Ralph Allen1,2,3

M, #1926, b. circa 1610, d. after March 1657/58
  • Birth*: circa 1610; England; Genealogists can only surmise Ralph Allen's birth date. Gardner says "about 160-", Anderson says after about 1617, and Bowen about 1610. Each gives their rational.1,2,3
  • Marriage*: his 1st
    Charles Gardner gives no name for Ralph Allen's first wife.
    Bertha Clark states: "It is not certain, but probable, that he was the Ralph Allen who married in London 6 May 1619 Hester English."; Spouse: Hester English1,4
  • Marriage*: circa 1646; probably Sandwich, Massachusetts; his 2nd; Spouse: Esther Swift5,6
  • Death*: after March 1657/58; Sandwich, Massachusetts; After reviewing the arguments of Gardner and Anderson, Bowen concluded that the death date of Ralph Allen is unknown. Ralph Allen, Jr., was last known alive at a court appearance March 1657/8.1
Last Edited: 16 Dec 2013

Family 1:

Hester English
  • Marriage*: his 1st
    Charles Gardner gives no name for Ralph Allen's first wife.
    Bertha Clark states: "It is not certain, but probable, that he was the Ralph Allen who married in London 6 May 1619 Hester English."; Spouse: Hester English1,4

Children:

John Allen1,9 b. bt 1620 - 1629, d. 30 Oct 1708
Henry Allen8
George Allen8
William Allen8 b. c 1629, d. 1718
Samuel Allen8

Family 2:

Esther Swift b. 28 May 1629

Children:

Jedediah Allen+ 1 b. 3 Jan 1646/47, d. 21 Jan 1711/12
Esther Allen1 b. 8 Dec 1648
Experience Allen1 b. 14 Mar 1651/52
Ephraim Allen1 b. 20 Mar 1656/57

Notes

  • Immigration*: circa 1638; Rhode Island
  • Note*: 1) "The earliest entry in American records of Ralph is perhaps that at Newport, R.I., where a list of inhabitants admitted 'since the 20th of the 3d, 1638' includes the names of Samuel, George and Ralph Allen."
    2) "Ralph Allen and John Allen moved to Rehoboth when that town was settled, in 1643..."
    3) "Ralph Allen moved to Sandwich about 1646 and was usually referred to there as Ralph Allen, Jr. The births of four children are recorded there."
    4) "Both Allen families in Sandwich were active in the Society [of Friends], and were fined considerable amounts, for that period, on various pretexts."
    5) "No will or record of administration on Ralph's estate is to be found."1
  • Note: "For about a decade [1650-1659] there were two Ralph Allens residing in Sandwich, whose records are difficult to disentangle." The article goes on to disentangle them as much as possible, finding that one Ralph, sometimes called junior was a mason, the other sometimes called senior was a wheelwright.
    "Thus, Ralph Allen, mason, whose wife was a Swift, and who had children Jedediah, Experience and Ephriam, would be the one who died in or about late 1659....Thus, Ralph Allen, wheelwright, who lived far past 1659, was the son of the immigrant George Allen. ...In 1941, as part of his serialized 'Genealogical Dictionary of New Jersey,' Charles Carroll Gardner compiled accounts of both George Allen and Ralph Allen of Sandwich [GMN] 16:1-4, 49-52]; although there are some errors in these accounts, Gardner's treatment remains the best in print on these families."2
  • Note: The parents of Ralph Allen are unknown. Anderson concludes that Ralph is not the son of the George Allen who migrated in 1635 and was buried at Sandwich in 1648.7
  • Note: Richard LeBaron Bowen says "Finally, it should be noted that the most recent serious treatment of George Allen and the two Ralph Allens, omitted by 'Great migration', is that of Bertha Clark, "A Sandwich-Darmouth-North Kingston Allen Line" (Boston, 1955, a 33-page typescript at the Society). Clark provides extensive discussion of the children of George Allen and the two Ralphs, with references for virtually every statement.

    (This is the George Allen, who with his wife Katherine and their sons, sailed in 1635 from Weymouth, England, to Boston, resided in Weymouth, Mass., for several years and then Sandwich until his death in 1648.)

    Following is Bertha W. Clark's section on the two Ralph Allens"

    page 4
    "Before we can discuss George's family intelligently, it will be necessary to say something about the two Ralphs, one the son, the other probably the brother of George; for the two men and the two families have been almost hopelessly confused. We cannot accept the statement often made that the younger man was born about 1600; for that means he was eighty years old when appointed surveyor of highways, ninety-eight years old when he died, and about thirty-eight when he married. We think his birth year was probably nearer 1615. We think, too, that it was the brother-- not the son--Ralph who joined the Roxbury church when George did and the Sandwich church together with him; who was able to bear arms in Sandwich in 1643; and who witnessed and was overseer of the will of George. It is certain that it was the older Ralph who married Esther Swift of Sandwich about 1645 and whose children were born there from 1646 to 1657. We think the younger man was the one at Weymouth and that he did not have Sandwich as his home until after his father's death, when the records began to distinguish between the two Ralphs by attaching "Sr." and "Jr." to their names. Ralph, Sr., had been married before he married Esther Swift about 1645. It is not certain, but probable, that he was the Ralph Allen who married in London 6 May 1619 Hester English (6). The children
    of this marriage were probably, some or all of them, with him

