Allen Bread (abt. 1601 - 1691)

Born about 1601 in Westoning, Bedfordshire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Wheeler) Breed — married 14 Nov 1622 (to before 28 Mar 1656) in Pulloxhill, Bedfordshire, England

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Bread — married 28 Mar 1656 in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 17 Mar 1691 at about age 90 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Cynthia B [send private message], and Laura Harlow [send private message]

Allen Bread migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 40) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Early Life

Allen Breed (Allin Breade) was likely born in Westoning, Bedfordshire, England based on his parents being married there and the siblings before and after him were all born there. The exact date of his birth is not known. The volume of the parish register containing the baptisms between 1596-1652 has been lost and while the Bishop’s Transcripts fill in a majority of the missing records, there is a gap between 16 Feb 1595 and 31 Mar 1601.^[1]

When William Pratchett (Prechat) of Flitwick passed away in 1613, he left "To my godson Allen Breade house wherein I now dwell when 24 years of age."^[2] That will was contested by Rowland Pratchett in 1614 and called Allen "an infant of the age of Fourteene years."^[2] This would suggest a birth in 1600. Allen might have waited until he received his inheritance before he married in 1622. If he did, that would suggest a birth about 1598.

In the article "The Breed Family: Descendants of Allen Breed (or Bread) of Lynn" by Marcia Wiswall Lindberg, it mentions that "he was born, probably… in 1599."^[3] In June of 1671, Allen made a deposition to the court which stated his age as 70 years old^[4] which would suggest a birth about 1601. Since no records exist, all we can say for certain is that he was born sometime between 1598-1601.

In "Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts" by William Richard Cutter, he mentions that Allen Bread was born about 1601 at England,^[5] According to both Robert C. Anderson and The Essex Antiquarian, spelling of the surname was "Bread," and after 1700 became "Breed."^[6][7]

Family

Allen and Elizabeth Wheeler were married on November 14, 1622 in Pulloxhill, Bedfordshire, England.^[8] They had the following children:

• Allen
• Elizabeth
• John

Allen and Elizabeth (Unknown) Knight were married on March 28, 1656 in Lynn.^[9] Elizabeth’s estimated birth year is about 1609, based on her age of 26 years old at the time she immigrated to the colonies with her first husband.^[10] Elizabeth married William Ballard as her first husband, then she married William Knight before marrying Allen Bread as her third husband. Allen and Elizabeth had no children. ^[11] Elizabeth's maiden name is not known. Several possibilities have been proposed: Marshall, Lee and Potter, but none is confirmed.^[3]

Note: The Register of the Lynn Historical Society published an article in which they report that Elizabeth Knight was the mother of all of Allen Bread's children.^[12] This cannot be accurate, as Elizabeth was married to William Ballard and having children with him (1633-1636) during the time when Allen Bread's children were born.

Immigration

Many published genealogies of the Breed Family list Allen’s arrival to the colonies in 1630 and state that he came with the Winthrop fleet, however this has not been adequately documented. The first mention of Allen’s arrival appears in 1872 with Deacon J.C. Breed’s "Proceedings of the First Convention of the BREED Family of the United States of America"^[13] which was recounted by J. Howard Breed in "A Record of the Descendants of Allen Bread who Came to America from England in 1630"^[14] published in 1892. From there, it was mentioned by Henry Breed in his 1888 book, "Genealogy of the Breed Family", and also by Julia Beebe Coates in "Principal Facts of Interest Concerning the Breed Family in America" ^[15] published in 1900. The Breed Family Association reprinted an article from the Essex Antiquarian compiled by Sidney Perley in 1907 titled "Breed Genealogy", ^[16] that also included a 1630 arrival. With the genealogies from the late 19th and early 20th centuries mentioning his arrival, it would stand to reason that one of Allen’s descendants had joined the Winthrop Society, a membership organization consisting of descendants of the first settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Unfortunately, no descendants of Allen can be counted as members. On June 2nd, 2018, Marie A. Seelye, registrar for the Winthrop Society, confirmed that "We have had no member using Allen Breed as their ancestor."^[17] The Winthrop Society relies mostly on "The Great Migration" series of books by Robert Charles Anderson, et al, to verify qualifying ancestors. Allen is only casually mentioned in the biographies of others. In Volume I (Immigrants to New England 1634-1635), on pages 148 to 150, his marriage to his second wife, Elizabeth, is mentioned under the biography for William Ballard and on page 191 of the same volume he is mentioned in the biography of William Bassett for land that he purchased from him.^[18]

