| Samuel Allen II migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
Note: This is not the profile for (1) Samuel Allen of Northampton, who married Hannah Woodford, (2) Samuel Allen, the son of George Allen of Weymouth and Sandwich, or (3) Samuel Allen of Salem
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Samuel Allen of Bridgewater was the son of Samuel Allen of Braintree and his first wife Ann (Unknown) Allen.[1][2] His parentage is confirmed by a deed recorded in November 1672 in which [his step-mother] Margaret Allen "the Late wife of Samuell Allen now deceased" and [his half-brother] Joseph Allen "both Of the Town of Brantry in the Government of the Massachuset's" conveyed 12 acres of land in Braintree to Samuel Allen of Braintree "for & in consideracon of Twenty pound's, given & appointed to bee Paide, by the abovesaide Samuell Allen deceased, to his sonne Samuell Allen of Bridgewater in the Government of New Plimouth."[3]
Samuel's date of birth is uncertain. Mitchell[1] and later secondary sources, including Savage[2] and Vinton,[4] probably in reliance on Mitchell, state that Samuel died in 1703 at the age of 71. Apparently based on this proposition, Mitchell[5] and many other secondary sources[6][4][7] state that Samuel was born in 1632. The probate records for Samuel's will and estate, however, clearly show that, although he made his will in 1703, he died on November 2, 1705.[8] Therefore, if Samuel was 71 when he died, he would have been born in 1634, not 1632. Savage splits the difference and states that he was probably born about 1633.[2] Based on the date of birth of his first known child (1660), Samuel's date of birth would be expected to most probably be sometime in 1631-1636 (based on a marriage date of 1659 and an age at marriage of 23-28), so a date of birth of 1632, 1633 or 1634 are all reasonable.
Oakes' 1905 Genealogy and Family History of the County of Jefferson, New York and many family trees state that he was born November 10, 1632.[9] However, no reliable source has been found that supports that date of birth. The November 10, 1632 date also appears in many family trees as the date of birth for Samuel Allen of Northampton.
Samuel's place of birth is uncertain. Since Samuel's father was in Braintree by 1635 and perhaps as early as 1632[2] and was probably in England before then, and since Samuel was most likely born sometime in 1632-4, Samuel could have been born in either Braintree or England.
Since Samuel's parents lived in Braintree, Samuel probably lived there at least until he reached maturity. According to Mitchell[1] and other secondary sources after him,[6][4][7] Samuel was living in the part of Bridgewater that later became East Bridgewater, as early as 1660. According to The Bridgewater Book, Samuel was, in fact, the very first settler in Bridgewater's East Precinct and built his house on the east side of the Matfield River.[10] His 1660 date of residency in Bridgewater is probably based on the fact that the birth of Samuel's eldest child, Samuel Jr. in December 1660, was recorded in Bridgewater's town records.[11] Since Samuel met and married Sarah Partridge of Duxbury sometime before that date, it is probable that Samuel moved from Braintree to the Duxbury-Bridgewater area sometime in 1656-1660.
Samuel married Sarah Partridge, daughter George Partridge of Duxbury.[1][2][12] Their marriage is confirmed by a 1680 deed by George Partridge to his son John Partridge of a 50-acre lot in Bridgewater on the westerly side of the 50-acre lot of Samuel Allen, which "he had of me George Partridge his father-in-law"[13] and is further supported by George Partridge's 1682 will, which contains a bequest to his granddaughter Bethiah Allen[14][15] and the 1702 will of George Partridge's widow Sarah which refers to her daughter "Sarah Allien."[15]
The date of Samuel and Sarah's marriage is uncertain. Savage states that they were married about 1658;[2] Partridge[16] and Vinton[4] state that they were married in 1658; while Anderson just states that they were married by 1660.[12] All estimates of their date of marriage appear to be based on the date of birth of their children. The first child whose identity is known is Samuel Jr., who was born on December 4, 1660. However, the Bridgewater town records of the births of Samuel's children state that Samuel was the "second borne" of Samuel Allen senior, without identifying the older child.[17][18] Based on a typical two-year gap in births, Samuel and Sarah's first child was probably born in late 1658 or early 1659. Thus, the estimates of a marriage in about 1658 seem reasonable.
The location of Samuel and Sarah's marriage is also uncertain. Based on the residency of Sarah's parents in Duxbury at the probable time of their marriage and the fact that, after their marriage, they resided in Bridgewater, they were probably married in Duxbury or Bridgewater, with the former being somewhat more likely of the two.
Samuel and Sarah had the following children, all except Mehetabel born in Bridgewater:
Samuel held a number of prominent positions in Bridgewater. He was town clerk from 1683 to 1702.[26] In 1687, Samuel was chosen as commissioner for taking a list of Bridgewater males 16 and older and valuing their estates;[27] in 1691 he was selected as Bridgewater's Representative to the General Court of Massachusetts;[28] and in 1694 he was chosen, together with Thomas Hayward, John Haward, Deacon Brett and Thomas Snell, to assign the seats to each person in the town meeting house.[29] According to Mitchell[1] and subsequent secondary sources,[6][4][7] Samuel was a deacon in the local church.
