Mary Drayton Fuller
Family Group Sheet
|
1 Thomas Drayton d: 1717 [3] |
| + Ann Unknown d: ca. 1742 [4] |
| 2 Mary Drayton b: ca. 1700-1704 [5] d: 2 Mar 1749 [6] |
|
+ Richard Fuller [7] |
|
3 Ann Booth Fuller b: 25 Jan 1723 d: 27 Mar 1748 [8] |
| +William John Ross m: 10 Dec 1743 [9] |
| 4 Ann Fuller Ross [10] |
|
2 Thomas Drayton b: ca. 1710 [11] d: 11 Nov 1760 [12] |
| 2 Stephen Fox Drayton b: ca. 1713 [13] d: January 1733 [14] |
| 2 John Drayton b: before 1716 [15] d: 1779 [16] |
Biographical Information
Little is known of Mary's early life. In 1721 she married Richard Fuller. [17] Together they had one daughter, Ann Booth Fuller (1723-1748), who married John Ross in 1743. [18]
Inheritance, Acquisitions and Bequests
Inheritance
Mary's father Thomas bequeathed to her £1,000 and a "Negro woman of her choosing." In September of 1752, Ann's brother John recorded her estate appraisal in his journal. [19] The appraisal notes "A Negro Wench named Vilettia." The name Vilettia does not appear in Thomas Drayton's estate inventory. It does appear that Mary received one enslaved woman from her father's estate, as her husband Richard Fuller acknowledged receipt in a dispute settlement involving Thomas Drayton's estate. [20]
Mary's mother Ann Drayton left her an estate in trust, under the care of Ann's executor Thomas Elliott, Sr. to pass to Mary's children and their heirs upon Mary's death.
Mary's brother Stephen Fox Drayton bequeathed to her £2,000 in trust. To her daughter Ann Booth Fuller he bequeathed £500 upon reaching age twenty one.
Neither Ann Drayton nor Mary's brother Stephen Fox Drayton seem to have had confidence in Mary's husband Richard Fuller to be the steward of Mary's assets; both made special provisions in their wills that Richard Fuller was not to have access to the property left to Mary.
The trust estate Ann Drayton left to Mary included livestock, 150 acres on Horse Savannah, two lots at Ashley Ferry, clothes, linens, household goods and the following slaves:
- Riner and her five children Bette, Sarey, Riner, Else, and Ross
- Hager and her two children Sue and Ishmael
- Hercules and Prince “two young men and a pair of Sawyers”
- Executer
- Simon
- “and all their Increase of those Negroes from the date of this my Will”
- “the work of my Negro Carpenter Kitt for four years after my death”
Bequests
In her will dated 1749 and proved and recorded 3 May 1751, Mary Drayton Fuller bequeathed to son Thomas Fuller £100, to granddaughter Mary Ross a silver soup ladel and silver teaspoons, to brother John Drayton £400 "in trust to be applied to such uses and purposes as I have privately explained to him." The remainder of her estate she left to brother John Drayton in trust for grandchildren William and Mary Ross, to be given them when they came of age [21].
Mary's estate inventory includes Vilettia (rendered "Violettia" in that document), silver soup ladel and table spoons, and bonds and interest in the amount of £11,310.87 [22].
References Cited - Click to Expand
References Cited
[1] Taylor, Emily Drayton Heyward. "The Draytons of South Carolina and Philadelphia." Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, VIII No. 1 (March, 1921), p. 5 [Hereafter Taylor 1921].
[2] Webber, Mabel L. ed. "Register of St. Andrews Parish, Berkeley County, South Carolina, 1719-1774." South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, XIII (July 1912).
[3] Drayton, Thomas. Will, Charleston District, SC. Dated 12 June 1714, Codicil 5 June 1716, Proven 17 June 1724; Taylor 1921.
[4] Drayton, Ann. Will, Charleston District, SC. Dated 2 May 1741, Codicil 23 June 1741, Proved 30 Aug 1742.
[5] Griffin, Dorothy Gail. 1985 "The Eighteenth Century Draytons of Drayton Hall." (Ph.D. diss., Emory University), p. 14. [Hereafter Griffin 1985].
[6] Fuller, Mary. Will, Charleston, SC, 1751. Dated 27 Feb 1749, Proved 3 May 1751.
[7] Griffin 1985, p. 15.
[8] Taylor 1921, p. 5.
[9] Taylor 1921, p. 5; William Ross, Power of Attorney to James Michie, 4 Nov. 1744. United States, South Carolina, Wills and Miscellaneous Probate Records, 1671-1868, Charleston County Public Library.
[10] Taylor 1921, p. 5.
[11] Griffin 1985, p. 14.
[12] Griffin 1985, p. 27.
[13] Griffin 1985, p. 14.
[14] Drayton, Stephen Fox. Will, Charleston District, SC. Dated 22 Feb 1732, Proven 4 Jan 1734, Recorded 9 Jan 1734.
[15] Drayton, Thomas. Will, Charleston District, SC. Dated 12 June 1714, Codicil 5 June 1716, Proven 17 June 1724.
[16] Griffin 1985, p. 319.
[17] Griffin 1985, p. 15.
[18] Taylor 1921, p. 5.
[19] Drayton Family Papers, B-29-01-07.
[20] Langley, Clara A., abstractor. 1983 South Carolina Deed Abstracts 1719-1772. Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, Inc., vol. 1, Book H, March 5, 1728, p. 155, quoted in Griffin 1985.
[21] Fuller, Mary. Will, Charleston, SC, 1751.
[22] Fuller, Mary. Estate Inventory, Charleston, SC, 1751.