Project "overview"

There's a book about the immigrants from Dorset to America and here's the review:

This book starts out in the Western part of England and describes the area and culture through the families that 'emigrated'. These families first planted themselves in Massachusetts Bay Colony, but then several left to plant themselves in what is now Connecticut. Being among the first families and having invested in the enterprise, they could be considered wealthy for their times. Many of these families intermarried and when one considers that many men were widowed early and married again it further entwined the 'founding' families. These 'families' endured a couple of Indian 'wars' and distinguished themselves on the field of battle. And many of them were involved in the religious issues of the day.

More evidence that he at least associated with people from the Western part of England:

George Allen, the immigrant ancestor of many of the Allen families found in America today, arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony from England on 6 May 1635. His name, along with the names of those he came with (106 in all), was found on a list of passengers who departed Weymouth, England for America on 20 March 1635. Unfortunately, the name of the ship they traveled aboard has never been determined. This party, which was under the leadership of the Rev. Joseph Hull, was granted leave to settle at Wessaguscus Plantation on 8 July 1635 by the General Court at Boston. Wessaguscus was soon given municipal rights, at which time it was renamed Weymouth, and its inhabitants were allowed representation in the General Court at Boston.

George Allen is believed to have been born in either Somersetshire, or Dorsetshire, England. Lending support for this belief is the fact that the Rev. Hull and many of the other families that emigrated with George were from one of these shires. Although George Allen is known to have married twice while still residing in England, the name of his first wife has not been determined. His second wife, however, was a woman named Katherine. Katherine accompanied George to America, and is believed to have been the mother of at least five of his children. According to the list of passengers making up the Hull party, Katherine was thirty years old in 1635, thereby indicating that she had probably been born in about 1605 in England.

http://linda_walker999.tripod.com/aqwn50.htm

Hatte that Document is in the About Me of George Allen, of Sandwich

I know Angus. I told you that you all were experts. I'm just catching up :) Following the same line of thought you likely followed.

so what is the consensus for George ?
B 1580 in Weymouth, Dorchestshire, England ? That's my vote .

I'll vote for that too Rhonda-Lee.

Yes I agree and we use this profile as the Master Profile if everyone agrees.
George Allen, of Sandwich

If we agree let us be very very very careful in our merging ok...

Hi everyone ,
I was wondering which Ralph Allen we are using for George's father. There are several and wondered if anyone has done enough research to determine which one it might be.

Ralph May 7 1554 D 24 Dec 1589 from Dorney Buckinghamshire
siblings Robert, Elizabeth, Johane, William, James
F John Allen 1520- 1570 Dorney Burnham Boveney Buckinghamshire
F Thomas Allen 1483- 1500 (date doesn't work for son) m Wakenden

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Ralph B 1560 Goldington Bedford D 10 May 1652 Cambridge Massachusettes
F John Allyn Jr 1538-1572 m. Elizabeth Alabaster
siblings Edmund, Thomas , Elizabeth, Mary

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Ralph B 1545 Weymouth Eng D 1648 Thurcaston Eng
m. 1555
ch Anthony, Ralph 1559, Walter , John 1563, William 1570, Roger 1573
F Ralph B 1530 D 1559 Sandwich Weymouth.

The third one is the one that others have hypothesized is George's father and Weymouth and Thurcaston fit very well. However something is off if he was born 1545 and married 1555 :) And born 1545, died 1648... Let me see what else I can find about him in Google Books.

http://books.google.com/books?id=-s6jO4ZSSaIC&pg=PA8&dq=Ral...

See the first paragraph (above) about Ralph Allen of Thurcaston.

http://books.google.com/books?id=AgI7AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA449&dq=R...

Claims George Allen was living in Bridgewater, Somersetshire, as a farmer.

Hi Hatte ,
Do you think that the info in this link has any veracity to our connection to George / Ralph ?

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&am...

The children look about right, although I suspect there are a couple too many. I am sceptical about the parents and the first marriage. I also think it makes more sense if the children were born in Weymouth and Thurcaston, that George Allen is the son of Ralph Allen of Thurscaston. Notice that Samuel Allen is born a different place than the rest which I would want to question and figure out whether it made sense. Also, what proof that his first wife was Katherine Watt? It might make sense, I just don't find the evidence clearly indicated in that webpage.

Rhonda-Lee Robin Allen Barber, U.E.
Hatte Rubenstein Blejer
Any consensus yet about what should we do here?

I'm also reading Albion's Seed and hoping to glean additional insight from that Angus, since it talks about migration patterns and how groups of immigrants were formed.

I'm of the opinion that the group that George Allen was in tells us about his life in England.

Ok I will await any input

My gut says the family is from Thurcaston and ended up in Weymouth for some reason by the way. I read that they were Anabaptists (Quakers?) and that explains both the adult baptisms in the family and migration patterns.

Deacon Obadiah Allen

I see you're doing good work on the sons of George Allen, Angus. I believe that this is a grandson of George Allen. It's note worthy that he married a woman from Milford, where his uncles Gideon and Henry had settled. Furthermore, we have records that link Henry and Samuel (reputedly Obadiah's father) together.

There's also a chance that this is the son of a different Samuel Allen.