Six Mile Land Grant

On March 13th, 1638 the General Court of the Colony granted a distribution of land in what is known as the Six Mile Land Grant. During this distribution, Allen received 200 acres. There are two thoughts about the land that he received; one is that Allen was a stockholder of the Massachusetts Bay Company which is why he received 200 acres. The other is that he came at his own expense and received a headright of 50 acres per person in his family (himself, wife Elizabeth, and his two young children, Allen and Elizabeth).

The headright system was in use by The Virginia Company of London and by the Plymouth Company. With land being in abundance and labor to work the land in short supply, the companies were offering 50 acres of land, for each family member, to those that would pay their own way to the colonies. The Massachusetts Bay Company did things a bit differently. In the book "The Beginning of Reading and Lynnfield" it mentioned that adventurers in the common stock (stockholders) would receive 200 acres for every £50 that was paid to the company. If the person was an adventurer, meaning they paid the £50, and also paid their own way to the colonies, they could get an additional 50 acres per member of their family.

We know that Allen received 200 acres. He didn't pay his own expenses to travel to colonies because if he had, he would have received 400 acres (200 acres for paying £50, then an additional 50 acres for each member of his family). For those that weren't adventurers and paid their own expenses to the colonies they only received 50 acres for the entire family. This allows us to place Allen in the position of an adventurer of the Massachusetts Bay Company. His name does not appear with the original stockholders in the company’s charter, but he is not the only one. In fact, none of the names that appear on the list of land grants in 1638 are mentioned in the charter, nor do any of them appear in known passengers lists of the Winthrop fleet.^[10] This would suggest that they did not come in 1630 but at a later time.

The original listing of the grantees has been preserved in the records of a court case from 1659.^[4]

"William Longley v. Henry Collings and John Hathorne, in behalf of the town of Lyn. For withholding and not laying out forty acres of land, which was his equal proportion as an inhabitant according to the division made in 1638.

Verdict for the Plaintiff, 40li., or to lay him out forty acres together in some convenient place within the limits of Lynn by June first next, as adjudged by men to be appointed by the court. Court appointed Corpll. Tho. Puttman, Sergt. Porter and Thomas [Ed. --- Waste Book.] Flint to lay it out…

Andrew Mansfield, aged about thirty years, and Hugh Bert testified that the thirty and forty acre lots in Lynn village, which were given by the town of Lynn at the same time that the forty acres now in question were given, in their judgment were worth at least 20s. per acre. Sworn in Court. Copy of the distribution of the land of Lynn, in 1638, paper addressed "For William Langlye": To ye right honr. ye Lord Brooks, 800 acres; Mr. Tho. Willis, upland and medowe, 500 acres... ALLIN BREAD, 200 acres ..."

Founding of Southampton

Allen was a settler, or undertaker, in the settlement of Southampton, Long Island in June 1640. From the Town of Southampton website, under the Historical Document Collection^[19], they list "The earliest document pertaining to the settlement of the Southampton colony or "Plantacon" is The Disposal of the Vessel, an agreement made between eight settlers from Lynn, Massachusetts and Daniel How, the Captain of a ship who agreed to transport them and their families to Long Island. Prior to setting sail, the settlers or "undertakers" as they were known exchanged their investments in the boat with Howe, on condition that he would carry their possessions in three trips annually for two years. Articles of agreement spelling out the nature and purposes of the venture were signed by the settlers and dated March 10, 1639... the actual colony appears to have been established by June of 1640..."