In 1676, during King Philip's War, Samuel and his son Samuel Jr. were among a group of 22 men from Bridgewater led by Ensign John Haward who came upon the enemy, fought them, and took 17 of them alive.[30]
Samuel made his will on June 9, 1703. In his will, he made bequests to his wife Sarah, sons Samuel, Nathaniel, Ebenezer, Josiah, Elisha and Nehemiah and daughters Elliel Allen, Mehitable Alden, Sarah Cary and Bethiah Prior, and appointed his wife Sarah and son Nathanial as executors. The will was witnessed by John Partridge, Samuel Seabury and James Partridge and was proved on December 21, 1705 before Nathaniel Thomas, Judge of the Probate Court on the oaths of all three witnesses.[8]
The inventory of Samuel's estate states that he died on November 2, 1705.[8] Since both his will and the inventory of his estate state that he was "of Bridgewater," he almost certainly died there.
[19] [18] [17] [24] [23] [20] [10] [29] [27] [30] [28] [26] [6] [7] [8] [11] [25] [22] [21] [16] [14] [12] [15] [13] [2] [4] [9] [5] [1] [3]
See also:
Acadian heritage connections: Samuel is 18 degrees from Beyoncé Knowles, 16 degrees from Jean Béliveau, 16 degrees from Madonna Ciccone, 16 degrees from Rhéal Cormier, 15 degrees from Joseph Drouin, 17 degrees from Jack Kerouac, 15 degrees from Anne Langstroth, 15 degrees from Matt LeBlanc, 15 degrees from Roméo LeBlanc, 15 degrees from Azilda Marchand, 14 degrees from Mary Travers and 16 degrees from Clarence White on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
"at the further end of Salsbury Plain" comes from the "Records of John Cary" page 8: https://archive.org/details/recordsofjohncar00brid/page/8/mode/2up?q=allen
The Leonard Hill house being next to the Old Grave Yard comes from this quote:
"Nehemiah Allen was 22 years old in 1703, and was not married till 1707, and his parents, grantors in this deed of 1703, had moved into their new house (Leonard Hill house) from their old house on the bank of the river, near the [later in time] railroad crossing; and there they lived, and there they died; he June 28, 1705, and his wife, Sarah, after the date of the deed, June 28, 1703, but when is not known..." -Epitaphs in Old Bridgewater, page 185. (This online book has a plot map of the Old grave yard showing the lot's exact shape at digital image 194. If one compares this lot to the modern shape and location still on Central Street it proves it is the same place....though Leonard Hill itself is not on any map that I can see. )
https://plymouthcolony.net/bridgewater/latham/185.html (new and old house locations described) https://plymouthcolony.net/bridgewater/latham/183.html (Samuel Allen's huge tract reached from River to the Grave yard) https://plymouthcolony.net/bridgewater/latham/194a.html (shape of cemetery lot)
See: https://plymouthcolony.net/bridgewater/md/02091.html
edited by R Adams
edited by Katherine Cappon
edited by Chase Ashley
The 404 error links to the newer USgenweb pages for Bridgewater (revamped in 2022 to be more mobile/tablet friendly as you can supposedly now click and drag the image around your phone screen).
Their new address with the original orthography showing that Samuel b 1660 was the second child is now at: https://plymouthcolony.net/magenweb/plymouthcounty/bridgewater/md/02091.html
Here is the new Bridgewater home page. It might have some newer stuff, but I am not sure: https://plymouthcolony.net/magenweb/plymouthcounty/bridgewater/index.html
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt/search?q1=samuel+allen&id=hvd.32044024594608&view=1up&seq=100&num=231
Suggest we resolve the surname of mother's third husband, George Farrow or Farrar?, which would then allow further clean-up of mother Ann/e Whitmore and this Samuel's siblings.
But the son of Samuel Allen and Ann/e Whitmore should be represented by the Samuel Allen-21 profile.
His father was Samuel Allen I and his son was Samuel Allen III. This might help to further disambiguate the various Samuel Allens.
Allen-4960, so one ID number down, redirects to the profile of Allen-20, Samuel Allen, who settled at Braintree, Mass, m. 1 Ann ____, m 2 Margaret French, widow of Edward Lamb.
Allen-4962, so one ID number up, redirects to the profile of Allen-893, Sarah Allen b. 1639, daughter of Samuel Allen and Ann.
Allen-4960, so one ID number down, redirects to the profile of Allen-20, Samuel Allen, who settled at Braintree, Mass, m. 1 Ann ____, m 2 Margaret French, widow of Edward Lamb.
Allen-4962, so one ID number up, redirects to the profile of Allen-893, Sarah Allen b. 1639, daughter of Samuel Allen and Ann.
Lacking other insight, the above provide us with rationale to consider this Allen-4961 / Samuel Allen to have been the son of Allen-20, Samuel Allen. Ala, Allen-4961 would be a duplicate of Allen-21, Samuel Allen m. Sarah (Partridge) Allen.