Allen Genealogy of New Bedford Massachusetts

On March 20, 1635, there sailed from Weymouth in England for New England a ship, whose name is unknown, carrying something over one hundred persons under the leadership of Rev. Joseph Hull, and in this ship’s company were George Allen, Catherine, his wife, his sons George, William and Matthew, and Edward Poole his servant, and from this George Allen came the line of Allens who have been identified with old Dartmouth.

Like so many of the early shiploads of immigrants to New England, a clergyman was the head of this little company, and from the residences of several of those named in the passenger list it is safe to assume that this party was made up of friends and neighbors living on the borders of Somersetshire and Dorsetshire who decided to follow Mr. Hull into the new country across the ocean. The religious breaking up in England which began under Henry VIII., and which every year grew more intense, reached its climax under Charles I. with the appointment of Archbishop Laud, and the persecution of Dissenters and Separatists who chose to meet together and worship in their own way drove many of the best blood of England to seek refuge in Holland and America.

Sailing on March 20, 1635, this party arrived at Boston on May 6th, and in all probability remained a short time in that neighborhood until – some place for settlement could be determined upon. On July 8, 1635, the General Court at Boston passed this vote: “There is leave granted to 21 ffamilyes to sitt down at Wessaguscus,” and Sept. 2, 1635, this vote was adopted: “The name of Wessaguscus is also changed and hereafter to be called Waymothe.” The twenty-one families, who were those of the Hull party, established themselves in Weymouth with Mr. Hull as their minister, and began a settlement. In a list of the proprietors of Weymouth, compiled between Oct. 26, 1642, and May 21, 1644, we find the names of a large number of those who came in Rev. Joseph Hull’s party given either as present or former holders of land in that town.

Although George Allen, the immigrant, was never a resident of Old Dartmouth, yet as the ancestor of those who were actual settlers here he is of great interest to us, and the records are fortunately sufficiently complete to enable us to outline a fairly complete account of his connection with the early days of the settlements grouped about Buzzard’s Bay. George Allen was undoubtedly a yeoman farmer living in the County of Somerset, England, when the Rev. Joseph Hull collected his little company together to emigrate to America. He was probably not a member of the gentry, as the Heraldic Visitation of Somerset shortly before his emigration does not include his name, and therefore neither he nor his descendants were qualified to bear a coat of arms. He joined the party of Joseph Hull and sailed from Weymouth March 20, 1635, arriving at Boston May 6 and remaining there until July, when the General Court granted the permission to settle at Weymouth. He may have been in Lynn during the wait, as a George Allen is recorded as there about this time. His presence in Weymouth, however, is plainly recorded, with others of the Hull company, in the list of proprietors of land in that town. In the list made not later than 1644 land is described as of George Allen and also land of Ralph Allen, who, although not coming in the same ship, was in all probability his son.

But although George Allen plainly held land in Weymouth, he did not remain there long, for in 1637 he is recorded in Sandwich. Although not one of Edmund Freeman’s company to whom the grant of Sandwich was made, he appears among the members of the first church in 1638, and in 1639 was constable. In 1640-41-42 he was deputy to the General Court at Plymouth, and in 1641 was one of the committee to divide the lands in Sandwich, and was granted six and one half acres. In 1646 he built a house in Sandwich about a quarter of a mile from the Quaker meeting-house on the main road to the Cape, which stood until about 1882, when it was taken down. He died in 1648, and was buried on May 2d of that year. We do not know his age, but he is often referred to as aged, and his name does not appear in 1643 in the list of those between sixteen and sixty able to bear arms, so that at that time he was more than sixty years old. He is said to have been an Anabaptist before leaving England. His will, which was made in 1648, was probated Aug. 7, 1649, and made his wife Catherine executrix and named Ralph Allen and Richard Bourne as overseers. In his will he gives “unto all my children twelve pence apiece.” To his son Matthew he gives one calf and five shillings; to his wife the old cow and also the house and household stuff for life, but if she marries they are to be disposed of and divided to the five least children. To the five least children he leaves one cow each. To his son William he leaves a meadow, and to his sons Henry and Samuel the rest of meadow. The adventure in Barque “Heave” he leaves to wife and five least children. His wife Catherine was married again to John Collins, and appears to have gone to Boston, as in 1655 Henry and Samuel Allen of Boston “deed to George Allen of Sandwich a parcel of land in Sandwich which came to them from their father, George Allen, with the consent of their mother, Catherine Collins, who has rights therein.”