Allen’s name appears on the Indian Deed of December 13th, 1640 which would indicate that he was physically present in Southampton but he did not sign the document. There were thirteen settlers named in the document; "Mr. John Gosmer, Edward Howell, Daniell How, Edward Needham, Thomas Halsey, John Cooper, Thomas Sayre, Edward Ffarrington, Job Sayre, George Welbe, Allen Bread, William Harker, [and] Henry Walton."^[20] Allen may have removed to Lynn within the first year.^[21] After the Indian Deed he no longer appears in the records of Southampton. The next mention of Allen is in Salem as a witness in court, July 1645, when "Samuel Bennett* presented for saying scornfully that he cared neither for the town nor its order. Wit: Allen Bread and John Fuller." *Marblehead Presentment^[4]

Court Records

He was mentioned as being owed 5s 2d in the will of Francis Lightfoot dated December 10th, 1646 and proved on December 29th. On November 15th, 1648, William Knight, Edward Needham, Thomas Chadwell, Joseph Hough, Edward Holke, Allin Breade, Edmund Farrington and Nathaniell Tyler were "fined for breach of order of court and town for not fencing proportionately a common field against great cattle." William Knight was found not guilty and his fine was remitted.^[4]

Thomas Gage brought a civil case against Allen on June 30th, 1657 in Salem. "Thomas Gage v. Allen Breede, who married the widow of Will. Knight. About pay for a cow which belonged to said Gage’s wife, Joanna, daughter of said Knight."' ^[4]

Allen was a member of the Grand Jury for court held in Salem on November 24th, 1657.^[4] He was appointed to be on the Jury of Trials on October 23rd, 1660 and served on November 27th of that year.^[4]

In 1661 he was a Selectman in Lynn and while fulfilling these duties he was mentioned in June with the "License of Mr. Thomas Riddan dated June 26th, 1661 and signed by Thomas Marshall, John Fuller, Allen (his mark) Bread and John Hathorne, selectmen of Lynn."^[4] In January (1661-2) he was mentioned with a "Copy of Corp. John Andrews' rates for the support of the pastor, Mr, Samuel Whiting, subscribed to by the selectmen, Tho. Laughton, Tho. Marshall, John Fuller, Henry Collins, sr., Allen Bread, sr., John Hathorne, John Witt, and Thaddeus Riddan, made by Tho. Andrews: on ----:11: 1661..."^[4]

In June of 1662, Allen and John Tarbox were sworn as Constables for the ensuing year.^[4] In the will of George Farr, dated July 1st, 1662 and proved on November 26th, he names "Allin Brad" as one of the overseers of his wife and children.^[4] Allen served writs, in February of 1662-3, by attaching them to the dwellings of the defendants.^[4]The writs were in the cases of Andrew Mansfield v. John Hathorne, William Longly v. Richard Haven and William Longly v. Thomas Newhall.

On April 28th, 1664 he served as a Selectman in Lynn when "Thomas Laughton, Thomas Marshall, Ed. Needham, Henry Collins, Allen (his mark) Breade, Thomas (his mark) Farrer, and John Fuller, selectmen of Lynn, 28: 2: 1664, approved of 'our loueing neighbor Theophilus Baylye to bee a meet man to draw, or sell strong liquors in our towne, by the pynte or quarte."^[4]

Allen was a member of a grand jury on November 28th, 1665 in Salem.^[4] He gave a disposition in court in September, 1666 in Salem, "Allin Bread, sr., deposed that Edmund Farrington told him that Henrye Wormwood had stolen a load of hay. Sworn in Court."^[4] In November of 1678, he took an oath of Allegance to the Kinge. The Essex Quarterly Court Records, Volume 7, page 158 states: "Names of thos Inhabitants of Lyn which tooke the Oath of Allegance to the Kinge, 1678: [names omitted] Allen Bread, sr., Allen Bread, jr., Timothy Bread, Joseph Bread, and Allen Bread, son of Allen Bread, jr."^[4]

Allen accepted the Freeman's Oath on May 11th, 1681 and agreed to be justly and lawfully subject to the Government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England.^[22]

