Samuel Allen, the basics

 Our first emigrant ancestor on the Allen line, via the William Allen, Laura Allen Bickford's father.

There are many interesting twists and turns in the documented history, and I need to relocate the story of Samuel's fields being flooded by the new mill dam. But for now, without delving into the whys --

Samuel Allen, possibly born in the vicinity of Crewkerne, Somersetshire, about 60 miles from Stonehenge, a bit north from Lyme Regis on the coast. Many familiar names on this map section. 

He was born, probably between 1597 and 1601, maybe as late as 1610.

He married a woman named Ann. Many determinedly assign her the name Whitmore, but that seems based on the existence of a family named Whitmore with a daughter named Ann in the Plymouth / Massachusetts Bay area.

Braintree was incorporated in 1640, before that it was called Mount Wollaston, before that it was called Merrymount, before that it was called Mount Wollaston, and before that it was possibly called Passonagessit by the Massachusett. For simplicity, I will use Braintree.

Ann and Samuel were married either in England or in Braintree, between 1628 and 1631. If you read the Braintree stories, you will see that it was possible but not likely that they married in Braintree. What about Olde England? Braintree England is a long way from the Dorset / Somerset area. No one knows why people from Dorset / Somerset would have named their new town Braintree (or Brantry)

Ann and Samuel's first known child was Samuel, born somewhere between 1628 and 1631, in England or in Braintree.

1635 May 5, a man named Samll Allen admitted a freeman of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Could be Samuel of Braintree, Samuel of Windsor, or some unknown Samuel Allen

1638 July 2, a Samuel Allen, along with George and Ralph Allen as well as Robert Marchant are admitted freeman to the Newport Rhode Island. George and Ralph are likely Samuel's uncle (or cousin) and cousin. Robert Marchant received a Braintree lot the same day as Samuel Allen of Braintree. So, likely this is Samuel Allen of Braintree

1638/1639 March 30 Sarai (Sarah) born to Samuel Allen and Ann. This is from Vital Records that were recorded after the fact in 1654 by the Braintree Town Clerk. An older brother named James survived to adulthood, there is evidence that there was also a brother named Joseph who died before 1650 (when Deacon Joseph was born)

1639 September 17, church of Braintree "gathered" (this would have been to replace John Wheelwright, friend of the Hutchisons, banished for his antinomian views)

1639/1640 February 23, A division of lots was made by the town of Boston. There should be more information about this in the not yet created Mount Wollaston page. Specifically: to Samuel Allen of the same [the Mount] for 7 heads, 28 acres (Samuel, Samuel Jr, Joseph who died, James, Sarai, Ann is six people, who is the 7th? John Robb believes Mary was born around 1636, before Sarah)

1640, Mount Wollaston incorporated as Braintree*

1641 September 29, Ann dies (this is from the looking backward records created in 1650s?)

1648 April 19, Samuel Allen buys a house and 90 acres from John Webb (from Sprague)

1650 May 15, Joseph Allen (later Deacon Joseph Allen) born in Braintree (the 1654 records)

1650 October 16, Margaret Allen, widow of Edward Lamb, petitions that administration of her late husband's estate be granted to Samuel Allen

1669 - Samuel dies
1669 August 2, writes his will
1669 August 5, he dies
1669 September 16, will is proved. Listed in Samuel's will are his wife Margaret, sons Samewell, Jeames, and Joseph, his two sons in law (Sarah's and Margaret's husbands) and daughter Abigail who was under 21

1672 November 16, a deed by Margaret regarding her son Joseph, 20 pounds from Samuel's estate to purchase 12 acres on the Monatiquot from Samuel's son Samuel of Bridgewater

Below: things I looked at while writing this page

http://www.johnbrobb.com/Content/ALLEN/R/P02-Two-NE-Patriachs-Evidential-Timeline.pdf
http://www.johnbrobb.com/Content/ALLEN/R/P02-Two-NE-Patriarchs.pdf
https://happygenealogydance.blogspot.com/2017/12/holbrook-line-samuel-allen-1597-1669.html
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-4984
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951001920480q&view=1up&seq=138
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~mabgenealogy/genealogy/revwheelwright.html (wheelwright in Mt Wollaston)
find original source for this, probably some place like hathi or internet archive
http://genealogytrails.com/mass/norfolk/braintreehistory.html
http://www.thayerpubliclibrary.org/genealogy-local-history-e-books/
https://archive.org/details/historyofbraintr00adam/page/8/mode/2up
https://www-personal.umich.edu/~bobwolfe/gen/mn/m779x780.htm

* "At the time it was incorporated in 1640 the resident land owners, most of whom signed the petition, were as follows: Henry Adams, George Aldrich, Samuel Allen, Benjamin Albye, John Arnold, Gregory Belcher, Peter Brackett, James Clark, John Clark, Thomas Clark, John Dassett, William Davis, Francis Eliot, John French, Richard Hayward, Thomas Jewell, Benjamin Keayne, Stephen Kingsley, Henry Maudsley, John Merchant, Thomas Meakins, John Miles, Henry Neale, William Needham, John Pafflyn, Alexander Plumley, George Puffer, Abel Porter, William Potter, Robert Scott, George Sheppard,, Thomas Thayer, Edward Tinge, Henry Webb, George Wright and Richard Wright."
[Source: History of Norfolk County Massachusetts, 1622-1918, Louis Atwood Cook, ed., New York: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1918, Volume 1, Chapter IX, pp. 71-82]