We do not know the names of all of George Allen’s children, but some we can identify, as follows:

1. George Allen
2. * Ralph Allen
3. Samuel Allen
4. William Allen
5. Matthew Allen
6. Henry Allen
7. Francis Allen
8. James Allen
9. Gideon Allen

In all probability the last two belong to the “five least” children mentioned in the will and were the children of Catherine, and it is possible that Francis, who is not mentioned in the will, was also a child of Catherine. The others were undoubtedly children of a first wife, whose name is unknown. Of the children, Ralph and Samuel seem to have come over at an earlier date, and Ralph Ave find in Weymouth, and a Samuel who is said to have been in Braintree before 1635, when he was admitted a freeman, is said to have been in 1620 of Bridgewater in Somersetshire, England, and is undoubtedly of this family.

After the death of George the family began to scatter. Ralph, George, William, Matthew and Francis remained in Sandwich, Henry and Gideon moved to Connecticut, James went to Martha’s Vineyard, and Samuel was in Braintree.

In Sandwich there were at this time two Ralph Allens, referred to in the records as Ralph, Sr., and Ralph, Jr. A careful study indicates that Ralph, Jr., was a son of George, Sr. Ralph Allen, Sr., married Esther Swift, of Sandwich, daughter of William and Joan, and had several children, who seem to have gone to Rhode Island. Jediah, his oldest son, moved to New Jersey. This Ralph Allen is referred to in the records as a mason. Ralph Allen was in Newport in 1639, in Rehoboth in 1643 and then for many years in Sandwich. He was imprisoned in 1659 at Boston for being a Quaker. He may have been a brother of George Allen.

Ralph Allen, Jr., who was the ancestor of most of the Allens of Old Dartmouth, is called a planter. The first mention of a Ralph Allen in Sandwich occurs in the list of church members in 1638, and in 1651 Ave find the first mention of a Ralph Allen called Sr., and in 1654 a Ralph Allen, Jr., so that it is probable that Ralph, Jr., came to Sandwich about 1650.

The history of the, Allen family, like the history of Sandwich and that of most of the towns of the Colony, becomes involved with the religious conflicts of the period. Although the Pilgrims and the Puritans came to New England to escape religious persecution, as soon as they had firmly established themselves they in their turn showed their intolerance toward all who did not agree with them in their religious beliefs. Only one colony among all those in America granted tolerance to all religions, and that was the Roman Catholic colony of Maryland, which in 1649 granted toleration to all Christian sects.

Ralph Allen bought land extensively from three owners. Oct. 15, 1663, he bought from Alice Bradford one half of her whole share which came to her from her husband, Governor Bradford. April 29, 1672,

“Sarah Warren, widow, for 33 pounds sells to Ralph Allen of Sandwich, planter, my half share in the Township of Dartmouth at Barnes his Joy on the southerly side of a parcel of land he bought of Constant Southworth which half share was in partnership between my deceased husband Nathaniel Warren and his brother Joseph Warren and lately divided.”

Although the writer of the article from which this account of George and Ralph Allen is taken (Walter Spooner Allen) has no record of the deed, yet by the claims made before Benjamin Crane by his children, Ralph Allen bought apparently the whole of Constant Southworth’s share.

Whether Ralph Allen ever actually came to Dartmouth to live is uncertain. The refusal of the Quakers to take the oath of fidelity made them ineligible as voters, and many who are known to have been located here at an early date do not appear either as freeman or as town officers.

Dartmouth was hospitable to all dissenters, but the old Puritan theocracy refused to allow these dissenters any voice in town affairs. The Allens and Kirbys from Sandwich and the Howlands from Duxbury were Quakers, and appear but seldom in the early town proceedings.

Ralph Allen, it is true, is mentioned in deeds as of Dartmouth, and in 1684 he is one of the agents for the proprietors of Dartmouth, in making an agreement with George Badcock and Henry Tucker concerning a gristmill in Dartmouth. It is probable that he lived some time here. He died in Sandwich and his will, dated Dec. 18, 1691, was probated July 1, 1698. In his will he calls himself aged and requests that he may be buried in his friend William Allen’s burying ground. He divides his estate among his five children

1. Joseph Allen
2. Increase Allen
3. * Ebenezer Allen
4. Zachariah Allen
5. Patience Allen

And he mentions his grandchildren Abagail and Joseph, children of Joseph. Patience married Richard Evans, of Newport, but the four sons of Ralph and the two sons of Matthew settled in Dartmouth.

Before Ralph Allen’s death he had divided a large part of his Dartmouth lands by deed among his children. The land at Barnes his Joy which he bought from Sarah Warren he gave by deed to his son Ebenezer Allen, 4th month 10th, 1675, and on the same day he gave by deeds to his two sons Zachariah and Increase Allen the half share in Dartmouth which he bought of Alice Bradford. The 18th of the 1st month, 1680, Ralph Allen conveys for love and affection to his grandsons Joseph and John Allen,

“both the sons of my son Joseph Allen 1-3 of a whole share in Dartmouth which I bought of Constant Southworth of Duxbury.”

