Arthur Allen of Bacon's Castle

https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Allen_Arthur_1608-1669

Arthur Allen became an agent for tobacco merchants in Bristol, England, and arrived in Virginia during the 1640s. He amassed one of the largest plantations in Surry County by the 1660s. There, he built a three story brick house that reflected his status as one of the county's wealthiest men. Allen died in 1669; his house became known as Bacon's Castle after Nathaniel Bacon's followers occupied it during the 1676 insurrection.

Allen was christened at Saint Andrew Parish, Droitwich, Worcestershire, England, and was the son of John Allen. His mother's name is not known. He probably arrived in Virginia during the 1640s as an agent for tobacco merchants trading out of Bristol, in which capacity he made at least one return trip to Bristol. He also dealt with several leading London merchants, among them Micajah Perry, Phillip Perry, and Thomas Lane. By 1649 Allen had settled between Lawnes Creek and Chippokes Creek in the southern part of James City County. When that area became Surry County in 1652, Allen was appointed to the court, and by 1661 he was a member of the quorum. He also served on the vestry of Lawnes Creek Parish.

By the 1660s Allen had acquired more than 2,000 acres of land, making him one of the wealthiest men in the county. As a reflection of his status, he built a large new residence, a three-story Jacobean-style edifice that is thought to be the oldest brick house still standing in the former British colonies of North America. It was probably erected by local craftsmen using local materials and was much less polished in its workmanship than contemporary English country houses, but it made the same kind of statement about its owner's standing in the community. It was called Allen's Brick House during the lifetimes of its first two owners. Early in the nineteenth century it became known as Bacon's Castle because about seventy followers of Nathaniel Bacon occupied it between September 18 and December 28, 1676.

Arthur Allen may have married twice, not once about 1650 as stated in early histories of Surry County and Bacon's Castle; and he probably had at least seven children, not the two or three who are mentioned in some accounts of the family. His first son, Humphrey Allen, was probably born in England early in the 1630s and died in Virginia in 1666. Arthur Allen (ca. 1652–1710) inherited Allen's Brick House, carried on the family name, and had a long and varied political career. Allen's four daughters all married well, with the result that some of the area's most notable persons were descended from him. Mary Long, the wife of the Arthur Long who commanded the company of Bacon's men who occupied Allen's Brick House, was probably yet another of Arthur Allen's daughters.

Allen died late in May or early in June 1669. On May 15 he sat with the county court, but by the middle of June, when the tax list was compiled, his widow, Alice Tucker Allen, was charged with the eleven tithables resident at Allen's plantation. She later married a widower, John Hardy, of Isle of Wight County.

Time Line

October 23, 1608 - Arthur Allen is christened at Saint Andrew Parish, Droitwich, Worcestershire, England.

1640s - During this time, Arthur Allen probably arrives in Virginia as an agent for tobacco merchants trading out of Bristol.

1649 - By this year, Arthur Allen has settled between Lawnes Creek and Chippokes Creek in the southern part of James City County.

1652 - Arthur Allen is appointed to the court in the newly created Surry County.

1660s - By this time, Arthur Allen acquires more than 2,000 acres of land, making him one of the wealthiest men in Surry County.

1661 - By this year, Arthur Allen is named a member of the quorum, or a judge for the Surry County court who is required to attend each meeting and case.

May 15, 1669 - Arthur Allen sits with the Surry County Court. This is his last living appearance in the historical record.

May–June 1669 - Arthur Allen dies.

September 18, 1676–December 28, 1676 - During this time, forces loyal to Nathaniel Bacon occupy the former home of Arthur Allen in Surry County. What had been known as Allen's Brick House came to be called Bacon's Castle.

