Adoniram David Allen (1734 - 1838)

Born 1734 in Province of New Hampshire

Ancestors

Husband of Martha (Riddle) Allen — married 1781 in Wilkes, North Carolina, United States

Descendants

Died 1838 at about age 104 in Clay, Kentucky, United States

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Biography

Adoniram Allen is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A001486.

Adroniram Allen was born 1734 in Province of New Hampshire, near Vermont border.

Son of [father unknown] and Catherine (Pintard) Allen. However, the "Find A Grave" source says he was the son of David Allen & Mary Welden. (Could it be 2nd marriage???)

Adroniram Allen was the husband of Elizabeth Morris and Martha Riddle according to FAG. The known children of Adoniram Allen I & Martha Riddle are John (born 1787), Adorniram D. II (born 1788), Allie (born 1790), Morris (born 1794).

He was a captain in the Revolutionary War; his first battle The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge in North Carolina & his next battle was at Kings Mountain South Carolina.

Adroniram died 1838 in Vox, Laurel, Kentucky, USA.

Spouse:

Children:

1. Adoniram Allen
2. David Allen

Military Service

Capt Adoniram Allen served with Surry County Regiment, North Carolina Militia during the American Revolution.

Service Record: Allen, Adonirum; Surry County Regiment; startdate: 1776; 2/27/1776, a known Lieutenant under Col. Martin Armstrong, Captain not named. aka Adnisaw Allen. Campaigns: Moore's Creek Bridge.^[1]

Note

THE ALLEN PATRIOTS IN THE BATTLE OF MOORES CREEK BRIDGE, NORTH CAROLINA, February 27, 1776: Adoniram Allen (1734-1838), his father, David Allen, Sr., and his younger brother, David Allen, Jr. are categorized as having definitely participated in the battle.

The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge in North Carolina was a brief,

but violent clash on February 27, 1776. The patriots defeated a larger

force of loyalists on their way to join with a British expedititonary

squadron on the coast. Adoniram Allen, who was about forty-two years

old at the time, served as a lieutenant under Col. Martin Armstrong in

the battle at Moores Creek. Adoniram was commander of a company in which

brother, David Allen, Jr. served. (This information, as recorded in

Moss; book, was derived from David Allen, Jr.'s application for a federal

pension--FPA 16601). David Allen, Sr., Adoniram's father, hauled

provisions to Cross Creek(Fayetteville, NC) for the expeditionary force

that fought at Moores Creek Bridge. He also hauled provisions and

baggage (quartermaster?) under Captain Jesse Walton of Surry County.

After the battle he conducted prisoners to Hillsboro. During this period

of time David Allen, Sr. operated a saw-mill and iron works at the mouth

of the Big Elk on the Yadkin River. It is conjuectured that David, Sr.

was in his sixties, assuming that he was about twenty years old when

Adoniram was born in 1734. (This information was cited in Moss; book as

well as in the Moravian Records for North Carolina). David Allen, Jr.

was only fifteen years old when he participated in the Battle at Moores

Creek Bridge. He served under his brother, Adoniram, at Moores Creek and

others in subsequent battles and skirmished in North Carolina, with his

father where he joined the patriots. About 1790, he went to Georgia,

possibly with his brother, Adoniram. From there he went on to Franklin

County, Alabama, and the Chickasaw Indian Nation where he lived in 1832

when he filed for a federal pension. The Surry County patriots and

their provisions had to travel about 150 miles to Cross Creek where they

were to assemble with other troops to march on to Moores Creek Bridge,

some twenty miles northwest of Wilmington, North Carolina. However, many

of the troops moved directly to Moores Creek Bridge where they engaged

and defeated a much larger force of loyalists who had assembled there to

hold the bridge at this strategic crossing. As it turned out, the three

Allens participated in a battle of crucial importance that 'ended royal

authority in the colony, helped forestall a full-scale invasion of the

South, and encouraged North Carolina on April 12, 1776 to instruct its

delegation to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia to vote for

independence--the first colony to so act'. (quotation from the National

Park Service brochure on the Moores Creek National Battlefield, North

Carolina). From: Clay Co. Ancestral News, March 1996, submitted by:

George E. Allen, member No. 402

Moore's Creek Bridge Historic Site

As the economic and political controversy with Great Britain gave way to

open rebellion in the mid-1770s, North Carolina was left a badly divided

colony. The legislature, which was popularly elected, opposed the royal

governor, Josiah Martin, almost to a man. 'Government here is as

absolutely prostrate as impotent,' Martin warned his superiors in London,

'and nothing but the shadow of it is left.' Yet many people who disliked

parliamentary taxation and royal authority over provincial affairs

nevertheless found the thought of fighting the mother country abhorrent.