It is interesting to try to determine about where these various branches of the family lived. The division of the original shares and the sales and purchases of land resulted by 1700 in ownership by the settlers of lands in widely separated parts of the township, but from the Proprietors’ records, the deeds and especially from the maps drawn by the late E. C. Leonard, we are able to locate some of the places where this family had settled.

The earliest definitely located piece of land was that bought by Ralph Allen from Sarah Warren, situated, as the deed says at Barnes his Joy, and deeded by him to Ebenezer in 1675. This name is preserved to this day as Barneys Joy, and there was the location of Ebenezer’s homestead. In one of Crane’s layouts in 1710 land laid out to Peleg Slocum on the eastward side of Barnes Joy is described as bounded westward on the homestead of Ebenezer Allen. Increase Allen, too, lived in this region, as did Joseph. Joseph’s homestead, which he gave in his will to his son Josias, was at the easterly end of Allens Pond, with Increase Allen’s homestead to the west and Ebenezer’s to the east.

Increase Allen, who died in 1723, in his will left all his property to his widow. Increase Allen, Jr., seems to have lived at the old homestead. Crane laid out to Increase Allen at the Horse Neck. On Clark’s Neck, on Sconticut Neck and on the west side of Cuishnet river, Increase Allen had lands, so that it will be seen his ownership was widely scattered. This was true of all the land owners of that time, as land was acquired from time to time in the various divisions made.

Ebenezer held land on the west side of Coxsit river as well as the homestead land, and in 1727 we find a deed from William Soul, weaver, to Ebenezer Allen, blacksmith, of the meadow in Horseneck on the west side of Long Let. His will, made in 1725, gives his homestead to his sons:Philip Allen, James Allen, and Seth Allen

Joseph in his will, dated 1696, gives to his son Josias his dwelling at Allen’s pond, to his son William a quarter share of land in Dartmouth, bought from William Palmer (this land was located on the east side of the Acushnet river), and to his sons Joseph and John, all the remainder of the land in Dartmouth. Joseph, Jr., lived at Coxsit on the west side.

The family of Joseph Allen scattered, and by 1719 two of the sons had moved to Monmouth county, N. J., and two are reported as of “Sissell county, province of Miriland.” Matthew Allen, the son of Ralph, had land in Dartmouth which he divided between, his sons Matthew and Samuel. Samuel seems to have soon given up all his interest in his land to his brother.

Ebenezer Allen, son of Ralph, married Abigail, and had children:

1. Mary Allen, born Oct. 27, 1682
2. Philip Allen, Feb. 28, 1684
3. Zebulon Allen, May 26, 1687
4. Ebenezer Allen, Jan. 16, 1690
5. Sarah Allen, June 9, 1692
6. * James Allen, Nov. 30, 1695
7. Hannah Allen, Aug. 10, 1697
8. Seth Allen, July 28, 1703
9. Abigail Allen, Dec. 16, 1705

James Allen, son of Ebenezer and Abigail, born Nov. 30, 1695, married Mary Akin, daughter of John Akin, of Portsmouth, R. I. Their children were:

1. Zebulon Allen married (intentions published Oct. 25, 1738) Hannah Allen
2. * Prince Allen, born March 6, 1718, married June 18, 1742, Deborah Butler
   
3. John Allen married (intentions published Nov. 19, 1757) Rhoda Allen
4. Ebenezer Allen, born Dec. 16, 1727, married Oct. 28, 1749, Susannah Gatchell
5. Mary Allen married (intentions published Dec. 21, 1739) Benjamin Briggs
6. Elizabeth Allen married May 10, 1744, Daniel Cornell
7. Thomas Allen married (intentions published June 21, 1741) Mary Allen

James Allen, the father of these children, died some time between April 4, 1767, when his will was made, and April 29, 1771, when it was probated.

Prince Allen, son of James and Mary, born March 6, 1718, died Oct. 9, 1778. He married June 18, 1742, at Falmouth, Deborah Butler, born May 1, 1724. They became the parents of children as follows:

1. Thomas Allen, born Jan. 5, 1743, married Judith Kirby
2. Obadiah Allen, born June 26, 1745, married (first) in 1766 Phebe Hussey and (second) in 1772 Ruth Almy
3. Lucy Allen, born Sept. 23, 1748, married Timothy Howland
4. Elizabeth Allen, born Nov. 28, 1751, married (first) Barnabas Kirby, and (second) Joseph Rogers of Marshfield
5. Hannah Allen was born April 2, 1754
6. * James Allen, born Oct. 20, 1757, married June 1, 1785, Sarah Howland
   
