Isaac Allerton Sr. (c. 1586 – 1658/9), and his family, were passengers on the historic voyage of the ship Mayflower, in 1620. Allerton was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact. In Plymouth Colony he was active in colony governmental affairs and business and later in trans-Atlantic trading. Problems with the latter regarding colony expenditures caused him to be censured by the colony government and ousted from the colony. He later became a well-to-do businessman elsewhere and in his later years resided in the state of Connecticut.Robert Charles Anderson, Pilgrim Village Families Sketches: Isaac Allerton, (a collaboration of American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society)
English ancestry
Based on a deposition given in 1639, Allerton was born in Suffolk, England about 1586–88, although clues to his ancestry have long been quite elusive. Some records from colonial Dutch New Amsterdam (New York) note he was from the English county of Suffolk. Allerton's son Bartholomew did return to England from Plymouth and served as a minister in Suffolk which may indicate a connection to that county. In 1659 the will of Bartholomew was proved, and at that time he was residing in Bramfield, co. Suffolk but no other records relating to the Allertons, a quite rare name, have ever been found in Suffolk.Charles Edward Banks, The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers (New York: Grafton Press, 1929), p. 30A Clue to the Parentage of Isaac Allerton, By Leslie Mahler, The Mayflower Quarterly, v. 75, no. 1, March 2009 p. 54Caleb H. Johnson, The Mayflower and her passengers (Indiana: Xlibris Corp., 2006), p. 59
Author and genealogist Leslie Mahler, writing in The Mayflower Quarterly of March 2009, notes that an Isaac Allerton, who appears to be the Mayflower passenger, is mentioned in the 1609 apprenticeship registers for the Blacksmiths Company in London. This record indicates Isaac to have been the son of Bartholomew Allerton, tailor of Ipswich, Suffolk.
The apprentice record as translated from Latin (Isack Allerton fil Bartholomei Allerton..): "21 June 1609, Isaac Allerton, son of Bartholomew Allerton late of Ipswich, county Suffolk, tailor has bound himself apprentice by indenture to James Gly, Citizen and Black Smith of London for seven years from the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist last."
Life in Leiden In Leiden in 1611, Allerton stated he was from London, (England).
Also living in Leiden in 1611 was Allerton's sister Sarah (Allerton) Vincent, widow prior to 1611 of John Vincent. Isaac and his wife, Mary, and Sarah and her second husband Degory Priest, had a double wedding in Leiden on November 4, 1611. In the records of the time, Sarah is noted to have been "of London". Also in Leiden at this time was John Allerton, who may well have been a relative of Isaac's or Isaac's brother, but this has never been proven for certain.
Allerton became betrothed to Mary Norris in Leiden by October 7, 1611. He lived in Pieterskerkhof near St. Peter's Church. In 1614 he became a citizen of Leiden. While in Leiden in 1619 Allerton worked as a tailor; John Hooke, who would travel with Allerton on the Mayflower, was his apprentice.Charles Edward Banks, The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers (New York: Grafton Press, 1929), p. 29
The Mayflower voyage
The Allerton family boarded the Mayflower consisting of Allerton's wife Mary, three children and an apprentice, John Hooke.
The Mayflower departed Plymouth, England on September 6/16, 1620. The small, 100-foot ship had 102 passengers and a crew of about 30–40 in extremely cramped conditions. By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by strong westerly gales, causing the ship's timbers to be badly shaken with caulking failing to keep out sea water, and with passengers, even in their berths, lying wet and ill. This, combined with a lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for several months, attributed to what would be fatal for many, especially the majority of women and children. On the way there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst was yet to come after arriving at their destination when, in the space of several months, almost half the passengers perished in cold, harsh, unfamiliar New England winter.Stratton, p. 413
On November 9/19, 1620, after about three months at sea, including a month of delays in England, they spotted land, which was the Cape Cod Hook, now called Provincetown Harbor. And after several days of trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, where they anchored on November 11/21. The Mayflower Compact was signed that day. Issac Allerton was one of the signers.George Ernest Bowman, The Mayflower Compact and its signers, (Boston: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1920). Photocopies of the 1622, 1646 and 1669 versions of the document pp. 7–19.