By mid-1775, North Carolinians had split into two groups: patriots,

perhaps half the people, who were willing to take up arms for

independence; and loyalists, primarily the Crown's officials, wealthy

merchants, planters, and others of a conservative mind who opposed

redressing their grievances by war. This last party included many

Highlanders, who in recent decades had immigrated in sizable numbers to

North Carolina, and some of the Regulators who had been defeated at

Alamance in 1771.

First Moves Towards War

The news of the fighting at Lexington and Concord in April, 1775 received

in North Carolina a month later, further weakened royal authority. Unable

to stem the tide of revolution in the colony, Martin abandoned New Bern,

the capital, and fled to Fort Johnston on the lower Cape Fear, arriving

there on June 2, 1775. Within 6 weeks, North Carolina militia forced him

to flee again, this time offshore to the British warship Cruizer, as the

fort burned behind him.

In exile Martin laid plans of the reconquest of North Carolina. First, he

would raise in that colony an army of 10,000 men, two-thirds of them

Highlanders and Regulators with strong loyalist feelings. Next, this army

would march to the coast and rendezvous with a powerful expeditionary

force under Lord Cornwallis, Sir Henry Clinton, and Sir Peter Parker.

These combined army and naval forces were to concentrate at Brunswick, a

seaport town below Wilmington, by February 15, 1776. Together they would

re-establish royal authority in the Carolinas, striking wherever

rebellion showed itself. Martin persuaded his superiors in London and

commander in chief Thomas Gage in Boston that this host could easily

restore order. The British ministry approved the plan and dispatched

orders to the several commanders.

Governor Martin now set about recruiting his army. On January 10, 1776,

he called upon all loyal subjects to unite to put down 'a most daring,

horrid, and unnatural Rebellion.' Six months earlier General Gage had

sent Donald MacDonald and Donald McLeod to North Carolina to recruit a

Highland battalion. Martin now appointed MacDonald a brigadier general

and McLeod a lieutenant colonel in the loyalist militia and directed them

and others to enlist men.

To all Highlanders who pledged service to the Crown the British

government promised 200 acres of land, cancellation of land fees, and tax

exemption for 20 years. These terms, and Martin's efforts among other

groups, brought in recruits, though not nearly as many as had been

expected., The call went out for loyalists to assemble under MacDonald

near Cross Creek (Fayetteville) and then march to the coast. When the

force was organized on February 15, there were about 1,600 men present:

Highlanders, other loyalists, and some 130 ex-Regulators.

Meanwhile, the patriots had not been idle. While Martin tossed at sea,

they began to mobilize their forces. Since Martin was technically out of

the colony, the patriots in August and September 1775 set up a Provincial

Council to govern in his place. Upon the recommendation of the

Continental Congress, two regiments of the Continental Line and several

battalions of minutemen and militia were raised.

At the news that the loyalists were assembling at Cross Creek , the

patriots began gathering their forces. In Wilmington they threw up

breastworks and prepared for fighting. In New Bern authorities mustered

the district's militia under Col. Richard Caswell and ordered it to join

with other militia in countering the loyalists. Col. James Moore, the

senior officer of the 1st N.C. Continentals and the first to take the

field, was given command.

The loyalists' plan was to advance along the southwest side of the Cape

Fear to the coast, provision the British troops arriving by sea, and then

join them in conquering the colony. On February 20, 1776 MacDonald began

his movement toward the coast. Blocked by Moore at Rockfish Creek, he

marched eastward in the general direction of Caswell's force, crossed the

Cape Fear, and proceeded toward the Negro Head Point Road, a route into

Wilmington along which he expected little opposition. Outmaneuvered by

MacDonald's march tactics, Caswell withdrew from defending Corbett's

Ferry on the Black River in order to 'take possession of the Bridge upon

Widow Moore's Creek.' some 20 miles above Wilmington and a place the

loyalists had to cross on their way to the coast. After sending Col.

Alexander Lillington to join Caswell, Moore fell back toward Wilmington,

hoping to fall on the rear of MacDonald's column as Caswell obstructed

him in front.

The Engagement at the Bridge

When Lillington arrived at the bridge on the 25th, he quickly saw the

position's defensive advantages. The creek, a dark, sluggish, stream

about 35 feet wide, wound through swampy terrain and could be crossed in

the vicinity of only over this bridge. To dominate the crossing,

Lillington built a low earthwork on a slight rise overlooking the bridge

and its approach from the east. Joining Lillington the next day, Caswell

sent his men across the bridge to throw up earthworks there. Thus by the

evening on February 26, the patriots straddled the bridge. Lillington

with 150 men waited on the east side of the creek, and Caswell with 850

men were camped on the west. MacDonald's loyalists, 1,600 strong but with

arms for less than half that many, camped 6 miles away.