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Arthur Allen

• Birth: in Droitwich, Worcestshire, England
• Christening: 23 OCT 1608 St Andrews Parish, Droitwich, Worcestshire, England
• Death: BEF JUN 1669 in Bacons Castle, Surry County, Virginia
• Parents: Son of John Allen, Jr. & [Margaret King ?]
• Married: Alice Tucker
• Children: Joan, Katherine, Isabel, Elizabeth, Mary, Humphrey and Arthur Jr.

Arthur Allen did not live to enjoy his house. He made his will on March 10, 1669 and died about three months later. He left Bacon's Castle to his son Arthur in entail. Presumably, he gave other legacies to his daughters Joan, Mary, and Elizabeth.

notes

Event: Fact Genealogies of Virginia Families, V. 1, p. 62

Note:

Wm. and Mary Qrtly., Vol. 6, No. 2 p. 69). Arthur Allen, the emigrant, was, in 1667, stated by himself to be sixty-five years. He died in 1670. He calls Daniel Tucker (aged fifty-five in 1667) "brother". As Tucker was the younger of the two, Allen's wife Alice was probably Alice Tucker. This view is confirmed by a grant dated March 13, 1649, to Arthur Allen, of 200 acres, between Lawnes Creek and Chippoakes Creek, for importing into the colony four persons, viz.: Alice Tucker, Wm. Eyres, Wm. Moss, and Thomas Rastell. (Land Register).

A Brief History of Bacon's Castle= ' Arthur Allen first patented land which became a part of Bacon's Castle on March 14, 1650. He received 200 acres for the transportation of three servants and Alice Tucker, who either was, or would shortly become, his wife. Where Allen came from, why he came to Virginia, when he arrived, and how he obtained his money are all mysteries.

Arthur Allen first appeared in the records in 1650 with the land patent. He was appointed one of the Justices of the Peace for Surry County when it was formed in 1652, but that was the only political office he held. He was one of the wealthiest men in the county and may have been the wealthiest. He was probably one of the merchant-planters common in Tidewater Virginia in the mid-seventeenth century, as he was referred to as "Arthur Allen, merchant" in a deed in 1656.

On October 3, 1661, Allen purchased 500 acres from John and Peleg Dunstan, the sons and heirs of John Dunstan, between Lower Chippokes and Lawns Creek adjoining his other land. Four years later, Arthur Allen built his magnificent brick home, Bacon's Castle, on this tract. It was 1665 and he was 57 years old. Why he built such an elegant house in the wilds of Virginia when he was a relatively old man is unknown. Also unknown are the models Allen used to design his house, the names of the builders and workmen, and how long it took to complete the house.

Arthur Allen did not live to enjoy his house. He made his will on March 10, 1669, and died about three months later. He left Bacon's Castle to his son Arthur in entail. Presumably, he gave other legacies to his daughters Joan, Mary, and Elizabeth.

Arthur Allen II, usually known as Major Allen, was born about 1651. He was charged with the taxes for Bacon's Castle as early as 1670, and he was mentioned several times in the records in the next few years. In 1675, at the age of 24, Governor Berkeley appointed him a Justice of the Peace of the Surry County Court.

Allen was a firm supporter of the Governor in Bacon's Rebellion. Allen was present at the fateful court session of August 10, 1676, when the Surry justices voted to send supplies to the rebel Nathaniel Bacon. He must have opposed the decision and shortly thereafter he hid his silver, left his home and followed Governor Berkeley. He was at Jamestown when Bacon attacked and burned the town, and he later became one of Berkeley's most trusted officers. He was "Captain Allen" by later November 1676, and he led some of the attacks on the rebels from one of the ships in the York River in front of West Point.

In the meantime, much happened at Bacon's Castle. On Friday, September 15, 1676, John Finley, Allen's overseer, returned home on horseback from Jamestown where he had been visiting with Allen. Joseph Rogers, one of Bacon's supporters, arrested him almost within sight of Bacon's Castle. Rogers questioned Finely, then released him. Before Finley rode half a mile further on, Rogers and other Baconian supporters re-arrested Finley, disarmed him, and stole his horse. In time, Finley was sent to Charles City County where he was imprisoned for the next 11 weeks.