7. Mary Allen, born Jan. 21, 1759, married Jonathan Howland
8. Edy (Edith) Allen, born July 7, 1761, married Joseph Russell

James Allen, son of Prince and Deborah (Butler), born Oct. 20, 1757, married June 1, 1785, Sarah Howland, and died Nov. 30, 1820. The children of this union were:

1. * William H. Allen, born Feb. 8, 1786, married Jan. 1, 1807, Ruth Parker
2. Susan Allen, born Feb. 22, 1788, married Feb. 5, 1809, Samuel Hussey.
3. * Joseph Howland Allen, born Sept. 22, 1789, died March 4, 1852, married June 25, 1812, Sarah Howland (daughter of John and Reliance).
4. * Gideon Allen, born May 29, 1791, married (first) Hannah Howland and (second) Betsey H. Nye.
5. Gilber Allent, born June 22, 1793, died March 20, 1861, married Feb. 15, 1817, Eliza W. Barney, daughter of Griffin and Bathsheba Barney.
6. * Thomas Allen, born Sept. 8, 1795, married Phebe S., daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Smith) Howland.
7. Judith Allen, born Sept. 1, 1797, married George S. Howland, son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Smith) Howland.
8. Sally Allen, born Sept. 4, 1799, died Oct. 4, 1806.
9. Sylvia Allen, born April 11, 1802, died Aug. 29, 1803.
10. Lucy Allen, born Feb. 12, 1804, died Oct. 31, 1804.
11. James Allen, born July 13, 1805, married Martha Russell, daughter of Charles and Martha (Tillinghast) Russell.
12. Sylvia Allen
13. Lucy Allen, born June 19, 1808, were twins, the former marrying George Howland, Jr., and the latter dying young. George Howland, Jr., was a son of George and Elizabeth (Howland) Howland, and the son born of his marriage with Sylvia Allen was named George Henry.
14. * Frederick Slocum Allen was born Aug. 16, 1812.

Descendants of William H. Allen of New Bedford, MA

William H. Allen, son of James and Sarah (Howland), was born Feb. 8, 1786, in the town of Dartmouth. In 1794 he located in New Bedford, where he made his home until his death, May 29, 1883. He married Ruth Parker, born May 25, 1788, daughter of John Avery Parker and his wife Averick Standish (daughter of Shadrach Standish). Nine children were born of this union, namely:

1. Sarah Parker Allen, born March 1, 1808, married John H. Clifford, and died April 29, 1893.
2. Edward Allen, born Nov. 23, 1809, died Sept. 5, 1810.
3. Alexander Allen, born Nov. 13, 1811, died June 22, 1823.
4. William Henry Allen, born Oct. 12, 1814, died Dec. 10, 1898.
5. John Avery Parker Allen, born March 10, 1817, died Aug. 25, 1893.
6. Henry Almy Allen, born April 5, 1821, died Aug. 3, 1822.
7. Averick Parker Allen, born June 22, 1825, died Dec. 30, 1889. She married Charles S. Francis, son of David Francis, and had children:
   1. Isabelle Allen, born Jan. 25, 1853, who married John Adams Bellows, and had a son
      1. Henry Adams Bellows (born Sept. 22, 1885)
   2. William Allen, born Jan. 13, 1855, who married Mary Winterbottom, and has four children
      1. Richard Standish Allen (born in July, 1879)
      2. Helen Allen (Dec. 25, 1881)
      3. William W. Allen (in July, 1883)
      4. Averick P. Allen (March 10, 1885)
   3. James Parker Allen, born Feb. 7, 1859, who married March 3, 1885, Louise Vincent, daughter of Frank and Helen M. (Ballard) Vincent, and has two children
      1. Vincent Allen (born July 16, 1888)
      2. Arthur Standish Allen (Jan. 13, 1890)
   4. Averick Standish Allen, born Nov. 2, 1860
8. Herbert Allen Allen, born July l, 1828, died Jan. 30, 1872.
9. Helen Maria Allen, born Aug. 26, 1831, died Sept. 7, 1897. Mrs. Ruth (Parker) Allen died Feb. 26, 1837. On May 14, 1838, Mr. Allen married for his second wife Caroline H., widow of Nathaniel M. Heywood, born Feb. 1, 1796. No children were born of this union. He died May 29, 1883, at his home on Union avenue, New Bedford, aged ninety-seven years, three months, twenty-one days. His widow died Dec. 2, 1887.