MacDonald had lost the race to the bridge and now had to decide whether

to avoid fighting once more or to cut through their opponents. At a

council of war the younger leader carried the debate, and eventually all

agreed that the enemy should be attacked. An element in the decision was

the report by a scout that Caswell's position lay on their side of the

river and was thus vulnerable.

At 1 a.m. on the 27th the loyalists set out on their march to the attack,

with a party of 75 picked broadswordsmen under Capt. John Campbell in the

lead. By now MacDonald had fallen ill, and Donald McLeod was in command.

The going was slow, for the route lay through thickets and swampy ground.

During the night Caswell abandoned the camp and withdrew across the

creek. Once on the other side, Caswell's men removed the planks and

greased the girders. Posting artillery to cover the bridge, they waited

in darkness for the advancing Scots.

An hour before dawn the loyalists came upon Caswell's deserted camp and

found the fires burning low. Moving on to nearly woods, McLeod regrouped

his men and passed the rallying cry - 'King George and Broad Swords' -

along the line. There they waited for daybreak. Suddenly gunfire sounded

near the bridge. Though it was not yet light, McLeod couldn't wait any

longer. Three cheers rang out - the signal for the attack - and the

loyalists rushed the partly demolished bridge with broadswords out and

bagpipes skirling. Picking their way over the bridge and onto the

opposite bank, they got within 30 paces of the patriot earthworks before

they were met by a withering fire of musketry and artillery. Nearly all

the advance party were cut down, and the whole force soon retreated. It

was all over in a few minutes. Pursuit turned the repulse into a rout.

The loyalists lost some 30 killed and 40 wounded. Only one patriot died.

Within weeks the patriots had captured 'all suspected person' and

disarmed 'all Highlanders and ex-Regulators that were ... in the late

battle.' The spoils included 1,500 rifles, 350 'guns and shot-bags,' 150

swords and dirks, and £15,000 sterling. Some 850 'common Soldiers' and

most of the loyalists were captured. The leaders were imprisoned or

banished from the colony. The soldiers were paroled to their homes.

Though the battle was a small one, the implications were large. The

victory demonstrated the surprising patriot strength in the countryside,

discouraged the growth of loyalist sentiment in the Carolinas, and

spurred revolutionary feeling throughout the colonies. The British

seaborne force , which finally arrived in May, moved on to Sullivan's

Island off Charleston, S.C. In late June patriot militia repulsed Sir

Peter Parker's land and naval attack, ending the British hopes of

squashing rebellion in the South for two years. 'Had the South been

conquered in the first half of 1776,' the historian Edward Channing

concluded, 'it is entirely conceivable that rebellion would never have

turned into revolution ... At Moore's Creek and Sullivan's Island the

Carolinas turned aside the one combination of circumstances that might

have made British conquest possible.'

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, County of Franklin:

Robert Allen, upon honor and upon best information, says that he is

descended from Revolutionary ancestors as follows: His father was John

Allen, who was the son of Adoniram Allen, ( a first cousin to Col. Ethan

Allen) Adoniram Allen was Capt. of a company of infantry in a South

Carolina regiment during the Revolution. The applicants mother was

Esther Baker Allen, who was the daughter of Robert Baker, who was the son

of John Baker...(?), at the head of a company rescued Col. Cleveland from

tories who were about to hang him. The applicant has (?) by tradition

that his ancestors (the Morrises, Rowland, Humphreys, Allens, and Bakers)

did service during the Revolution---Most of them. And because of such

descent applies for admission to the Society of the Sons of the

Revolution, of Kentucky, this 2nd day of May, 1889 Signed: Robert Allen

noted on bottom of application: Adoniram Allen Captain S.C. Partisan

Rangers 1780 -1782 <Heitman's Register>

Event

Event:

Type: Event-Misc

Date: BET 1775 AND 1776

Note: Type: Milit-Beg

Event:

Type: Event-Misc

Date: 27 FEB 1776

Place: North Carolina

Note: Type: Milit-Beg THE ALLEN PATRIOTS IN THE BATTLE OF MOORES CREEK BRIDGE, NORTH CAROLINA

February 27, 1776

According to Bobby Gilmer Moss, in his

preface to the 'Roster of the Patriots in the Battle of Moores Creek

Bridge', Adoniram Allen (1734-1838), his father, David Allen, Sr., and

his younger brother, David Allen, Jr. are categorized as having

definitely participated in the battle. The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge

in North Carolina was a brief, but violent clash on February 27, 1776.

