♂James Allen

James Allen (born 30 November 1695) was a son of Ebenezer Allen (1650–1725) and Abigail of Dartmouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, named with his brothers as an heir to his father’s land in 1725. He was the fifth great-grand-uncle of Frederic Roger Curtis (1928–2007), the brother of his fifth great-grandfather Philip Allen (1684–1752).

Early life

James was born at Dartmouth, Bristol, Massachusetts Bay Colony, on 30 November 1695, the sixth of the nine children recorded for Ebenezer and Abigail between 1682 and 1705. His father was a blacksmith and farmer and one of the original proprietors of the town, and the family belonged to Dartmouth’s Quaker community. His older brother Philip was eleven years his senior; his younger brother Seth was born when James was seven.

His father’s will

On 18 April 1725, when James was twenty-nine, his father signed a will that named him among the sons who were to share the land, with Philip, Seth and a fourth brother, Ebenezer. Philip received the part of the homestead where his own house stood. Ebenezer Allen died within weeks. On 24 April 1726 Philip, as executor, swore to his account of the estate before the county’s probate judge, and that account lists a legacy paid to James, together with Seth, Ebenezer and their sister Abigail.

Nothing further is recorded of James. The Dartmouth records give him no marriage, children or death.

Notes

A possible marriage to Mary Akin

A typescript genealogy of the Akin family, citing the Dartmouth vital records, lists Mary Akin (born 23 January 1697), a daughter of John Akin and his first wife Mary Briggs, as having married “?James Allen, s. Ebenezer Allen & Abigail ?Hill”. The question marks are the typescript’s own. The Dartmouth register records Mary’s birth, naming only her father, but no record of a marriage to James Allen supports the match, and the tree does not carry it.