Land Deeds

On February 20th, 1653 Allen Bread purchased eleven acres from James Hubbard for the sum of eight pounds sterling, with "part of it being upland, & part of it meadowing, lying in ye Towneship of Lyn, aforesaid, in a swamp betwixt ye lands of Mrs. Ivory, widow, on the east side, & the common highway leading into ye Towne marsh on the west side, a cove leading into ye marsh on ye south side, & ye comen lands on the north, with all woods, underwoods, trees, timber, lying, growing & being in, upon, & about the said primisses... hereunto sett my hand & seale, the twentieth daye of February, in the year of our Lord, one thousand, six hundred, fifty & three." The same day, Allen purchased land from John Poole for the sum of twenty two pounds and ten shillings sterling, "one dwelling house, comonly called the Cow House, lately in ye possession of ye said John Poole, in Lyn aforesd, and nine acres of upland, be it more or less, lying betwixt ye land of Mr. Samuell Whiting on the south, the lands late of Nathanyell Tyler, now in the possession of Phillip Kirtland and on ye west, the lands of Joseph Cowe & Edward Hall on ye east, & the lands of Will Knight on the north; and three acres of meadow: (be it more or less) be it in the Town marsh betwixt the lands of Will Knight on ye south, & the creeke leading into the sea on the north; and two acres of meadow, be it more or less, lying in the Town marsh, betwixt ye lands of Mr. Samuell Whiteing on the north, ye lands of Thomas Newell on the south, the lands of John Deacon on ye east, & ye lands of William Longly in ye west; & six acres of upland and marsh, be it more or less, lying in ye place caled the Reeds, betwixt ye lands of Mr. Thomas Cobbitt on the east, & ye lands of Mr. Samuell Whiteing on the west."^[23]

On February 20th, 1653, Allen purchased a dwelling called the Cow House, nine acres of upland, five acres of meadow, a creek leading into the sea, and six acres of upland and marsh from John Poole for twenty two pounds ten shillings.^[24]

On October 8th, 1662, the receipts for the settlement of William Knight’s will were recorded.^[25]

On 23 February 1664/5 William Bassett sold two acres of salt marsh in Rumney Marsh to Allen Bread, husbandman, of Lynn.^[26]

Thomas Cobbitt, Teacher of the church of Lynn, sold Allen a 200 acre farm, 20 acres fresh marsh and 10 acres salt marsh for three score (60) pounds on 12 Oct 1665.^[27]

Death & Legacy

He passed away on March 17, 1690-91 in Lynn. His death was recorded in the church records under the genealogy of his grandson, Timothy. This may be the record that has led early family historians to place Timothy as a son, rather than grandson, to Allen.^[28]

Allen died intestate, meaning he left no will. On May 30th, 1666, Allen deeded one piece of land he bought from Nicholas Browne, the land he bought of James Hubbard, half of the house lot, half of the housing, half the orchard and all the marsh adjoining to the same to his eldest son Allen. After the senior Allen’s decease, his eldest son is to get 6 acres and the other half of the housing, orchard and land. Allen then provides him some farm animals (one mare, one colt mare, one cow, one-year-old heifer, two weaning calves, two ewes, and two weathered lambs) before providing the last provision of all the linen the son’s mother left him at her decease. In a crude way, this could be considered Allen’s will because he explains what is to be done with his remaining house and land at his decease.

Allen was preceded in death by his first wife Elizabeth, his daughter Elizabeth, his son John, three grandchildren (John, Sarah and William) and one great-grandchild (Mercy). He was survived by his second wife Elizabeth, his son Allen, eighteen grandchildren, and twenty-one great-grandchildren. “The Compendium of American Genealogy, Vol. III”, [page 651]^[29] incorrectly states that Allen was a Quaker. It was his grandson Samuel that became the family's first Quaker.