The patriots defeated a larger force of loyalists on their way to join

with a British expedititonary squadron on the coast. Adoniram Allen,

who was about forty-two years old at the time, served as a lieutenant

under Col. Martin Armstrong in the battle at Moores Creek. Adoniram was

commander of a company in which brother, David Allen, Jr. served. (This

information, as recorded in Moss; book, was derived from David Allen,

Jr.'s application for a federal pension--FPA 16601). David Allen, Sr.,

Adoniram's father, hauled provisions to Cross Creek(Fayetteville, NC) for

the expeditionary force that fought at Moores Creek Bridge. He also

hauled provisions and baggage (quartermaster?) under Captain Jesse Walton

of Surry County. After the battle he conducted prisoners to Hillsboro.

During this period of time David Allen, Sr. operated a saw-mill and iron

works at the mouth of the Big Elk on the Yadkin River. It is

conjuectured that David, Sr. was in his sixties, assuming that he was

about twenty years old when Adoniram was born in 1734. (This information

was cited in Moss; book as well as in the Moravian Records for North

Carolina). David Allen, Jr. was only fifteen years old when he

participated in the Battle at Morres Creek Bridge. He served under his

brother, Adoniram, at Moores Creek and others in subsequent battles and

skirmished in North Carolina, with his father where he joined the

patriots. about 1790 he went to Georgia, possibly with his brother,

Adoniram. From there he went on to Franklin County, Alabama, and the

Chickasaw Indian Nation where he lived in 1832 when he filed for a

federal pension. The Surry County patriots and their provisions had to

travel about 150 miles to Cross Creek where they were to assemble with

other troops to march on to Moores Creek Bridge, some twenty miles

northwest of Wilmington, North Carolina. However, many of the troops

moved directly to Moores Creek Bridge where they engaged and defeated a

much larger force of loyalists who had assembled there to hold the bridge

at this strategic crossing. As it turned out, the three Allens

participated in a battle of curcial importance that 'ended royal

authority in the colony, helped forestall a full-scale invasion of the

South, and encouraged North Carolina on April 12, 1776 to instruct its

delegation to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia to vote for

independence--the first colony to so act'. (quotation from the National

Park Service brochure on the Moores Creek National Battlefield, North

Carolina). From: Clay Co. Ancestral News, March 1996, submitted by:

George E. Allen, member No. 402

Moore's Creek Bridge Historic Site

As the economic and political controversy with Great Britain gave way to

open rebellion in the mid-1770s, North Carolina was left a badly divided

colony. The legislature, which was popularly elected, opposed the royal

governor, Josiah Martin, almost to a man. 'Government here is as

absolutely prostrate as impotent,' Martin warned his superiors in London,

'and nothing but the shadow of it is left.' Yet many people who disliked

parliamentary taxation and royal authority over provincial affairs

nevertheless found the thought of fighting the mother country abhorrent.

By mid-1775, North Carolinians had split into two groups: patriots,

perhaps half the people, who were willing to take up arms for

independence; and loyalists, primarily the Crown's officials, wealthy

merchants, planters, and others of a conservative mind who opposed

redressing their grievances by war. This last party included many

Highlanders, who in recent decades had immigrated in sizable numbers to

North Carolina, and some of the Regulators who had been defeated at

Alamance in 1771.

First Moves Towards War

The news of the fighting at Lexington and Concord in April, 1775 received

in North Carolina a month later, further weakened royal authority. Unable

to stem the tide of revolution in the colony, Martin abandoned New Bern,

the capital, and fled to Fort Johnston on the lower Cape Fear, arriving

there on June 2, 1775. Within 6 weeks, North Carolina militia forced him

to flee again, this time offshore to the British warship Cruizer, as the

fort burned behind him.

In exile Martin laid plans of the reconquest of North Carolina. First, he

would raise in that colony an army of 10,000 men, two-thirds of them

Highlanders and Regulators with strong loyalist feelings. Next, this army

would march to the coast and rendezvous with a powerful expeditionary

force under Lord Cornwallis, Sir Henry Clinton, and Sir Peter Parker.

These combined army and naval forces were to concentrate at Brunswick, a

seaport town below Wilmington, by February 15, 1776. Together they would

re-establish royal authority in the Carolinas, striking wherever

rebellion showed itself. Martin persuaded his superiors in London and

commander in chief Thomas Gage in Boston that this host could easily

restore order. The British ministry approved the plan and dispatched

orders to the several commanders.

