Was it possible for an early settler in the 1500s to use a fork?

Answer 1

While technically possible, it wasn't likely. Forks at the food table were still relatively new utensils. Eating until the mid-sixteenth century was done primarily via hands, spoons, knives, and more commonly the trencher (a flat piece of bread used to hold food that was eaten at the end of the meal or was given to the poor, and later depeloped into the wooden plate).

Additionally, one other fact makes it difficult for any European to have used a fork in any American colony. Sir Walter Raleigh chartered Roanoke Colony in 1587.