connection:
Solomon Norman’s history is unusual for someone in our family. there have been at least 3 books on the slave plantations of Geneva, NY. Information is sketchy. The experiment failed and all slaves wre freed by 1810. He definitely came to “Geneva as overseer, George Charles’ identity as such is probable, but speculative. No records survive on who came with the plantation owners. Solomon is the only ancestor I have known to have arrived after the Revolution.
Solomon Norman was born 3 miles due east of Stockton-upon-Lees in the parish of Linthrop in Cleveland, Yorkshire in 1761. Both Solomon and George Charles worked for a time with one of the Maryland men below before coming to New York with them and their slaves.
“New Settlers with Slaves – Geneva, NY:
Peregrine Fitzhugh, from Maryland,
Henry brothers, from Maryland
Dorsey, from Frederick, MD
John & Jacob Ringer, from Maryland.Solomon Norman probably came north from Maryland with George Charles as Overseers for Slaves of one of the Southern Settlers. Perhaps George was an overseer for one settler, Solomon for another. George Charles was in Geneva, NY by 1800 and was in the Census. Solomon was there also, as an overseer, though he was not in the census. Geneva at that time had about 20 houses. George Charles apparently died about 1800. By 1803 Solomon Norman had saved up enough to purchase land in Yates County for a farm. In 1806 he married George Charles’ eldest daughter Susannah. George had three, what happened to the other two is not yet known to me.
There is an account of only one trip of the 15 or so trips up from Maryland & V irginia. That is for one traip in 1803 from Williambug, VA to Geneva. They left Stafford County, VA [on] Oct 21 1803. The slaves came up the Cumberland Pike to Ithaca, then traveled by boat to Geneva. The owners came up the Hudson, then along the Mohawk and then cross country. The slaves arrived in Geneva, NY [on] Dec 31 1803. Workers had been sent ahead to prepare cabins. Fields had been cleared already so the farm was ready for them.
Solomon and Susannah had 11 children.
Samuel and Jane lived on or near Caleb’s farm along Seneca Lake. He died at the age of 44. They had 7 children: Ellen (1833), Wallace William (1834), Norman (1837), Samuel (1840), Harlan (1842), MONROE D. (1844), Caleb Farley (1849). Wallace, Norman and Caleb served in the Civil War.
MONROE D. FULKERSON (9th generation)
b. 24 Aug 1844 d. 6 December 1923
Monroe married Lucinda Harris (1857-1904), daughter of Thomas Harris. They homesteaded 200 acres north of Victor, Montana.
Their 9 children were: HARLAN (1874), George (1876), Thomas (1877), Alice (1880), Ellen Jane (1883), Maud (1885), Ruby (1887), Raymond (1889), Nina (b. 1892-d. 1895).
HARLAN MONROE FULKERSON (10th generation)
b. 19 Jun 1874 d. 8 Dec 1927
Harlan was born 19 Jun 1874 at Victor, MT. He married Bertha Johnson (1874-1924, born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota) in 1894. He was a farmer and for a time was a Deputy Sheriff in Ravalli County. In 1897 he was living at Kalispell, MT, and in 1899 at Grantsdale, MT. In 1904 he was living in Idaho, but returned to Victor upon his mother’s death and took over operation of his father’s ranch. By the summer of 1909 he had moved to Riverside, Okanogan County, Washington. Bertha died in 1924. He died at Lake Chelan, WA in 1927. Both are buried at the Cowlitz View Memorial Gardens in Kelso, WA. Their 6 children were: Carl (1895-1897), FRANKLIN MONROE (1897-1980), Leo Marvin (1899-1979), Joyce Helen (1902-1957), Mildred Marguerite (1904-1981), Alvin Harlan (1909-1976).
FRANKLIN MONROE FULKERSON (11th generation)
b. 10 Apr 1897 d. 30 Jun 1980
Frank grew up in Montana and Washington State. He joined the Canadian Army at Lethbridge, Alberta, in September 1916, and embarked from Halifax on a ship to Europe just three weeks later. After a while in France the conditions got pretty bad. The soldiers were often forced to forage for food, eat rats, etc. In September 1917 the Americans had entered the war and were finally beginning to appear on the French battlefields. Frank deserted the Canadian Army and joined the Americans by donning the uniform of a dead American. After a while his scheme was uncovered. The American Army jailed him in the stockade, but because he was a US citizen they didn’t want to turn him over to the Canadians. After about a month, they decided to just send him home to Montana. (His US draft registration card, stamped at Philipsburg, MT, was dated 5 Jun 1918.) He was welcomed home with a grand parade, and married Ethel _____ on 3 Sep 1918, before the war’s end.
Ethel was born on 12 Sep 1903, so she was 9 days short of being 15 years old when she married. Her ancestors emigrated from Shepton Mallet, Somerset County, England, in 1770. They were early settlers in southwest Virginia and Kentucky. Ethel’s grandfather moved west from Tennessee to California in 1871. Her father was born in a covered wagon at Grass Valley, California.
Frank worked as a gold miner, mine guard, bootlegger (on the Columbia River), farmer and in various other occupations. While working in the mines he found a bear cub and took it home. It became the family pet – and Frank’s drinking companion at the local tavern. That lasted about two weeks, until the forest rangers got wind of what was going on. They also had two deer, a pig and a chipmunk for pets. His children, including my father, rode horses and even skied to school. (My father left this idyllic paradise, after his senior class of eleven students graduated, and went to sea on the USS Spokane.) Frank’s life was always unorthodox and seldom boring. When he replaced the window frames on his house, he mounted the new ones upside down, with the sills at the top.
Frank and Ethel had four children. They divorced in the 1940’s. By a second wife, Melba Jean_____, he had three more children, the last when he was 57 years old. When they were mostly grown, he headed off for Alaska by himself. He spent his last years in an Idaho retirement home where he was an active gardener.
The First American-born Generation of FULKERSONS – more than 350 years ago
Updated September 2009 to list one family’s 26 childrenFamily Tree Diagram – a fast-loading look at the first six Fulkerson generations and how they migrated, in an INTERACTIVE family tree format.
The FULKERSONS in 18th-Century New Jersey – This is the CORE page for the genealogies listed below. It also follows some of the smaller branches Westward into many states, including those listed below.
Updated June 2010
Volkert VOLKERTSON – to the hostile frontiers in Virginia and North Carolina, then West to Kentucky, Missouri and other states.
Updated June 2010
Descendants of Captain James FULKERSON – in Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri and points West
Updated May 2010
- Captain James’ Family Bible – transcribed by descendants in 1915
- His son Abram’s Family Bible – births and deaths from 1789 to 1903
Descendants of Abraham FULKERSON – in Virginia, Missouri and on the Oregon Trail. Also includes photographs of his 1783 house.
Updated June 2010Fulkard FULKERSON went to Kentucky and founded the largest branch of Fulkersons. Descendants went on to settle in Indiana, Illinois and the California wine country in the 1800s.
Updated May 2010
Research on the BRUNER wives of his sons John and Philip.
NEW February 2010
Descendants of Captain Philip FULKERSON – in Kentucky. Later generations appeared in Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
Updated May 2010
Illinois FULKERSONS – from New Jersey and Virginia
Updated May 2010Upstate New York FULKERSONS – many took a northern detour before heading West
Updated June 2010
Ohio FULKERSON Branches – emigrating from New Jersey and New York. Some went on to Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa and Oregon.
Updated May 2010Early Pennsylvania FULKERSONS – known branches, plus 20+ unknown FULKERSONS . Later descendants are found in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Updated May 2010