William H. Allen’s father was a tailor, and this trade the son learned, and the two were for a time associated together in this line of business in New Bedford. William H. subsequently became associated with his brother, Gideon Allen, the two in the early years of the last century – about 1812 – carrying on business as drapers and tailors, their location being on North Water street. On the dissolution of this partnership William H. built the four-story brick block on the west side of Water street and south of the Commercial Bank Building, and for some years he occupied the north store, carrying an extensive stock of cloths, gentlemen’s findings, and as well goods for ladies’ wear. At that period Water street was the Purchase street of today. Still later Mr. Allen built a store on Hazzard’s wharf, where for some years he was engaged in the whaling-business. Subsequently he was in the dry goods business on Water street.

Mr. Allen was an ardent and active politician – an enthusiastic Whig, and one that loved his principles better than position. In 1841 he was appointed by President Harrison collector of customs of the port at New Bedford, but after a year or more gave way under the “persuasion” of “Tyler too” by the late Hon. Rodney French, who when Tyler had become thoroughly dyed as a Democrat was made to walk Spanish. Soon after his displacement Mr. Allen became ticket agent of the New Bedford & Taunton railroad at New Bedford, holding this position, if we mistake not, until the middle fifties (about 1854). In the years 1856 and 1857 he represented New Bedford in the General Court of Massachusetts.

Mr. Allen lived to be upward of ninety-seven years of age, and at the time of his death he had the reputation of being

“one of the youngest men in appearance of the old men of New Bedford. Few men of seventy exhibited less sign of senility than he did when over fourscore and ten. To the last, scrupulously neat in his dress, he walked the streets until within a year of his death with an elastic step, and in his laugh, if there was not the full ring of youth, there was nothing of the cackle of old age. He never lost his interest in politics, and kept in-formed in the current events of the day. He was social, genial and always cheerful, keenly enjoying prosperity, but never long disturbed by any misfortune. He was in his closing days like a hill, bare of vegetation perhaps, but lit up by the rays of the setting sun.”

Descendants of Joseph H. Allen of New Bedford, MA

Joseph H. Allen, son of James and Sarah (Howland), was born Sept. 22, 1789, and died March 4, 1852. He married Sarah Howland, daughter of John and Reliance Howland. She was born July 25, 1794, and died April 25, 1886. Their children were:

1. John H. Allen, born May 5, 1813, died Aug. 2, 1814
2. Ann H. Allen, born Feb. 2, 1815, died Feb. 21, 1816
3. Charles Allen was born in May, 1817
4. John H. Allen, born Feb. 10, 1818, died April 30, 1841, married Feb. 18, 1838, Harriet Webb, and had one child
   1. Susan H. Allen (born Oct. 11, 1841, married Jan. 20, 1870, Richmond Brownell; no children)
5. Ann H. Allen, born March 24, 1820, died Dec. 7, 1888, married March 24, 1839, Henry C. Kelley, and had six children
   1. Joseph H. A. (born Jan. 8, 1840, died Aug. 1, 1899, had four children)
   2. Sarah H. (born April 13, 1842)
   3. Susan H. A. (born May 9, 1843)
   4. Charles S. (born Aug. 2, 1846)
   5. Anna D. (born March 17, 1848, died Sept. 22, 1848)
   6. Anna D. (born April 11, 1849, died Aug. 31, 1850)
6. James Allen, born April 21, 1822, died in January, 1822
7. Sarah H, Allen born in November, 1823, died in September, 1824
8. Sarah H. Allen, born Aug. 6, 1825, died March 29, 1856, married Feb. 4, 1847, John Kehew, and had three children
9. Susan Hussey Allen, born Nov. 18, 1827, died June 30, 1841
10. Eliza Maria Allen, born May 25, 1830, died Dec. 31, 1830
11. Georgianna E. Allen, born in 1834, died March 5, 1835
12. Harriet Allen, born Jan. 7, 1836, married Hiram Webb, born Oct. 16, 1827.

Descendants of Gideon Allen of New Bedford, MA

Gideon Allen, son of James and Sarah (Howland), born May 29, 1791, married (first) Hannah Howland, daughter of Matthew and Abigail (Wing) Howland. On Aug. 31, 1815, he married (second) Betsey H. Nye, born Jan. 14, 1796, daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Hathaway) Nye, and granddaughter of Stephen and Abigail Hathaway. The children born of the second marriage were:

1. Hannah Allen, born July 15, 1817, married Jireh Swift
2. Eliza Nye Allen, born Nov. 20, 1819, married Isaac Davenport, Jr., of Richmond, Va.
3. Annie P. Allen, born Sept. 13, 1821, died in 1834
4. Mary S. Allen, born May 27, 1823, died in 1839
5. Alice Allen, born Sept. 8, 1825, was married in November, 1844, to Griffin B. Davenport, of Richmond, Va.
6. Henry H. Allen was born Sept. 12, 1828
7. * Gilbert Allen, Oct. 28, 1831
8. Annie Perry Allen, April 20, 1834
9. * Gideon Allen, Sept. 27, 1837
10. Mary S. Allen, Oct. 1, 1840

Mrs. Betsey H. (Nye) Allen died 27th of 9th month, 1844.

