Joseph was born on October 13, 1839. His father was Joseph J. Fuller (1811-1879) and Mary (Glass) Fuller (1817-1897). They married in Tristan de Cunha, a small mid-Atlantic island, on May 7, 1833. Their son Joseph was born there. According to a Fuller family genealogy (see Sources), a company of British soldiers withdrew from the island in 1821, leaving Capt. William Glass and his family and two soldiers who chose to remain. They founded a small colony that over time cultivated the island, raised sheep and cattle, and provided provisions to passing ships. William produced several children from three wives. The genealogy records that Mary, born in England, was his daughter and that several of their children, including Joseph, were born there. The Morning Journal article in 1897 (see Sources) mentions Joseph, master of FRANCES ALLYN, only as a visitor “a few years ago” and makes no reference to him being born there. Many of the family records were registered in Danvers MA.
Joseph married Jane Adams (1852-1948). They had several children. Census reports (Stonington CT, New London, and Danvers) over several decades record Jane (1876-1948), Gertrude (1880-1969), and Bertram (born 1884); Find A Grave shows Joseph (1878-1946), Jane and Gertrude but not Bertram. In those reports, Joseph’s occupation is shown in various census reports as seaman, sailor, lighthouse keeper, and elevator man. Joseph served in the Civil War as a seaman in the navy (presumably the Union) for two years. He was discharged on July 29, 1864 after serving on the PRINCETON. A military census form he completed in 1917 recorded his then occupation as “lighthouse keeper” and his prior profession “master mariner”.
Joseph died on December 9, 1920 in New London. His gravestone in Ns ew London’Cedar Grove Cemetery shows above his name CIVIL WAR and below his name U. S. NAVY, then his date of death and age 88. Jane died in 1848.
Joseph was master of nine voyages on three ships, all with New London as home port, many of these primarily for sealskins and elephant seal oil:
ROSWELL KING (AS2313): (schooner, 135 tons, length 74’, built in Rochester MA in 1837, lost in Hudson Strait in 1881). It made four voyages to Desolation Island: June 29,1870–April 26, 1873, August 5, 1873-April 29, 1875, June 29, 1875–May 18, 1877, and August 27, 1877–return not noted. AV12600-AV12603. Dennis Wood Abstracts #4-307 records that Joseph sent home three letters from Desolation. William, Haven & Co. was the agent for the first three voyages, Haven, Williams & Co. for the last one.
PILOT’S BRIDE (AS2194): (schooner, 194 tons, length 100’, built in Rockland ME in 1856). It sailed on April 27, 1880 for Desolation where it spent its first season. It then spent time at the Cape of Good Hope before sailing for its second season in March 1881. The schooner was driven on a reef on Desolation Island in a blinding snow storm. The crew rowed its three boats seven miles to shore. The over-turned boats became their shelter. Relying on provisions and materials saved from the schooner and gathered from the island, the crew was stranded for almost a year before they were rescued by FRANCES ALLYN (see below) under the command of Robert Glass (AM2238). His report of the rescue was received in New London on March 20, 1883. C. A. Williams was the agent. AV11654.
FRANCES ALLYN (AS0758): (schooner, 107 tons, length 85’, built in Duxbury MA in 1869, destroyed by fire on July 15, 1902). Not to be daunted by the experiences just endured on PILOT’S BRIDE, Joseph set out again for the first of several more voyages to Desolation Island, this time on FRANCES ALLYN, the ship that had just rescued him: August 15, 1883–July 6, 1884, September 11, 1885–July 21, 1885, June 22, 1886–May 5, 1887, and August 2, 1887–April 3, 1889. Some of these trips may have departed from southern ports such as the Cape. C.A. Williams was the agent. Mystic Seaport Museum holds the logbook for the last voyage. AV05185-AV05186 and AV05188-AV05189.
In addition to these four voyages on FRANCES ALLYN, Joseph sailed as master for three additional voyages on it after its home port became New Bedford: 1890-1891, 1891-1893, and 1893, no return noted. With respect to the 1891-1893 voyage, AOWV notes uncertainty whether Joseph or Michael A. Baker (AM0260) was the master. Whalemen’s Shipping List (9/29/1891) shows Joseph as the master.
Desolation Island (also known as Kerguelen Island), the destination of most of Joseph’s numerous voyages, lies in the Indian Ocean midway between the Cape of Good Hope and Australia and not far north of Antarctica. It is known as an area of treacherous winds and high seas. Yet, year after year, Joseph set forth again, in ships no longer than 100 ft. and often shorter. The Hartford Courant [CT] issue of August 22, 1820 contains a lengthy article entitled “Last of New London’s Daring Whalers Describes Adventurous Search for Seals on Desolation Island” about Joseph and his many voyages. Some of the facts in the article may vary from the information above.
Sources used: see sidebar and sources cited in text. Also, (i) “Genealogy of some descendants of Thomas Fuller of Woburn” describes the connection with Tristan de Cunha; (ii) New Haven Register (2/20/1883) provides details about the rescue; (iii) Morning Journal and Courier (New Haven, 5/1/1897) provides history of Tristan de Cunha.
George Shaw
American Institute for Maritime Studies
Mystic Seaport Museum
August 2025