Governor Martin now set about recruiting his army. On January 10, 1776,

he called upon all loyal subjects to unite to put down 'a most daring,

horrid, and unnatural Rebellion.' Six months earlier General Gage had

sent Donald MacDonald and Donald McLeod to North Carolina to recruit a

Highland battalion. Martin now appointed MacDonald a brigadier general

and McLeod a lieutenant colonel in the loyalist militia and directed them

and others to enlist men.

To all Highlanders who pledged service to the Crown the British

government promised 200 acres of land, cancellation of land fees, and tax

exemption for 20 years. These terms, and Martin's efforts among other

groups, brought in recruits, though not nearly as many as had been

expected., The call went out for loyalists to assemble under MacDonald

near Cross Creek (Fayetteville) and then march to the coast. When the

force was organized on February 15, there were about 1,600 men present:

Highlanders, other loyalists, and some 130 ex-Regulators.

Meanwhile, the patriots had not been idle. While Martin tossed at sea,

they began to mobilize their forces. Since Martin was technically out of

the colony, the patriots in August and September 1775 set up a Provincial

Council to govern in his place. Upon the recommendation of the

Continental Congress, two regiments of the Continental Line and several

battalions of minutemen and militia were raised.

At the news that the loyalists were assembling at Cross Creek , the

patriots began gathering their forces. In Wilmington they threw up

breastworks and prepared for fighting. In New Bern authorities mustered

the district's militia under Col. Richard Caswell and ordered it to join

with other militia in countering the loyalists. Col. James Moore, the

senior officer of the 1st N.C. Continentals and the first to take the

field, was given command.

The loyalists' plan was to advance along the southwest side of the Cape

Fear to the coast, provision the British troops arriving by sea, and then

join them in conquering the colony. On February 20, 1776 MacDonald began

his movement toward the coast. Blocked by Moore at Rockfish Creek, he

marched eastward in the general direction of Caswell's force, crossed the

Cape Fear, and proceeded toward the Negro Head Point Road, a route into

Wilmington along which he expected little opposition. Outmaneuvered by

MacDonald's march tactics, Caswell withdrew from defending Corbett's

Ferry on the Black River in order to 'take possession of the Bridge upon

Widow Moore's Creek.' some 20 miles above Wilmington and a place the

loyalists had to cross on their way to the coast. After sending Col.

Alexander Lillington to join Caswell, Moore fell back toward Wilmington,

hoping to fall on the rear of MacDonald's column as Caswell obstructed

him in front.

The Engagement at the Bridge

When Lillington arrived at the bridge on the 25th, he quickly saw the

position's defensive advantages. The creek, a dark, sluggish, stream

about 35 feet wide, wound through swampy terrain and could be crossed in

the vicinity of only over this bridge. To dominate the crossing,

Lillington built a low earthwork on a slight rise overlooking the bridge

and its approach from the east. Joining Lillington the next day, Caswell

sent his men across the bridge to throw up earthworks there. Thus by the

evening on February 26, the patriots straddled the bridge. Lillington

with 150 men waited on the east side of the creek, and Caswell with 850

men were camped on the west. MacDonald's loyalists, 1,600 strong but with

arms for less than half that many, camped 6 miles away.

MacDonald had lost the race to the bridge and now had to decide whether

to avoid fighting once more or to cut through their opponents. At a

council of war the younger leader carried the debate, and eventually all

agreed that the enemy should be attacked. An element in the decision was

the report by a scout that Caswell's position lay on their side of the

river and was thus vulnerable.

At 1 a.m. on the 27th the loyalists set out on their march to the attack,

with a party of 75 picked broadswordsmen under Capt. John Campbell in the

lead. By now MacDonald had fallen ill, and Donald McLeod was in command.

The going was slow, for the route lay through thickets and swampy ground.

During the night Caswell abandoned the camp and withdrew across the

creek. Once on the other side, Caswell's men removed the planks and

greased the girders. Posting artillery to cover the bridge, they waited

in darkness for the advancing Scots.

An hour before dawn the loyalists came upon Caswell's deserted camp and

found the fires burning low. Moving on to nearly woods, McLeod regrouped

his men and passed the rallying cry - 'King George and Broad Swords' -

along the line. There they waited for daybreak. Suddenly gunfire sounded

near the bridge. Though it was not yet light, McLeod couldn't wait any

longer. Three cheers rang out - the signal for the attack - and the

loyalists rushed the partly demolished bridge with broadswords out and

bagpipes skirling. Picking their way over the bridge and onto the

opposite bank, they got within 30 paces of the patriot earthworks before

they were met by a withering fire of musketry and artillery. Nearly all

the advance party were cut down, and the whole force soon retreated. It

was all over in a few minutes. Pursuit turned the repulse into a rout.