Life in Plymouth Colony Of Isaac Allerton and his first wife, William Bradford recorded: "Mr. Allerton's wife died with the first, and his servant John Hooke.William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford, the second Governor of Plymouth (Boston:1856), p. 451 His son Bartle is married in England but I know not how many children he hath. His daughter Remember is married at Salem and hath three or four children living. His daughter Mary is married here and hath four children. Himself married again with the daughter of Mr. Brewster and hath one son living by her, but she is long since dead. And he is married again and hath left this place long ago."William Bradford, second governor of the Colony. History of Plymouth Plantation Reprinted from the Massachusetts Historical Collections, ed. Charles Deane, member of the Mass. Historical Society, (Boston:1856)Robert S. Wakefield, F.A.S.G. and Margaret Harris Stover, CG., Mayflower Families through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts December 1620, Vol. 17: Family of Isaac Allerton p. 1
The colony government chose John Carver as their first governor. Allerton was his assistant from 1621 to 1624, and afterwards serving on the colony civil affairs council. After the early death of John Carver in April 1621, William Bradford was elected governor in Carver's place.David Lindsay, Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger amongst the Pilgrims (New York: St. Martins Press, 2002), pp. 45, 68Robert S. Wakefield, F.A.S.G. and Margaret Harris Stover, CG., Mayflower Families through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts December 1620, vol. 17: Family of Isaac Allerton p. 1Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: A story of Courage, Community and War (New York: Viking, 2006), p. 103
In 1626 Allerton became involved in the colony's finances. With the dissolving of the Merchant Adventurers there was a great need for the colonist to pay their debts. William Bradford, Allerton and others took on the colony's debt to the Merchant Adventurers with the provision that they be given a monopoly in the fur trade.David Lindsay, Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger amongst the Pilgrims (New York: St. Martins Press, 2002), p. 68Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: A story of Courage, Community and War (New York: Viking, 2006), p. 168
Isaac Allerton traveled to London in 1626 to negotiate a new agreement with the Merchant Adventurers group which had given much money for the trip and the maintenance of the colony.
In the 1627 division of cattle (equal to a census) the Allerton family is listed with wife Fear and children Bartholomew, Remember, Mary and Sarah.Caleb H. Johnson, The Mayflower and her passengers (Indiana: Xlibris Corp., 2006), p. 271.
About 1628 a young man came to work as an apprentice under Allerton. This was Mayflower passenger Richard More, who then was about age 15 then and a world away from his parents in England.David Lindsay, Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger amongst the Pilgrims (New York: St. Martins Press, 2002), p. 73. Richard had been part of a historic incident in which he and three siblings were placed aboard the Mayflower in 1620 by their putative father, Samuel More, without their mother's knowledge, after her admission of adultery.Anthony R. Wagner, The Origin of the Mayflower Children: Jasper, Richard and Ellen More, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register (July 1960) vol. 114 p. 164-167 All three of Richard's siblings perished the first winter in America, and he alone survived. Richard worked under Allerton for the usual seven years, during which time he learned to be a sailor, working largely in the fishing and coastal cargo-transport business, and in Allerton's business development in Maine. By 1635, Richard was back in London, but the reason for the trip is unknown. His name appears on the manifest of the Blessing in 1635.Manifest of the Blessing 1635 Later, More was an Atlantic ship captain.David Lindsay, Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger amongst the Pilgrims (New York: St. Martins Press 2002), pp. 73-73
Allerton returned from England in 1628. He made a payment to the Merchant Adventurers investment group thus reducing the colony's debt to them. The debt was still a tremendous amount of money estimated into the thousands of pounds. He had obtained a land grant at Kennebec (in present-day Maine), provided by the Council for New England. The Kennebec grant was officially authorized in January 1629, and the Plymouth colonists began to build a fortified trading structure at Cushnoc on the Kennebec River, with Edward Winslow as overseer in charge of the operation.David Lindsay, Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger amongst the Pilgrims (New York: St. Martins Press 2002), p. 72
Allerton was not dealing honestly with the colony and was mixing their money with his from the proceeds of the furs and other goods. And as a result of Allerton's mismanagement and Bradford's lack of business skill, the colony's debts were not only not being paid off but, in fact, increased. Also, Allerton started his own trading post at Kennebec at the same time as the colony was trading there and became a competitor. As a result, it took many years for the colony to repay its debt to the merchant adventurers and they only did so by selling off some of their land.William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford, the second Governor of Plymouth (Boston:1856), p. 379Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: A story of Courage, Community and War (New York: Viking, 2006), pp. 168-169
Allerton also brought some unscrupulous persons from England to the colony. One was John Lyford, intended as a pastor for the Plymouth church and another was Thomas Morton, his clerk. Morton was eventually deported twice for his transgressions but came back because William Brewster was his father-in-law.David Lindsay, Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger amongst the Pilgrims (New York: St. Martins Press, 2002), p. 80 This pattern of incompetence continued when, upon his return in 1630, it was revealed that Allerton had also failed to bring much needed supplies.David Lindsay, Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger amongst the Pilgrims (New York: St. Martins Press, 2002), pp. 80-81
Plymouth had built a trading posts at Pentagoet and in 1630 Allerton built his own trading post there (near Castine) putting Edward Ashley in charge. This man was also disreputable and eventually replaced with another agent in mid-1631 after a Pentagoet local gave a disposition in Plymouth. Although Allerton had begun honestly handling the colony's business dealing he wound up enriching himself greatly at the colony's expense and was finally removed from his position.
In September 1631 Allerton moved from Plymouth and settled at Marblehead Neck between Marblehead Harbor and Massachusetts Bay.Personal knowledge.David Lindsay, Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger amongst the Pilgrims (New York: St. Martins Press, 2002), p. 83