Three days later, on September 18th, a Monday evening, 70 of Bacon's followers, led by William Rookings, Arthur Long (Allen's brother-in-law), Robert Burgess, Joseph Rogers, and William Simmons seized, occupied and garrisoned Bacon's Castle. They went about with a military bearing complete with officer's ranks (Rookings was Commander, Rogers was Lieutenant, Long was Captain, Simmons was Ensign) and colors. They wrought havoc both inside and outside the house while they remained there. They shot and ate some of Allen's cattle, ground his wheat into meal in a hand mill and trampled his crops of wheat, tobacco, and grain into the ground.

The Baconian Rebels also plundered the house and stole (among other items) three fine saddles, some bridles, 22 pairs of fine dowlas sheets, six pairs of new Holland sheets, 56 pillowcases (most of them new), 24 fine napkins, two table cloths, 24 fine Holland dowlas aprons, 36 fine dowlas towels, 26 women's shifts - most of them fine, dowlas and new, several pairs of sleeves, handkerchiefs, women's head linen of all sorts, a new bed and bolster, three pewter basins, 14 new pewter plates, two pewter porringers and three mustard pots. Undoubtedly they drank the contents of the large Dutch case with six or seven three-pint bottles in it. They looked unsuccessfully for Allen's silver.

Finally, the Baconians fled on the night of December 27th, when British marines from the ship Young Prince moved up to Surry from Isle of Wight County. The rebels stole more of Allen's household linen and books by stuffing them into pillowcases, their breeches, and whatever else was handy. Allen later sued the rebels in both Surry and Charles City County courts for about 25,000 pounds of tobacco for damages. He compromised with some of the smaller men in Charles City and accepted a payment of 250 pounds of tobacco each, but he insisted on full payment from the leaders.

NOTE: The unusual name, "Bacon's Castle," undoubtedly came from Bacon's Rebellion, although there is no evidence that Nathaniel Bacon himself ever came to the plantation or had anything to do with it. Probably the name "Bacon's Castle" was not used until many years after Bacon's Rebellion. Possibly the name became current after 1769 when the "Virginia Gazette" published three articles that described the events of Bacon's Rebellion of 1676. However, the name was not used in the records until 1802. To avoid confusion, the A.P.V.A. has called the plantation "Bacon's Castle," regardless of the time period.

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Arthur Allen, who built the famous brick house known as "Bacon's Castle" about 1655; patented the land, where the Castle stands on March 14, 1649. the location was described as "lying between Lawns and Chipoaks creeks-bounded north on the land of Captain Peirce." and being same was granted for the transportation of four persons, one of whom was Alice Tucker whom he married. Later on August 24, 1665, he patented 1000 acres in the same vicinity. (C. P. 187.)

His mansion was built in English bond style with walls two feet thick. It is hoped that it will stand for many years to come as it is one of the oldest in Virginia.

Arthur Allen must have been a man of means in England in order to have undertaken the expense of building this old Jacobean house at such an early date. It was a fortress of the rebels during the time of Bacon's Rebellion and a more complete account of its history during that time is included in the chapter entitled "Bacon's Rebellion", in "Colonial Surry".

On the 7th of July 1668, Arthur Allen, aged 60, testified in a case about a horse. He deposed that he and "his brother" went to Jamestown to see two horses for sale-one died-and the question whose horse was it that died. Each one of the two persons who bought the horses claimed that it was the other fellows' horse that died. A large number of Surry people testified about the identity of the horses. Daniel Tucker, aged 55, of York county, deposed that while at "his brother Allen's house he saw the horse in Mr. Blands field" (D & W 1, p. 332.)