Sources

1. ↑ Emmison, F.A., editor, "Bedfordshire Parish Registers, Volume XX", Bedford: 1939. Page B4.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Essex Institute Historical Collections, Volume XL, "English Notes about Early Settlers: Breed," Salem, Massachusetts: 1904. Page 148-53.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Lindberg, Marcia Wiswall, "The Breed Family: Descendants of Allen Breed (or Bread) of Lynn," in The Essex Genealogist, vol. 11 (1991): 196-203, (AmericanAncestors.org, page 198).
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15} George Francis Dow, "Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts": 9 volumes (Salem: The Essex Institute, 1912–1917), Volume 1 page 82, 153. Volume 2 page 18-9, 43, 58, 164-5, 250, 256, 268-71, 304, 413. Volume 3 page 24, 32-3, 162, 203, 348. Volume 4 page 384. Volume 7 page 158.
5. ↑ Cutter, William Richard, Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts (Vol 2, Pages 706-08) New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1908, Archive.org accessed March 27, 2015
6. ↑ Robert C. Anderson, Great Migration series (profiles of others)
7. ↑ "Breed Genealogy." (1907) The Essex Antiquarian, Archive.org (Vol 11:145).
8. ↑ Emmison, Frederick George, editor, "Bedfordshire Parish Registers, Maulden (1558-1812), Pulloxhill (1552-1812), Volume XXII," County Clerk Office, Shire Hall, Bedford: 1940. Page B16.
9. ↑ The Essex Institute, complier, "Vital Records of Lynn Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849", 2 volumes (Salem: Newcomb & Gauss, 1906), Volume II, page 55, 219.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Hotten, John Camden, "The Original Lists of Persons of Quality… 1600-1700", Reprinted: Empire State Book Co., New York: 1874. Page 107.
11. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles, (1995) "William Ballard, Featured Name." Great Migration 1634-1635, A-B. AmericanAncestors.org NEHGS, (Vol A-B, Page 148-50).
12. ↑ Lynn Historical Society, "Some of the descendants of Richard Hood, William Basset and Thomas Farrar; who lived on Nahant, Broad and Lewis Streets 1700-1840." (page 85) The Register of the Lynn Historical Society. Volumes 10-12
13. ↑ Breed, Deacon J.C. "Proceedings of the First Convention of the BREED Family of the United States of America", Chautauqua Democrat Steam Printing House, Jamestown, NY: 1872.
14. ↑ Breed, J. Howard, "A Record of the Descendants of Allen Bread who Came to America from England in 1630", The Evans Printing House, Philadelphia, PA: 1892.
15. ↑ Coates, Julia Beebe, "Principal Facts of Interest Concerning the Breed Family in America", self-published, Mystic, Conn.: 1900.
16. ↑ Perley, Sidney, "Breed Genealogy", Essex Antiquarian, Salem, Mass.: 1907. Volume XI, Number 4, page 1.
17. ↑ Email communication between Patricia (Breed) Everett and Marie A Seelye. A copy kept in the possession of Patricia (Breed) Everett.
18. ↑ Great Migration 1634-1635, A-B. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: "The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume 1, A-B", by Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999.
19. ↑ Town of Southampton, New York, accessed 22 Jun 2019, https://www.southamptontownny.gov/207/Documents
20. ↑ Town of Southampton Website
21. ↑ Hunt, John H., publisher, "The First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton with other Ancient Documents of Historic Value," Sag-Harbor, N.Y.:1874. Page 8.
22. ↑ Andrews, H. Franklin "List of freemen, Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1630 to 1691: with freeman's oath, the first paper printed in New England", Exira, Iowa: Exira Printing Company, 1906. Page 12.
23. ↑ "Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (22 May 2014), Essex > Deeds 1639-1658 vol 1-3 > image 364 of 763; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts.
24. ↑ "Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (22 May 2014), Essex > Deeds 1639-1658 vol 1-3 > image 365 of 763; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts.
25. ↑ "Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986," microfilmed, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch (viewed and downloaded 10 June 2018), listed date of 28 Oct 2018, records book 2, page 52, microfilm image 169-171 of 637; Genealogical Society of Salt Lake.
26. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles, "William Bassett, Featured Name" (Vol A-B, Page 191) Great Migration 1634-1635, A-B. (Online database accessed March 27, 2015. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.)
27. ↑ "Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (22 May 2014), Essex > Deeds 1639-1658 vol 1-3 > image 369 of 763; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts.
28. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (30 October 2019), Essex > Lynn > Births, marriages, deaths 1635-1840 > image 13 of 655; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston.
29. ↑ Virkus, Frederick A., editor, "The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy: The Standard Genealogical Encyclopedia of The First Families of America, Volume III", Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore: 1968. Page 651.

See also:

• Bread, J. Howard, (1892) A Record of the Descendants of Allen Bread, Who Came to America from England in 1630. Philadelphia: Hathaway & bros., Archive.org (Record of the Bread Family).
• Cutter, William Richard, Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts (Vol 1, Pages 270, ) New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1908, Archive.org accessed March 27, 2015.
• (1904) "English Notes about Early Settlers: Breed." Essex Institutional Historical Collections. HathiTrust.org (Vol 40, Pages 147-153).
• Massachusetts Applications of Freemen, 1630-91 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Record for Allen Bread. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=mafree1630&h=3770&indiv=try.
• Massachusetts, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Record for Allin Bread. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=macen&h=10200658&indiv=try.