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George ALLEN and Katherine Starkes
HUSBAND:
[F15360b]. George ALLEN.
Born in 1578 or 1611 at Weymouth, Dorset, England; son of John ALLEN [F30720b]. He took the oath of fidelity before he left England. He married Katherine STARKES [F15361b] on 5 NOV 1624.
[The dates given for his birth are too far out of range. It appears probable that he had a prior marriage, or two people are being mixed together.]
He was a man of good standing among the Puritans, even though he was an Anabaptist. Brown (see Source 2, pg. 262) says that six of his children were among the earliest who embraced the principles of the Friends (Quakers), whose beliefs were close to the Anabaptists. He built a house in 1646 at Spring Hill that measured 18 feet by 23 feet and was two stories high. He soon added a lean-to onto the west end of it for a kitchen. He also added an addition onto the south side up to the first story, with a lean-to roof, known as the "salt box" style, with a cellar underneath. This house lasted through many generations.
The Indian title to the lands in Sandwich, Massachusetts was purchased by William Bradford and his partners of the old Plymouth Company in 1637 for 16 pounds, 19 shillings, payable "in comodities." On 24 JAN 1648 they assigned their rights to Edmund FREEMAN [F3736]. On 26 FEB 1648 he assigned his rights to George Allen, John Vincent, William Newland, Robert Bodfish, Anthony Wright, and Richard Bourne [F3732]; a committee of the proprietors of the town of Sandwich.
He died 2 MAY 1648 in Sandwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts. In his will he mentioned 9 children.
WIFE:
[F15361b]. Katherine STARKES.
She married George ALLEN [F15360b] on 5 NOV 1624. [It must have been earlier.]
CHILDREN of George ALLEN [F15360b] and Katherine STARKES [F15361b]:
- George ALLEN, Jr. He probably was grown when he came to this country. He was also fined for being a Quaker.
- Ralph ALLEN. He probably was grown when he came to this country. He was also fined for being a Quaker.
- Matthew ALLEN. He was also fined for being a Quaker.
- Henry ALLEN.
- [F7680b]. Samuel ALLEN. Born in 1596 or 1598 at Bumpstead, Steeple Parish, England. He married Ann [F7681b] on 5 NOV 1624. He died 26 AUG 1671 in Plymouth County, Massachusetts.
- William ALLEN. Born about 1625. He married about 1650 to Priscilla. They were among the first in New England to Join the Quakers and the meetings were held in their home. He was imprisoned and fined for his beliefs, stripping him of nearly all his goods. When he was in prison, the Marshall, George Barlow, who was drunk, appeared with a warrant to collect additional fines. The distress of Priscilla did not move him. He took the cow which had been left previously "out of pity", the little corn remaining, and a bag of meal which a kind neighbor had just brought from the mill. This was insufficient. He also seized her only remaining copper kettle and mockingly said, "Now Priscilla, how will thee cook for thy family and friends, thee has no kettle." She meekly replied, "George, that God who hears the young ravens when they cry, will provide for them. I trust in that God, and I verily believe the time will come when thy necessity will be greater than mine." George carried away all the goods, but he remembered the "testimony" and lived to see it verified.
William died 1 OCT 1705 at his home in Spring Hill in Sandwich, Massachusetts, about 80 years old.
SOURCES:
- 1) Ancestral File.
- 2) Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families. by Amis Otis. 1979. Genealogical Publishing Co.:Baltimore. I:68, 262, 264-5, 272, 483, II:210.