Revised December 26, 2006
© 2005 Douglas Allen (Great, great, great, great grandson)
This sketch was originally written and posted during the summer of 2005. In late October I spent a week in New Jersey and Virginia researching William Allen and all of the friends and family I could identify. The result is that there was much in this sketch that needed revision. In December 2005 I deleted what was clearly wrong, modified things that could easily be reworked to conform to what I then knew, and added an interesting story here and there. Now, in December 2006, I have revised again, mostly revising my assessments in various areas where the data is incomplete and conjecture must substitute for facts. This sketch is essentially correct, as far as it goes. But it is still woefully incomplete in its current state. I'm working on a more complete history of William's life and times that will fully explore all its nooks and crannies. In the meantime, this modest write-up should serve to provide interested descendants and other students of colonial America with a reasonably rich picture of one modest family living in a time and place far removed from our own.
William Allen came to America from Northern Ireland as an eighteen year-old youth in 1729. He gave birth to several long lines of descendants who, with each generation, are less connected to the world he knew. Since visiting the old Allen farm in Larne in 1994 I have been interested in finding out more about him. The genealogical record that has been put together by such researchers as Carrie E. Allen, Vella Miller, Philip Allen and others over the last century has been tantalyzing in the hints it gave about his life, but it wasn't clear to me that they had exhausted the possibilities of the records that are hidden away in various libraries and county archives. Thanks to the internet and to a couple of well-stocked libraries in the Bay Area, I've been able to substantially broaden the range of information on him. And the trip back east generated that much again in the way of documentation of his life.
William Allen lived in interesting times--one might even say tumultuous times, if the American Revolution can count as such. His life took irregular and unexpected twists and turns. He gained much during his eighty-eight years, and lost much as well. This expanded sketch attempts to flesh out the man and his times more fully. There is still much to be explored, and not everything that is hinted at in the existing records can be proven, but we have enough information to expand what has heretofore been told with some degree of confidence.
Note: It is quite possible that, even with the latest round of revisions, there are still errors of fact in this sketch. It is based on incomplete records and in some cases on conjecture, either by me, or those who preceded me in this research. If any reader knows of such errors, a notice of them would be appreciated. In addition, it should go without saying (but I will say it anyway) that what appears here is my take on William Allen's life. I'll bear responsibility for the questions I've raised and the particular spin that I've put on things. Others are free to look over the source documents and arrive at their own way of interpreting the story told there.
Douglas Allen
Orinda, California
December 26, 2006