Gideon Allen was extensively engaged in the whaling business in New Bedford, his firm having large interests and many vessels afloat. He was first located on Front street, but later was on Water street and Hazzard’s wharf, and he continued to be thus engaged as long as he lived, becoming one of the prominent business men of New Bedford. He was a director of the Merchants’ Bank. He was not active in politics, but was deeply interested in religious matters, as a member of the First Congregational (Unitarian) Church, which he served as a member of the building committee at the time of the erection of the new edifice at the corner of Eighth and Union streets. He died Dec. 6, 1878.

Gilbert Allen, son of Gideon and Betsey H. (Nye), was born in New Bedford, and became one of that town’s foremost citizens, and one of the most prominent business men in all this section of the State. At the time of his death, which occurred April 27, 1899, he was and had long been connected with several of New Bedford’s most important enterprises in manufacturing and mercantile lines. In his early manhood he was associated with his father in an extensive whaling business, the firm having large interests and a large number of vessels afloat. He was one of the first merchants in that line to grasp the situation and to realize that the industry was doomed to become practically extinct, and consequently he was one of the first to turn his attention to other lines of activity. Later when the anticipated decay became a reality, he had other enterprises to which he could profitably devote his energies and his time. His business associates and contemporaries generally said of Mr. Allen that no citizen of the city would be more missed than he among those who were connected with the financial and manufacturing interests. He was president of the New Bedford Copper’ Company and of the Merchants’ Bank, and had been connected with both corporations for many years. He succeeded his father as director of the bank, and upon the death of Jonathan Bourne, who was president of the institution, Mr. Allen was elected his successor, and was continued in that position to the time of his death. Mr. Allen was a member of the board of investment of the New Bedford Institution for Savings, and a director of the Morse Twist Drill and Machine Company, of the Acushnet Manufacturing Company, and of the Masonic Building Association. He was interested in several other corporations.

He was formerly president of the New Bedford Gas Light Company. In his religious belief he was a Unitarian, a member of the First Congregational (Unitarian) Church, and a constant attendant at its services. He had served the society as a member of the finance committee, and was deeply interested in all its affairs. He was a member of the Protecting Society for some years.

Mr. Allen was a man of remarkably fine judgment, and his counsel was highly valued by his business associates and friends. He was conservative and slow to make up his mind, but when he spoke his words reflected his hard sense and his mature reflection. He was affable and cheerful, and could always see a bright spot, no matter how dark the immediate surroundings. His warmest friends were those who knew him best.

Mr. Allen married Mary A. Mulliken, daughter of Nathaniel Mulliken, of Newburyport. Their children were:

1. Leila W. Allen
2. Mabel Hathaway Allen
3. Annie Perry Allen, who married Willard Parker Adden, of Reading, Mass., and has one daughter
   1. Mary Elizabeth Adden.

Gideon Allen, Jr., son of Gideon and Betsey H. (Nye), was born in New Bedford Sept. 27, 1837. He was educated in the Friends’ School at Haverford, Pa., at Andover, and at Harvard University, graduating from the latter in 1858. After leaving college he was connected with his father’s business for some time, and in 1862 went to San Francisco, Cal., where he remained until 1865. He was again associated with his father for a few years. About 1873 he entered the employ of the Morse Twist Drill Company as bookkeeper. He later became general overseer, which position he held for some years, and upon the death of Mr. E. S. Taber, in March, 1889, he became treasurer. This position he resigned in 1902, and was made vice president. On the death of Andrew G. Pierce he was elected president of the company, a position he still holds.

Mr. Allen is a director of the First National Bank, of New Bedford, and is secretary of the board of investment for the New Bedford Institution for Savings. He was at one time a member of the New Bedford school committee, and also for many years a member of the old Protecting Society. His religious connection is with the First Congregational (Unitarian) Church. He belongs to the Wamsutta and Country Clubs.

