William Allen (abt. 1614 - 1686)

Born about 1614 in England

Husband of Ann (Goodale) Allen — married before 1639 in Salisbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Husband of Alice (Reynolds) Allen — married after 30 Dec 1683 in Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 18 Jun 1686 at about age 72 in Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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William Allen migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 5) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

“William Allen, who appears in Salisbury, Massachusetts, in 1639, was probably a very young man at the time of his emigration and, like most of the early settlers of Salisbury, he may have lived first in one of the older communities such as Newbury, across the Merrimac river, drawn to the new settlement by his marriage to Ann Goodale, which must have taken place early in 1639.

There is no documentary evidence of his age, but we can suppose that he was born about 1614, assuming he was the average age of 25 at marriage. He lived in Salisbury until his death on June 18, 1686. His wife Ann died ‘about ye last of May,’ 1678, and he married secondly Alice whose maiden name is not known but who had had two former husbands, John Roper and John Dickinson. She died, Allen’s widow, on April 1, 1687.

Allen participated in the first division of Salisbury land in 1639 when the town was called Colchester, and in that of 1640 when it had become Salisbury. By trade he was a house carpenter, and, as he consistently signed documents by mark, it is probable that he could not write.

He participated when the town divided the mowing of beach lots in 1654, and in 1657 he bought lot No. 35 of Mr. Hall’s farm, which Hall had sold to the town, for £1:18:2. His name appears on several church lists and petitions. He also bought and sold several small planting lots, ox commons, etc., between 1650 and 1667.

Allen was sworn constable of Salisbury on April 9, 1650, and was on the Grand Jury in the Salisbury Court of December 2, 1666.”^[1]

As documented by Davis, citing Suffolk Probate, 11:10-12,^[2] William Allen of Salisbury, Senior, made his will “the sixteenth day of the Second mo, called april,” 1674. To Anne, his wife, he gave his house, yards, pasture , tillage and meadow ground, his land called Pine hill and five cow commons, during her widowhood , with all the profits and produce thereof . To his son John Allen, “to whom I have given a Considerable Estate heretofore both in lands by Deed of Gift and otherwise,” £39 now in the hands of his son George Hewes, being the remainder of his part of the price of the bark Salisbury which his son Hewes sold. To his son William Allen, his tract of land in Salisbury between the lands of John Ilsly and Nathaniel Eastman, his meadow some time John Hues', his meadow called Higgly Piggly, his 90 acres lying about the mill next Samuel Fellowes' land and butting on Powaw river, and four cow commons. To his son Benjamin Allen, all his right to upland and meadow in Haull's farm whether in the right of his father or brother Goodale, his parcel of meadow in Haull's farm and six acres called a cow common lot. To his son Joseph Allen, his share, 100 acres, of land laid out above the mill and his beach lot of meadow lying between Will Osgood's and his son Hubbard's land . To his son Richard Allen, one-half of his upland, meadow and common rights, which is six common, in Haverhill. To his son Jeremiah, the housing, lands and commons previously given to his wife, after her marriage or death, he to abide with his mother until of age or apprenticed. To his daughter Abigail Wheeler, that part of his planting lot and all the housing on it that she liveth in and three quarters of an acre of land joining to it that he had purchased from his father Goodale. To his daughter Hannah Ayers, £30. To his daughter Mary Hues, beside the cows, sheep and other things formerly given her, his planting lot of six acres which was Richard North's and his island called Ware island by the town creek. To his daughter Martha Hubbard, beside all formerly given to her, £5. To his wife, all household goods, debts, cattle and other estate not for merly disposed of, and she is to be sole executrix. Overseers: his respected brethren and friends Leiftenent Philip Chalice and Ensigne William Buswell, to whom, as a token of his love , 20s. apiece. Witnesses: Chalice and Buswell.

William Allen of Salisbury died 18 June 1686.^[3]

Family

This William Allen married (1) Ann Goodale and (2) Alice ____, widow of John Roper and John Dickison, in abt. 1684.

The children of William and Ann (Goodale) Allen/Allin (all born in Salisbury):^[4]

1. Abigail b. Jan. 4, 1639-40, m. Henry Wheeler
2. Hannah b. June 17, 1642, m. Peter Ayer
3. Mary b. June 29, 1644, m. George Hewes
4. Martha b. 1646, m. Richard Hubbard.
5. John b. Oct. 9, 1648, m. widow, Mary (Pike) Adros
6. William b. Oct. 2, 1650, m. Mary Harris
7. Benjamin b. 1652, m. widow, Rachel Wheeler and Hopestill Leonard
8. Joseph b. Oct. 13, 1653, living in 1678. An inventory was taken on the estate of a Joseph Allen in June, 1682; widow Bethia and children.
9. Richard b. Nov. 8, 1655, d. June 8, 1678, unmarried. A Richard Allin served in King Philip's War under Lieut. Benjamin Swett, June, 1676.
10. Ruth b. Feb. 19, 1657-8, not in will, 1674.
11. Jeremiah b. Feb. 17, 1658-9, m. Ann Bradbury. Living in Salisbury in 1708.

Research Notes

Disputed Parents:

There has been speculation that William Allen was the William born 23 Mar 1610/11 in Yarmouth, England, son of William Allen and Ales Whytmore, but there is no evidence to connect the two.

William Allen of Salisbury is often confused with William Allen of Manchester (d. 1678, husband of Alice). George Allen and Katherine Davis have also been removed as his parents; they are not associated with this William Allen.

Another William Allen, the son of George Allen of Sandwich, was only 7 years old, b. circa 1629, when he was listed as George's son in the March 1635/36 sailing from the Port of Weymouth, England as part of Rev. Joseph Hull and his congregation's emigration to Weymouth, Mass. It is well documented that George's son William married Priscilla Brown, daughter of Peter Brown of the Mayflower, at Sandwich, Mass. on Mar. 21, 1649/50 and died testate and childless at Sandwich in 1705.

Sources

1. ↑ Walter Goodwin Davis, The Ancestry of Abel Lunt 1769-1806 of Newbury, Massachusetts (1963), quoted at the Fleming Family History website, which quotes many other primary and secondary sources for William Allen. This 1963 work by Walter Goodwin Davis is openly accessible at Hathi Trust, see The ancestry of Abel Lunt, 1769-1806, of Newbury, Massachusetts; account of "Allen, of Salisbury" begins at page 91; child list at pp. 93-94.
2. ↑ Davis, pages 92-93.
3. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #123397007: William Allen's findagrave profile, citing "The Old Families of Salisbury & Amesbury, Mass." by Hoyt, p. 31; and "Early Vital Records of Salisbury".
4. ↑ Davis, Walter Goodwin. The Ancestry of Abel Lunt, 1769-1806, of Newbury, Massachusetts (Anthoensen Press, Portland, Maine, 1963) pages 91-4.

See also:

• Mahler, Leslie, "The English Ancestry of Alice Reynolds, Wife of John¹ Roper of Dedham, Massachusetts" The American Genealogist 85:3 (July 2011), 222-234. (Link via $ubscription.)
• Perley, Sidney: editor, The Essex Antiquarian, Volume 3
• Allen Family of Andover
• The 1692 Salem Witch Trials:Documents and Participants — William Testified as an accuser in Salem Witch Trials as follows: ALLEN,William (S. Good, Osborn)
• Hoyt, David W. The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury Massachusetts (Providence, Rhode Island, 1897) Page 31
• Vital Records of Salisbury, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1849 (Topsfield historical Society, 1915)
• Family Tree DNA