The loyalists lost some 30 killed and 40 wounded. Only one patriot died.

Within weeks the patriots had captured 'all suspected person' and

disarmed 'all Highlanders and ex-Regulators that were ... in the late

battle.' The spoils included 1,500 rifles, 350 'guns and shot-bags,' 150

swords and dirks, and £15,000 sterling. Some 850 'common Soldiers' and

most of the loyalists were captured. The leaders were imprisoned or

banished from the colony. The soldiers were paroled to their homes.

Though the battle was a small one, the implications were large. The

victory demonstrated the surprising patriot strength in the countryside,

discouraged the growth of loyalist sentiment in the Carolinas, and

spurred revolutionary feeling throughout the colonies. The British

seaborne force , which finally arrived in May, moved on to Sullivan's

Island off Charleston, S.C. In late June patriot militia repulsed Sir

Peter Parker's land and naval attack, ending the British hopes of

squashing rebellion in the South for two years. 'Had the South been

conquered in the first half of 1776,' the historian Edward Channing

concluded, 'it is entirely conceivable that rebellion would never have

turned into revolution ... At Moore's Creek and Sullivan's Island the

Carolinas turned aside the one combination of circumstances that might

have made British conquest possible.'

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, County of Franklin: Robert Allen, upon honor

and upon best information, says that he is descended fro Revolutionary

ancestors as follows: His father was John Allen, who was the son of

Adoniram Allen, ( a first cousin to Col. Ethan Allen) Adoniram Allen was

Capt. of a company of infantry in a South Carolina regiment during the

Revolution. The applicants mother was Esther Baker Allen, who was the

daughter of Robert Baker, who was the son of John Baker...(?), at the

head of a company rescued Col. Cleveland from tories who were about to

hang him. The applicant has (?) by tradition that his ancestors (the

Morrises, Rowland, Humphreys, Allens, and Bakers) did service during the

Revolution---Most of them. And because of such descent applies for

admission to the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, of Kentucky, this

2nd day of May, 1889 Signed: Robert Allen noted on bottom of

application: Adoniram Allen Captain S.C. Partisan Rangers 1780 -1782

<Heitman's Register>

Event:

Type: Event-Misc

Date: BET 1780 AND 1782

Place: SC

Note: Type: Milit-End Captain South Carolina Partisan Rangers^[2]

Event:

Type: Event-Misc

Date: 1782

Place: NC

Note: Type: Taxables 1782 Wilkes county tax list

Adoniram Allen

250 acres

1 horse

1 mule

9 cattle

Capt, Rennolds District

Also in the district is

Benjamin Cleveland, Exq.

6800 acres

13 slaves

15 horses

100 cattle

Event:

Type: Event-Misc

Date: 1810

Place: Kentucky

Note: Type: 1810Census Adonairm Allen 01001-20010-00

pg. 155

Adoniram was known as "Teges" and there is an historical creek named in his honor in Clay County, Kentucky. An excerpt from an article reads:

We are here tonight to testify to our belief that permits for strip mining the lands drained by Crane Creek and Teges Creek in Clay County, Kentucky, should be denied because of the historical significance of this geographical area. At the end of the nineteenth century, it was a conflict over timbering on Crane Creek that led to the troubles between Tom Baker and Isreal Howard. Their conflict spiraled into the Howard/White versus Baker/Garrard feud that played a prominent role in Clay County history. Teges Creek recalls the name of one of its first settlers who was said to have been a "tedious" fellow, Adoniram Allen, a Revolutionary War veteran of the Battle of Kings Mountain and first cousin of the New England Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen. But even more importantly, we believe these neighborhoods are of inestimable historical significance because they include portions of the most thoroughly studied community in the entire Appalachian Region known in the scholarly literature as "Beech Creek." Dwight Billings, who could not be here tonight, and I have both been involved with these studies.^[3]

Name: Capt. Adoniram Teges Allen. Given Name: Capt. Adoniram Teges. Surname: Allen. ^{[4] [5]} A Given name was found in addition to a first name in the NAME tag.

Born 1734 New Hampshire. ^[4]

Died 1838 Vox, Laurel, Kentucky. ^[4]

Capt Adoniram “Teges” Allen I 1838 Clay County, Kentucky, USA. ^[6]

Buried Laurel Cemetery, Clay County, Kentucky. ^[4]

External Files

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He fought at Kings Mtn., SC on 107/1780. The turning point of the War for the American soldiers. Adoniram Allen was born in New Hampshire near the Vermont line in 1734, the son of David Allen, mother unknown. When and why David Allen migrated to New Jersey is not known. History relates people bought land in the New Hampshire land lottery. Then New York came in, surveyed and charged again; rather than pay twice for the land, people moved on.