On Oct. 16, 1860, Mr. Allen was united in marriage with Horatia Anna Howland, daughter of Williams and Mary E. (Wood) Howland. They have had children as follows:

1. Mary Howland Allen, born Dec. 20, 1861, died March 13, 1863
2. Frank Howland Allen, born Jan. 8, 1866, died Jan. 11, 1866
3. George Swain Allen, born Dec. 9, 1867, died April 15, 1882
4. Helen Howland Allen was born Feb. 27, 1878

Descendants of Thomas Allen of New Bedford, MA

Thomas Allen, son of James and Sarah (Howland), was born Sept. 8, 1795. He married Phebe S. Howland, born Nov. 13, 1794, daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Smith) Howland. Their children were:

1. Elizabeth H. Allen, born Aug. 11, 1817, married John Wood
2. Mary H. Allen, born Nov. 3, 1819, married Elisha Thornton, Jr.
3. George H. Allen, born Oct. 19, 1825, married Eliza Nye
4. Caroline H. Allen, born May 17, 1828, never married
5. * Edward H. Allen, born Sept. 9, 1831, married Achsah B. Wood
6. James Prince Allen, born April 20, 1834, married Frances Davis
7. Sarah Frances Allen, born Dec. 3, 1836, never married
8. others died young

Edward H. Allen, son of Thomas and Phebe S. (Howland), born Sept. 9, 1831, married Achsah B. Wood, daughter of James B. and Hannah (Gibbs) Wood. He died May 10, 1889, in New Bedford. His children were:

1. Elizabeth H. Allen, born Jan. 10, 1857, now deceased, married Col. Charles L. Hovey, of Boston, and had one son, Lincoln, who died at the age of four years
2. * James Wood Allen, born March 11, 1859, is mentioned below
3. Carrie Allen, born April 5, 1861, married L. Wallace Jenkins, of New Bedford

The father of these children died as stated in 1889, and was survived by the mother, who passed away April 26, 1901.

Edward H. Allen was for many years engaged in the brass foundry business in New Bedford, being a member of the firm of Gifford & Allen. In his later years he acted as agent for a mill supply company. In politics he was a Republican, and for a number of years served as a member of the common council. Though of Quaker parentage, he became a member of Grace Episcopal Church, and for a number of years was its treasurer.

James Wood Allen, son of Edward H. and Achsah B. (Wood), born March 11, 1859, in New Bedford, received his education in the public schools and in the Friends’ Academy, leaving the latter in 1874, when fifteen years of age. He became clerk and bookkeeper in his father’s firm, at the same time taking instruction in bookkeeping from his father, who was a fine accountant. On Jan. 1, 1883, he gave up this position and became bookkeeper and paymaster for the Grinnell Manufacturing Company, where he continued until 1895, when he became first treasurer of what was known as the Dartmouth Manufacturing Corporation. He has continued in that capacity to the present, as one of the two administration officers, the president and treasurer. Mr. Allen has seen the plant grow from a 60,000-spindle mill to one of above 200,000. The corporation has been a successful one, and to this success Mr. Allen has contributed a measurable part, at least. Socially he is a member of the Dartmouth, Wamsutta, Country and New Bedford Yacht Clubs, and was one of the first members and treasurer of the former for some years. In politics Mr. Allen is a strong Republican, but not active in party work.

On Dec. 30, 1886, Mr. Allen married Annie L., daughter of William H. Bartlett, and they have three children:

1. Edward B. Allen, born Dec. 28, 1889
2. Louise B. Allen, Sept. 25, 1891
3. Marian Allen, Oct. 13, 1898

Descendants of Frederick Slocum Allen of New Bedford, MA

See: Biographical Sketch of Frederick Slocum Allen

Frederick Slocum Allen, son of James and Sarah (Howland), born Aug. 16, 1812, died May 10, 1896. He married (first) Aug. 16, 1832, Mary P. Howland, born Jan. 14, 1814, died June 25, 1845, daughter of Francis and Mary (Parker) Howland. He married (second) Jan. 15, 1856, Susan B. Gardner, born May 5, 1826, died Dec. 29, 1869, daughter of Edmund and Susan (Hussey) Gardner. In 1872 he married (third) Clara Best, who died May 12, 1905, daughter of Robert and Bachel (Wooley) Best, and widow of John H. Gardner, a brother of the second Mrs. Allen. By the first marriage were born:

1. Emily H. Allen, born May 8, 1833, died Sept. 10, 1834
2. Emily H. Allen, born March 27, 1835, married Edward S. Taber, son of Joseph Smith and Deborah Taber, and died March 25, 1884
3. Alexander H. Allen, born Aug. 25, 1836, died Dec. 14, 1856
4. Sylvia Allen, born Nov. 7, 1838, died July 22, 1861
5. Anna Allen, born Dec. 14, 1840, died Feb. 7, 1848.