So are we staying with the George Allen born 1580 date ? and marriage to Catherine Watts October 26, 1592, Scraptoft, Leicestershire, England.? ( even though he would be 12 ) Or should his dob be 1568?

and marriage to Katherine Starkes November 24, 1624, Bridgewater, Somerset, England.?

and sailed to America from Weymouth, England on March 20, 1635, (possibly on the "SPEEDWELL" ) arriving in Boston on May 6, 1635. with his wife Ketherine and three children and a servant (Edward Poole) ?

Source below that George may have come from Thurcaster,Leicestershire,England before coming to New England
************ Source:
From "New England Historical & Genealogical Register" 929.74 N44 cir 1850-1950 and from "New England Geneology" 929.74 V.2 pg 939

From "Vermont Once No man's Land" 929.743 B23V c.2:
"George Allen lived near Bridgewater, Somerset, Eng.: a yeoman; came to
America in migration led by Rev. Joseph Hull; arrived at Boston, May 6, 1635;
b. 1611; son of Ralph Allen, of Thurcaster, Eng.
Catherine_______, b. 1605.
George Allen was one of the 'original Proprietors' of Sandwich, MA., in
1639. He d. 1648. His widow m. John Collins of Boston."
**************************************************
Date of birth found in one source as 1568. Birth year of 1611 found
above doubted by author.

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From: WFT CD #159 Family History: New England Families #2 Series 1, New England Families Genealogical and Memorial, New England
(I) George Allen, probably a son of Ralph Allen, of Thurcaston, Leicestershire, England, was born about 1568, under the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

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Also the U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
about George Allen

confirms his birth yr at

1578
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According to parish records at Shebbear, two sons of a George Allen, Robert and George, were baptized there (dates not provided but apparently around 1619). A George Allen, son of John, was christened at St. Sidwell, Exeter, Devon, on April 4, 1582. This John might well be the one christened on 19 January 1562 at Bishop's Nympton, Devon, son of William. A John Allen died at Landkey, Devon, leaving a will which unfortunately was destroyed during WWII, but the terms of which were preserved. The names of the children of this John Allen were William, George, James, Matthew, and John. Landkey, Shebbear and Barnstaple are all in Devonshire and close to one another. Many of the early immigrants to America came from this area. Coincidentally or not, Richard Bourne (b. 1610) was a native of Barnstaple and was one of the earliest settlers at Sandwich, Mass., as well as a witness to the will of George Allen. If the age of George at his emigration in 1635 was 54 (rather than the impossible 24 recorded), as most believe, he could well be the one baptized in 1582, very possibly born in 1581. It should also be noted that a George Allen was baptized on 2 April 1581 at St. John the Baptist Church in Bridgewater, Somersetshire. A Somerset county origin is somewhat supported by the contention that Samuel Allen came from this county.

"There has also been a story accepted by many (e.g., Cutter, ibid.) that George was a son of Ralph Allen of Thurcaston, Leicestershire, born in 1568. The Allens found no record in Leicester of this birth, only of a George born to a Ralph in 1628. However, the records here are missing between 1573 and 1594. It seems unlikely that a man of 71 years would be elected constable in 1639 as was our George.

So the progenitor of George is either John or Ralph...which do you find more plausible?

Rhonda Lee, Hatte, Angus - May I just break in for a moment to say how grateful I am that you all have taken this on? I waded into the fray a couple of months ago with no idea whatsoever how complex this group of my ancestors is, was just trying to merge my profiles into the tree and all of a sudden found myself in the worst snake pit I've ever seen! I made a bad merge and was just horrified, especially when I realized the scope of the problem. Please forgive my part in the mess and know that all of the Allen descendants in America owe you a huge thank you for tackling this.

Jennifer we beg and urge you to contribute anything to help us here.

Hi Jennifer ,
I see we are related through Katherine Huggerford (Hennage, b. 1514) my 13th great grandmother. I believe you are my 14th cousin once removed. How are you related to the George Allen we are researching? I have interest in him because he is my sons' 10th great grandfather.

Jennifer, could you possible give us a link to anyone of the ancestors in your tree

By the way i added the place of birth in the suffix for the children of George the Immigrant to give us an idea where the profiles said they were born, as you can see there are some differences.

Jennifer is my 11th cousin through the Howlands.

Rhonda-Lee - good new material. I want to mull it over. It's persuasive. What I believe is that we need to link George geographically to the people he immigrated with and yes, with those he settled with in Sandwich, Barnstable. Always good to see who witnessed the will as they tend to be longtime family friends or brothers-in-law. I also read that several of his sons came over first, which might explain the late age he was at his immigration.

Angus - good to add the place of birth. It needs to be a system since people then were not so mobile as we are. Usually they would stay in one place, or at least not move around a lot.

My 9gg Ralph 'Stonemason' Allen, Jr, of Sandwich
Another 9gg Ralph 'Wheelwright' Allen, Sr., of Sandwich

And my family group sheets showed that these were the same person, although your research seems to indicate that they're not - but that's the junction of the tree that I helped snarl up! Not that I truly believe my bad merge made things all that much worse, as that mess appears to have occurred to do research errors and conflicts that have been going on for a very long time. Still, I really regret it - and if nothing else, it's taught me to step verrrrrry carefully, even when I think I know what the facts are.

*mess appears to have occurred DUE to research errors - sorry, my fingers stuttered!

http://www.geni.com/merge/compare/6000000012669399266?return=duplic...

Haha Jennifer I was just in that area. I have locked your Ralph and "our" Ralph so they can't be merged 'YET"