Quote from the Ethan Allen Story:

The record of the Allens, for the first hundred years, is a repetition of the Book of Exodus. Like the Israelites, they raised families and moved. Four generations averaged ten children each and lived in eight different places. Restless, energetic hopeful, they followed the frontier persistently, clearing the wilderness, building cabins, and sowing crops which they often left for others to reap. Like all pioneers they believed in the future even more than in themselves, and never seemed to know why they moved so often or worked so hard.

It is not known when David left New Hampshire. The next we hear is that David is in Elizabeth Town. David Allen, Jr. was born in Elizabeth Town, Essex County, New Jersey in 1761, twenty-seven years after the birth of Adoniram. Some time in between, Job was born; no date has been found.

David could have taken the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road, down through Maryland, where he may have tarried. One report (only one) states David Allen was a Quaker, originally from Maryland. The only definite information I have is David Allen [Jr] was born in 1761 in Elizabeth Town. Over a long span of time, there are no records of David Allen and his family.

Elizabeth Town, being a seaport, would have been the likely place for Adoniram to apprentice as a mechanic for the ship building industry, assuming the family lived there in the 1750's when Adoniram was about the right age for apprenticeship. It is not known where his father, David, learned the iron works trade; however, there were iron furnaces in the vicinity at that time.

David and his family may have migrated to the Yadkin River area of North Carolina some time after 1761. David Allen, Jr. in his application for pension, stated he moved at an early age from Elizabeth Town; he did not remember living there. In 1767, David Allen, Sr's name surfaced in North Carolina according to the Moravian Records. Adoniram might have stayed longer in New Jersey since his name didn't surface in North Carolina until 1771. It was on the tax list. Adoniram paid two polls - could Adoniram married at this time.

Adoniram had six children: William Allen, Adoniram II, and Allie born in North Carolina, John, Morris, and Phoebe born in Georgia. 1800 census of North Carolina Buncombe County, William is listed 26 to 45; 1810 Clay County census William is listed 36 to 45. He died in 1814. Could be he was born in 1774. 26 years 1800, 36 years 1810. Could be William was born before Adoniram went into the service in the 1777 date given by David Allen, Jr. The Clay County census for 1850 gives Allie 60 (North Carolina) and John Allen 60 (Georgia). Some think Allie and John are twins, but that can't be since one was born in North Carolina, and the other born in Georgia. 1860 census gives John as 73 and born in North Carolina, and Allie as 70 and born in North Carolina. John's descendants say he was born in 1790 in Georgia. It could be Allie was born in 1787 in North Carolina. Morris was born in 1794 and Phoebe in 1796 in Georgia. [Adoniram was 60 when Morris was born.]

Adoniram's home and mill site has not been pinpointed, but apparently it was in that part of Surry County that became Wilkes County in 1777. The first listing of the 250 acres was in the Wilkes County poll tax of 1782. By 1784 he had acquired additional acreage totaling 600 acres. This acreage Was included on the last tax list of 1766. Records of 1782 and 1786 indicated that Adoniram owned and operated a water-powered grist mill. Records of the disposition of Adoniram's land holdings in Wilkes County have not been discovered.

Official records directly connect Adoniram and David under three circumstances. The first relates to Adoniram's role as chain carrier for one of David's land grants. Another was connected to his witnessing the deed for the sale of David's land in 1786. In 1787, the third circumstance is Adoniram's appearance before the Wilkes County Court in 1787 to record the sale. In 1797 Adoniram was involved in a court case. The court case was a civil suit between Adoniram and Joseph Hughes. The outcome is unrecorded.

Adoniram Allen apparently left Wilkes County, North Carolina sometime soon after his court appearance in 1779. Other evidence of his departure is indicated in the Wilkes County Court record replacing him on a road jury in November 1788. Also Adoniram's certificate of Allowance September 6, 1784 for public service was reissued on September 30, 1791 to Alexander Mebune. Adoniram was no longer a resident of North Carolina.

From a 1790 census for Wilkes County, Georgia prepared from tax returns, Adoniram Allen was not found as a tax payer for 1790, but was a tax payer in the indicated district in 1791. There is a possibility he was a resident in 1790.

Adoniram went to Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia and then to Sparta, Handcock County, Georgia to build iron works according to the Allen Robertson Interviews. His name appeared in the 1794 tax records of Handcock County.