To the second marriage were born:

1. Frederick S. Allen, born Dec. 24, 1856, who died July 17, 1857
2. * Walter Spooner Allen, born July 16, 1858
3. Edith Allen, born April 12, 1860, who married Dec. 10, 1884, Frederick P. Forster, and has children
   1. Dorothy Forster (born Sept. 6, 1885)
   2. Frederick A. Forster (born Feb. 4, 1887)
   3. Henry Forster (born March 21, 1889)
   4. Margaret Forster (born March 23, 1893)
   5. Horace Waldo Forster (born Aug. 9, 1895)
   6. Reginald Forster (born May 24, 1897)
   7. Gardner Forster (born Aug. 17, 1899)
4. George H. H. Allen, born in New Bedford Oct. 5, 1861. He was prepared for college at the Friends’ Academy and was admitted to Harvard College in June, 1879, graduating in 1883 with the degree of A. B. He entered the employ of the Morse Twist Drill and Machine Company in July, 1883, and has continued with that company to the present time. He is a member of the American Economic Association, the Old Colony Historical Society of Taunton, and the Old Dartmouth Historical Society of New Bedford, and of the New Bedford Protecting Society. Since 1890 he has been a trustee of the New Bedford Five Cents Savings Bank, and clerk of the corporation since April, 1907. Socially he is a member of the Wamsutta, Dartmouth, New Bedford Yacht and Country Clubs, all of New Bedford, and of the University Club of Boston. He has been clerk of the First Congregational Society (Unitarian) in New Bedford since 1895. Mr. Allen is unmarried.
5. Clara G. Allen, born Sept. 18, 1863, who married Sept. 1, 1892, George M. Kingman, of New Bedford, and has two children
   1. Allen Frederick Kingman (born Dec. 18, 1893)
   2. Metcalf Kingman (born July 1. 1898)
6. Gertrude Allen, born March 4, 1865, who died in 1873

Mr. Allen received the principal portion of his education at the Friends’ School in Providence, R. I., then called the New England Yearly Meeting Boarding School. At the age of fourteen years he went as clerk in a commission house in Richmond, Va., in which his brother James was a partner. There he remained for two years, when he returned to New Bedford, and was clerk for Gideon and Thomas Allen 2d for one year. He next acted as clerk for Dyer & Richmond two years, at the expiration of which time he entered into a co-partnership with Thomas C. Lathrop, which existed for about two years. For forty-nine years, nine months he was engaged with Jireh Swift in the whaling business, and at one time this firm, Swift & Allen, was the leading firm in New Bedford. The partnership was dissolved in 1891. Mr. Allen had been for many years a director of the Morse Twist Drill and Machine Company, of the Star Mills, the Oneko Mills and the New Bedford Copper Company, and also for several years a vice president of the Five Cents Savings Bank. He had taken a great interest in the Union for Good Works, and for a long time was its efficient treasurer. He served the city in 1859-60-61 as common councilman and in 1873 as alderman. While in the common council, on March 8, 1860, he introduced an order which resulted in the preliminary steps being taken for a free water supply system, and was a member of the first committee to consider the project. Always a public-spirited and influential man, cautious and prudent in business, Mr. Allen acquired a reputation for unswerving integrity, and was a fine type of citizen.

Walter Spooner Allen, son of Frederick S. and Susan B. (Gardner), was born in New Bedford July 16, 1858, received his early education in. private schools and at the Friends’ Academy in New Bedford, and later entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Boston, taking the B. S. degree in 1879. That same year he went abroad to continue the study of chemistry at the University of Leipsic, where he remained two years, and then returned to become a special student at Harvard for one year. At the end of that time he accepted a position as instructor in chemistry in the Institute of Technology (Boston), where he remained until 1885, when the State Board of Gas Commissioners was created, and he became secretary of the board. In 1892 he resigned to enter the employ of the Boston Gas Light Company as assistant to the treasurer and general manager, and served in that capacity until the fall of 1896. In 1896 Mr. Allen made a European trip to investigate the relation of street railroads and municipal corporations. Returning to New Bedford in August, 1897, he became secretary of the committee appointed by the Legislature to investigate the relations between street railways and municipal corporations. Charles Francis Adams was chairman of this committee and W. W. Crapo was a member. The report of this committee was adopted by the Legislature substantially as recommended, the first time recorded when a special committee obtained a bill embodying its recommendations from the Legislature to which it made its report. Mr. Allen then became secretary and executive officer of the Massachusetts Commission to the Paris Exposition and spent the year of 1900 in Paris. Since then he has been connected with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, with offices in Boston and New York. Mr. Allen is active in his work for the interests of the New Bedford Public Library, and was a member of the board of trustees from 1892 until 1905. He is a member of the Wamsutta Club of New Bedford, of the St. Botolph Club, and of the University Club of New York. He is a member of the Unitarian Church.

On Dec. 12, 1899, Mr. Allen married Idee Tiller, daughter of J. T. W. and Antoinette (Pruitt) Tiller, and they have two children:

1. Ruth Allen, born Sept. 30, 1901
2. Margaret Allen, born June 10, 1906