    6 J.K. Allen's Ralph Allen MSS. p. 19

    page 5
    "in his home at Sandwich. Much of the confusion between the two families has arisen from the fact that the two brothers gave the same names to sons in several instances. Allen genealogists have found sound reasons for believing that Ralph, Sr., like George, had sons John, Henry, and George. We agree, and think it likely that he also, like George, had sons Samuel and William. Ralph's John married Elizabeth Bacon in 1650 (1) and settled at Newport. His son Henry was in Weymouth in 1640 (2) and still owned land there in 1647, having removed to Boston about 1645 (4). He is mentioned in the 1682 will of Robert Tucker of Weymouth (6) and Milton, as "my loving Brother-in-law, Deacon Henry Allen of Boston (5)." Ralph's son George was of almost identical age with George's George (7). We think Ralph's George was the one with wife Susan(na) and a family of daughters born in Boston 1648--1653; and possibly later of New Jersey. Without proof, we think it very likely that Ralph had a son William, the William who in 1676 was of Newton, L.I., "Quaker, (9)" and who on 16 May 1677 married at Newport, R.I., in Quaker ceremony, Patience (Clifford) Beers, he being "late of New York, now resident of Rhode Island." He died in 1718 ae. 89 (10); so born 1629. We think too, that the Samuel Allen in Hempstead (very near to Newton) in 1664 (9) was quite probably another son of Ralph. If so, he would be the Samuel who, with his cousin Ralph, Jr., and either his brother or his cousin George, three young men trying to find a place to settle, in 1639 visited Newport briefly and were accepted as inhabitants (11), but decided not to remain. He would also be the Samuel of Sandwich able to bear arms in 1643 (12).
    If I am right in thinking that George gave to five of his sons the same names that his brother Ralph, also of Sandwich, had given to five of his sons by his earlier marriage, then it is little wonder that the two families have been inextricably confused."

    1 Newport Hist. Mag. 5:191
    2 Chamberlain: Weymouth 3:77
    3 Register 46:185
    4 Hinman
    5 Robert Tucker Gen., p. 339
    6 Chamberlain; Weymouth 4:70
    7 J.K. Allen; "Ralph Allen" MSS
    8 Boston vital records
    9 Bunker: Long Island Genealogies
    10 Quaker Rec. at Newport Hist. Soc.
    11 R.I. Col. Rec. 1:92
    12 Freeman: Cape Cod, 2:443,8

Citations

  1. [S171] Gardner, Charles Carroll, "Ralph Allen of Sandwich, Mass.", from the series: "Genealogical Dictionary of New Jersey" by Charles Carroll Gardner, in Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, 16(1941):52. Reprinted in Genealogies of New Jersey Families; From the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, Vol II. publ. 1996 Genealogical Publ. Co. Baltimore. p. 173.    Gardner--Gen-Dict--Ralph-Allen.pdf
  2. [S16] Anderson, Robert Charles, George F. Sanborn Jr. and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration; Immigrants to New England 1634 - 1635; Vol. I; A-B; Vol. II; C-F (Boston: Great Migration Study Project; New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999/2001), George Allen article, I:27-35; Ralph p. 32-34.      Anderson--Great-Migration-1634--Vol-I--Allen.pdf   Anderson--Great-Migration-1634--Vol-II--Champion.pdf
  3. [S35] Bowen, Richard LeBaraon Jr., "Notes on George Allen of Weymouth and Sandwich", The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 155 ( Apr 2001): 212-214.   Bowen--Notes.pdf
  4. [S64] Clark, Bertha W., "A Sandwich-Darmouth-North Kingston Allen Line" (Boston, 1955; FHL microfilm 547019, ), p. 4.   Clark--Allen-Line-547019.pdf
  5. [S157] Fiske, Jane Fletcher, "William Swift, citizen and leatherseller of London, and planter of Sandwich, Massachusetts", The American Genealogist Vol 77 (July 2002 ): 161-172.   Fiske--Swift.pdf
  6. [S481] Swift, George H., compiler, William Swyft of Sandwitch and Some of His Descendants, 1637-1899 (Millbrook N.Y.: Round Table Press, 1900).   Swift--William-Swyft.pdf
  7. [S16] Anderson, Robert Charles, George F. Sanborn Jr. and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, Great Migration.      Anderson--Great-Migration-1634--Vol-I--Allen.pdf   Anderson--Great-Migration-1634--Vol-II--Champion.pdf
  8. [S64] Clark, Bertha W., Sandwich-Darmouth-North Kingston Allen, p. 4-5.   Clark--Allen-Line-547019.pdf
  9. [S64] Clark, Bertha W., Sandwich-Darmouth-North Kingston Allen, p. 5.   Clark--Allen-Line-547019.pdf