Arthur Allen had eleven tithables in the tax list of 1668 which was more than anyone else in the county. He died about 1670 intestate. [Southside Virginia Families By John B Boddie p. 1]

"3 During the rebellion against Governor Sir William Berkeley in 1676, Nathaniel Bacon's insurgents seized Allen's house for their own occupancy, which is the reason it has been called "Bacon's Castle" ever since. The Allens were not in sympathy with the rebellion

[Southside Virginia Families By John B Boddie p. 1]

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ALLEN. Surry county.

Arms: Per chevron gules and ermine, in chief two lions' heads

erased or.

Crest: A horse's head.

Arthur Allen, the immigrant, born 1602, died 1670; patented 200 acres in 1649, between Lawnes and Lower Chippoakes Creeks. He built the house known as "Bacons Castle." His wife was Alice, sister of Daniel Tucker of York county. Their son, Major Arthur Allen, Speaker of the House of Burgesses, married Katherine, daughter of Captain Lawrence Baker of Surry county. The will of Arthur 2nd was proved in Surry, 5 Sept., 1710. He had issue, Elizabeth, John, Katherine, James, Arthur, Ann, Mary, and Joseph Allen. The son John Allen, will proved 5 March, 1741, married Elizabeth, born 1697, died 1738, daughter of William Bassett, of the Council of Va. Upon Elizabeth Allen's tombstone at Claremont, Surry, are found the arms of Allen, impaling Bassett, the latter being," argent, three bars wavy gules. The arms of the Virginia family are the same as those of the Derbyshire, Staffordshire and London families, with the exception of the crest, which in the English arms has the "horse's head issuing from a ducal coronet." [Virginia Heraldica By William Armstrong Crozier p. 7]

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http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/a-brief-history-of-bacons-ca...

Historic Jamestowne

A Brief History of Bacon's Castle

Arthur Allen first patented land which became a part of Bacon's Castle on March 14, 1650. He received 200 acres for the transportation of three servants and Alice Tucker, who either was, or would shortly become, his wife. Where Allen came from, why he came to Virginia, when he arrived, and how he obtained his money are all mysteries.

Arthur Allen first appeared in the records in 1650 with the land patent. He was appointed one of the Justices of the Peace for Surry County when it was formed in 1652, but that was the only political office he held. He was one of the wealthiest men in the county and may have been the wealthiest. He was probably one of the merchant-planters common in Tidewater Virginia in the mid-seventeenth century, as he was referred to as "Arthur Allen, merchant" in a deed in 1656.

On October 3, 1661, Allen purchased 500 acres from John and Peleg Dunstan, the sons and heirs of John Dunstan, between Lower Chippokes and Lawns Creek adjoining his other land. Four years later, Arthur Allen built his magnificent brick home, Bacon's Castle, on this tract. It was 1665 and he was 57 years old. Why he built such an elegant house in the wilds of Virginia when he was a relatively old man is unknown. Also unknown are the models Allen used to design his house, the names of the builders and workmen, and how long it took to complete the house.

Arthur Allen did not live to enjoy his house. He made his will on March 10, 1669 and died about three months later. He left Bacon's Castle to his son Arthur in entail. Presumably, he gave other legacies to his daughters Joan, Mary, and Elizabeth.

Arthur Allen II, usually known as Major Allen, was born about 1651. He was charged with the taxes for Bacon's Castle as early as 1670, and he was mentioned several times in the records in the next few years. In 1675, at the age of 24, Governor Berkeley appointed him a Justice of the Peace of the Surry County Court.

Allen was a firm supporter of the Governor in Bacon's Rebellion. Allen was present at the fateful court session of August 10, 1676 when the Surry justices voted to send supplies to the rebel Nathaniel Bacon. He must have opposed the decision and shortly thereafter he hid his silver, left his home and followed Governor Berkeley. He was at Jamestown when Bacon attacked and burned the town, and he later became one of Berkeley's most trusted officers. He was "Captain Allen" by later November 1676, and he led some of the attacks on the rebels from one of the ships in the York River in front of West Point.

