Albert H. Fuller and his wife, Phoebe, had two sons whose careers took very different paths. Charles A. Fuller joined his father in the Brockton Enterprise publishing business, while his brother, Myron Leslie Fuller (1873–1960), pursued science. An MIT graduate and instructor, Myron became a multidisciplinary federal scientist whose work included geology, groundwater, artesian systems, deep-well drilling, earthquakes, and natural resources.

His research also had a practical human purpose. At a time when contaminated wells and waterways could spread diseases such as typhoid, Fuller studied how water moved underground and how wells, springs, and farm water supplies could be better located and protected.

U.S. Geological Survey Working Copies

Shown here are several of Fuller’s U.S. Geological Survey publications in the holdings of the Mayflower Descendants Museum, including Record of Deep-Well Drilling for 1905, published in 1906 with Samuel Sanford, and Fuller’s Summary of the Controlling Factors of Artesian Flows, published in 1908. (usgs.gov) (usgs.gov)

The Museum holds both an ordinary paperbound copy of the 1908 bulletin and red institutional bindings that appear to have been used within the U.S. Geological Survey itself. The red volumes bear stamps reading “PROPERTY OF U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY — ILLUSTRATIONS.” One retains an especially striking label stating:

“This Book contains RECORDS and must not be taken from this Room. ILLUSTRATIONS.”

Inside are handwritten working notes beside photographs and illustrations, including references to negatives and image records. After comparing these annotations with examples of Myron Fuller’s handwriting across other documents, the Museum’s founder does not believe the notes are in Myron’s hand. This is an observational assessment rather than a formal handwriting attribution; the annotations may instead have been made by USGS staff working with photographs, illustrations, or publication records.

The publications themselves are not rare—copies survive in libraries and have been digitized by the U.S. Geological Survey. What makes these particular volumes unusual is their institutional provenance: original USGS property stamps, internal-use instructions, bindings, and handwritten working annotations showing how Fuller’s scientific publications were actually used inside the agency.

Holdings of the Mayflower Descendants Museum

Sources and Further Reading

U.S. Geological Survey — Record of Deep-Well Drilling for 1905, Myron L. Fuller and Samuel Sanford, 1906.
View the publication

U.S. Geological Survey — Summary of the Controlling Factors of Artesian Flows, Myron L. Fuller, 1908.
View the publication

U.S. Geological Survey — Underground Waters for Farm Use, Myron L. Fuller, 1910.
View the publication