Manasseh Kempton passed away in 1737 at the age of 86. He is buried in the North End Cemetery in Southampton, New York, and his headstone is the only example of stone carver Nathaniel Fuller's work I've found on Long Island.
Nathaniel Fuller was a stone carver from Plympton, Massachusetts who lived from 1687 to 1750. At first, I found this singular stone of Fuller's to be extremely puzzling given the distinct lack of headstones carved by Fuller on Long Island. I have visited nearly every historical cemetery on the East End of Long Island, and this is the only one with Fuller's distinctive style.
Interestingly enough, a look at the heritage of both Nathaniel Fuller and Manasseh Kempton helped shed light on this seemingly out-of-place artifact's presence in the North End Cemetery of Southampton.
Nathaniel Fuller was the direct descendant of Samuel Fuller, a pilgrim who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620. Fuller was a resident in the Plymouth colony during its first few years, which were undoubtedly difficult. Samuel left his wife Bridget at home in England when he boarded the Mayflower in order to spare her the dangers of a new unstable colony. This turned out to be a good choice, as Samuel lost his brother and sister-in-law in the first difficult winter at Plymouth colony.
Bridget followed Samuel to Plymouth in 1623, arriving on the Anne, a ship carrying more immigrants to the new world. Another passenger on the Anne? Manasseh Kempton (1589-1663). The older Manasseh and his brother Ephraim Kempton were also early arrivals at Plymouth, although the records are unclear about whether Ephraim arrived with Manasseh in 1623, or later between 1627 and 1634. Regardless, the link between the two families went back to that voyage on the Anne, when Samuel Fuller's wife Bridget and Manasseh Kempton made their first journies to America. The arrival of the Anne brought the population of the Plymouth colony in 1623 up to 180 people, meaning that the Fuller and Kempton families likely knew each other personally. By 1630, around the time Ephraim Kempton arrived, there were no more than 400 people in the colony, a population still tiny by today's standards.
The elder Manasseh owned land in Scituate, Massachusetts, and in 1640 his brother Ephraim and his son Ephraim Jr. moved onto this land. In 1646 Ephraim Jr. married Joanna Rowlins. Together they had six children, including the younger Manasseh, named after his uncle.
Manasseh moved to Southampton at some point before 1678. It appears that he moved alone, leaving his family in Plymouth. He never married, remaining a bachelor until his death in 1737. In his will, Manessah left his land in New England to his great-nephew William Kempton. Manasseh didn't seem to have other family on Long Island, and his will mainly indicated family still located in Plymouth. In light of this, his headstone's origin makes more sense.
In fact, Manasseh was not the only member of the Kempton family to have a headstone carved by Fuller. Mary Kempton, who passed away five years after Manasseh in 1742, also has a headstone carved by Nathaniel Fuller. She is buried in Plymouth.
I hope that as my exploration of Long Island headstones continues, I will find more examples of Nathaniel Fuller's work. Regardless, it is clear that his stone carvings did not usually make it as far south as Long Island. One could make the argument that the only reason there is even one headstone by Nathaniel Fuller here at all is because of the connection to the Plymouth Colony that he shared with Manasseh Kempton, and the connection between their two families.
Sources
-Nathaniel Fuller, Stonecutter of Plympton, Massachusetts, by Peter Benes.
-How Mayflower passenger became the Pilgrims' doctor in Plymouth Colony, Mayflower400uk.org
The information on the carver of the Manasseh Kempton tombstone in Southampton was quite interesting. The Manasseh Kempton who is buried in Southampton was the second of that name and the son of Ephraim Kempton Jr. The Manasseh Kempton who purchased Scituate land was the brother of Ephraim Kempton Sr and an uncle to the Manasseh buried in Southampton. The William Kempton you mentioned was a nephew of the Southampton Manasseh Kempton.