In the meantime, much happened at Bacon's Castle. On Friday, September 15, 1676, John Finley, Allen's overseer, returned home on horseback from Jamestown where he had been visiting with Allen. Joseph Rogers, one of Bacon's supporters, arrested him almost within sight of Bacon's Castle. Rogers questioned Finely, then released him. Before Finley rode half a mile further on, Rogers and other Baconian supporters re-arrested Finley, disarmed him, and stole his horse. In time, Finley was sent to Charles City County where he was imprisoned for the next 11 weeks.

Three days later, on September 18th, a Monday evening, 70 of Bacon's followers, led by William Rookings, Arthur Long (Allen's brother-in-law), Robert Burgess, Joseph Rogers and William Simmons seized, occupied and garrisoned Bacon's Castle. They went about with a military bearing complete with officer's ranks (Rookings was Commander, Rogers was Lieutenant, Long was Captain, Simmons was Ensign) and colors. They wrought havoc both inside and outside the house while they remained there. They shot and ate some of Allen's cattle, ground his wheat into meal in a hand mill and trampled his crops of wheat, tobacco and grain into the ground.

The Baconian Rebels also plundered the house and stole (among other items) three fine saddles, some bridles, 22 pairs of fine dowlas sheets, six pairs of new Holland sheets, 56 pillow cases (most of them new), 24 fine napkins, two table cloths, 24 fine Holland dowlas aprons, 36 fine dowlas towels, 26 women's shifts - most of them fine, dowlas and new, several pairs of sleeves, handkerchiefs, women's head linen of all sorts, a new bed and bolster, three pewter basins, 14 new pewter plates, two pewter porringers and three mustard pots. Undoubtedly they drank the contents of the large Dutch case with six or seven three-pint bottles in it. They looked unsuccessfully for Allen's silver.

Finally, the Baconians fled on the night of December 27th, when British marines from the ship Young Prince moved up to Surry from Isle of Wight County. The rebels stole more of Allen's household linen and books by stuffing them into pillow cases, their breeches, and whatever else was handy. Allen later sued the rebels in both Surry and Charles City County courts for about 25,000 pounds of tobacco for damages. He compromised with some of the smaller men in Charles City and accepted a payment of 250 pounds of tobacco each, but he insisted on full payment from the leaders.

NOTE: The unusual name, "Bacon's Castle," undoubtedly came from Bacon's Rebellion, although there is no evidence that Nathaniel Bacon himself ever came to the plantation or had anything to do with it. Probably the name "Bacon's Castle" was not used until many years after Bacon's Rebellion. Possibly the name became current after 1769 when the "Virginia Gazette" published three articles which described the events of Bacon's Rebellion of 1676. However, the name was not used in the records until 1802. To avoid confusion, the A.P.V.A. has called the plantation "Bacon's Castle," regardless of the time period.

Marriage 1 Alice Tucker b: in Surry County, Virginia

Married: in Isle of Wight County, Virginia

Note: March 13, 1649, to Arthur Allen, of 200 acres, between Lawnes Creek and Chippoakes Creek, for importing into the colony four persons, viz.: Alice Tucker, Wm. Eyres, Wm. Moss, and Thomas Rastell. [Land Register].

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon%27s_Castle

Comment note contributed by Brenda Elms Hillers:

Occupation: 1652, Justice of the Peace, James City, Virginia.

By 1649 he was in James City County, VA. He was know as Colonel Arthur Allen who built Allen's Brick House c1655 on land patented March 14, 1649, located between Lawnes Creek and Chippoakes Creek; currently know as Hog Island in Surry County, Va. This was the first brick house to be built. House after Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 was knows as Bacon's Castle. He brought 4 person to the colony: Alice Tucker (his wife), William Moss, William Eyres, and Thomas Rastell. He was Speaker of House of Burgesses in 1686.

(Bacon's Castle is open to the public in Virginia.)

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