Adoniram and his family were certified as residents of Handcock County in the 1805 Land Lottery of Georgia in which he was awarded two "draws". The award was based on being "free" white, male, married with wife and a legitimate child (children under 21 years of age), one year resident of Georgia, and a US citizen. He failed to pay the required fee and thus forfeited the grant. This is the last record of Adoniram in Georgia.

The old family said Adoniram Allen and Job Allen were brothers and were the first two Allens who came in to Clay County. The family legend that these two brothers came through Cumberland Gap and on to Clay County, a Clay County Court Order upholds this theory in a request for 400 acres of land in a grant. Adoniram states he was an actual settler on the land prior to the first of June of 1806. His brother Job Allen must have come with him to look over the land, decided where he wanted to homestead. Job never came back; he was never listed on the census. Adoniram's father, David Sr., had moved to Rutherford County, North Carolina if he was still living. Adoniram might have left his family with his father while he went to Kentucky. [Note: This is highly unlikely as Adoniram was himself 72 years old when he first traveled to Kentucky. David Allen is thought to have been born in 1714 and would have been 92 in 1806. PT] Adoniram left Georgia sometime in 1805; Adoniram was in Kentucky in 1806; he made it back sometime in 1807 with his family: William, John, Morris, Allie and Phoebe. Adoniram II stayed in Yancy County, North Carolina. William and Adoniram were the only two married. John, Morris, Allie and Phoebe all married in Clay County; marriage records in the Clay County courthouse. Adoniram gave John 90 acres of land in 1815; Morris he gave 60 acres in 1815. Allie's son Allen Robertson in the interview said, "My mother was an Allen daughter of Adoniram Allen." Later John's son, Robert, in his application for Sons of the Revolution wrote my father, John Allen son of Adoniram. Adoniram II left a will: he never said he was a son of Adoniram Allen. There was never found a deed, will, or Bible record that named Adoniram's children.

In 1807 Adoniram Allen applied for a permit to build a water-powered saw and grist mill in the south forks of the Kentucky River. In 1807 Adoniram served on the first grand jury in Clay County. William Allen served with him.

Adoniram Allen was nicknamed "Tedious" because he was so particular. Later the name became "Teges". On the old deeds and maps it was Tedious. Later the two creeks became upper and lower Teges. There was a Teges school and post office. The post office and schools have been consolidated.

Adoniram ran a water-powered saw and grist mill below the narrows on the south fork of the Kentucky River.

Adoniram was a remarkable man past seventy years when he migrated with his family to Clay County, built his home, grist and saw mill. He started a new life, when most people at age seventy are no longer able to work. He had been a surveyor, farmer, mechanic, ship builder, and served in the Revolutionary War

One early researcher said old Adoniram seemed to fade from the scene And a young Adoniram came on the scene. This Adoniram was William and Patsy's son. Adoniram died in 1838 at the age of 104 years, buried at Laurel Point Cemetery.

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Sources

1. ↑ #Lewis
2. ↑ Source: #S12
3. ↑ Billings, Dwight B. & Black, Kate. "Preserving Teges Creek." Appalachian Heritage, vol. 39 no. 2, 2011, pp. 47-49. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/aph.2011.0059
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Source: S1636481734 Ancestry Record 60525 #86040994
5. ↑ Source: S1645420866 Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives; Frankfort, Kentucky Ancestry Record 1222 #600676216
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 27 Nov 2022), memorial page for Capt Adoniram “Teges” Allen I (1734–1838), Find A Grave: Memorial #11392345, Laurel Point Cemetery, Clay County, Kentucky, USA; Maintained by Audrey Russell (contributor 47084393).

• with family and 4 sources: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G3W6-SC4

• https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2148946/laurel-point-cemetery

See also:

• Source: S12 Title: Heitman's Register Abbreviation: Heitman's Register
• Title: Photo of Headstone Abbreviation: Photo of Headstone
• J.D. Lewis Revolutionary War Database, lLt Adonirum Allen
• Find A Grave: Memorial #11392345
• Bobby Gilmer Moss, in his preface to the Roster of the Patriots in the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge
• Books, land grants, Revolutionary War records

Trees

• Source: #S-269701049 Page: Ancestry Family Trees Text: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/9639887/person/666443567/facts

Acknowledgements

• This profile was created through the import of Newman Family Tree.ged on 12 March 2011.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #11392345 Capt Adoniram “Teges” Allen I

• Source: S1636481734 U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2012 Provo, UT, USA Record Collection 60525

• Source: S1645420866 Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1965 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations Inc 2007 Lehi, UT, USA Record Collection 1222

• Source: S1636483941 Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Record Collection 1030Ancestry Family Tree