Early Years in the New World

Probably the strongest piece of evidence for an indenture contract is that William and David went in different directions upon arrival: David to Pennsylvania, upriver from Philadelphia, ultimately settling in Mt. Bethel township of Northampton County (north of Easton), and William "to live with a Quaker family in New Jersey"--which almost certainly means West Jersey, somewhere up the Delaware River from Philadelphia, which was settled primarily by Quakers in those days.

Why would two brothers, knowing no one in this strange land, and being young and inexperienced, split up at this critical moment? Certainly not unless they had to--and having their contracts purchased by men living in different colonies seems as good an explanation as any.

Earlier narratives of William's life had no information on David. The assumption was that he had disappeared. Recently, though, his will, a deed, and a lawsuit--all from Northampton County, Pennsylvania, have been discovered, which give us a bit of an idea about his life. The will mentions William, though, and confirms that they kept in touch with each other. It also indicates that David and his wife Isbaell had no surviving children, which perhaps explains why there is so little about him in the genealogical record. More on these documents later.

A final piece of information that supports the argument for an indenture contract is that after four years (1733) in West Jersey, William settled near Freehold (Monmouth County) in "East Jersey" and married Alice Berry. The specific four-year wait and the move east (something on the order of 40 or 50 miles, depending on exactly where in West Jersey he was located) suggests that he met her after his indenture expired.

Before moving on to Freehold, though, let me add some thoughts on his time with the Quakers.

Open to our speculation is the relationship William would have had with his Quaker family. At this time, Quakers were not above purchasing indenture contracts or even owning slaves, though in the middle colonies, as stated above, slaves were less used than indentured servants. In the 1740s, there was a movement within the Quaker community to abandon the use of unfree labor, but that came well after William had come through the system.

The normal pattern would have been for a servant not to live in the family house, but in an out-building of some kind, which normally he would have built himself. His duties would have been agricultural--tasks for which he would have been at least somewhat trained, except that in America of these years one of the primary jobs would have been to clear land by chopping down trees and cutting them up, in part for firewood and in part for shipping back to England. This would not have been a skill used much in Ireland, but learning it would have prepared him for developing his own farm down the road. Histories of indentured servitude make the point that these years indenture were great training for life in the colonies. Not only were young men able to adjust to the American climate (decidedly different from that back home), but also the culture. They were able to pick up needed farming and/or craft skills and also learned how the agricultural markets worked. In addition, they could make valuable contacts in the community which would be useful once they were out on their own.

The Allens were a devout Presbyterian family, and William maintained his membership in that church throughout his life. It is interesting to speculate as to how he might have gotten along with his "Quaker family in New Jersey." Masters of indentured servants could be fair or cruel. They could help their servants get ready for independent living or not, as their temperament dictated. It is probably fair to guess that a Quaker family would have been more helpful than most, especially as all the evidence suggests that William was ambitious, hardworking, devoutly religious. He and his family were probably a good match for each other.

A related question is how well William's Presbyterianism matched with his master's Quaker affiliation. Would he have ever gone to Quaker meetings? How well might he have gotten to know people in the Quaker community that his master belonged to? How far might he have had to go to join a Presbyterian congregation? There is circumstantial evidence to suggest that there was some degree of tolerance among the two groups--even intermarriage. But, given the strong affiliation the Allens have always had with the Presbyterian Church, it is unlikely that William had more than cordial relations with the Quakers. It is a reasonable guess that William would have gone to some trouble to join a Presbyterian congregation as soon as possible.

Indentured servants, once they had fulfilled their obligations, were to receive certain considerations. These were governed by both custom and law. In New Jersey at this time, "freedom dues" would usually include: "seven bushels of corn, two suits of clothes, two hoes and an axe." Land--usually on the order of fifty acres--was often given, though it's not clear whether this came from the master's holdings or the colonial authorities.

In William's case, we're not sure where his initial stake was, though it's pretty clear that he got one, since he did indeed become a farmer (not all did) and, in the end, he was a fairly wealthy one. What we are sure of is that after his indenture he married Alice Berry and lived near Freehold, New Jersey (Monmouth County). While there, he was a member of the Old Tennent Presbyterian Church, a few miles west of town and which still exists today, though in a new (1752!) building. A possible explanation for this chain of events lies developments within the Presbyterian congregation in Freehold.

Old Tennent Church (1752 building) as it looks today. This "new" building stands on the same footprint as the 1734 building.

According to the historical records of the Old Tennent Church in Freehold, the congregation there called a new minister in 1730 (John Tennent) who was revitalizing the church after many years of decline. In the early 1730s The congregation was expanding and they built a new church, which was completed in 1734. My speculation is that young William, released from his four years with the Quakers, was drawn to this church by the reputation it must have generated throughout the colony. Upon arriving there he probably would have helped complete the new building. What we know for sure is that when the pews of the new church were rented out in 1734, his name appears in pew number 30, along with several other single men of the congregation. Across the aisle, in plain view, was the pew of John Berry and family (pew 21). If John's sister Alice was sitting there it affords an easy explanation of how they met.

William and Alice had two children. Sarah was baptised January 8, 1735 and died in infancy. Janet (or Jane) was baptised April 1, 1736. Alice died fairly soon thereafter, but whether as a result of complications in childbirth we don't know. Evidence suggests that at this point William gave up the child to Alice's brother John Berry and his wife Isabela. The record is sketchy, but on December 11, 1756 Berry gave permission for the marriage of Jane Allen to Ephraim Herriott. In the marriage bond he calls Jane "a yong weoman I have Brought up from her infantcy. [sic]"

As a side note, Alice Allen and Isbela Berry are listed as receiving communion in the Old Tennent Church on June 8, 1735. John appears to be the son of Henry Berry, who was a carpenter and died in 1739 in Monmouth County. John was the executor for the estate, in the place of his older brother Henry (Jr.) who had moved to Perth Amboy.

These two deaths (Alice and Sarah) are the first of many that William endured. Why would he have given up his new daughter to compound the loss of his wife at this time? Perhaps the answer lies in the general circumstances of his life at this point. He was only twenty-five years old (perhaps twenty-six) and only recently out on his own. His farm was probably not yet profitable, if he even had one at this point. He would have been emotionally devastated at the loss of his young wife, and if he had no prospect of remarrying in the near term, taking care of a young daughter could have been an untenable situation. In the midst of this, John and Isbela, perhaps being more established, could easily have offered to raise their niece, leaving William free to put his life back together without the responsibility of raising a daughter he was not prepared to provide for.

Whatever the actual events, we find him next in Amwell Township of Hunterdon County a few years later, remarried and starting his family anew.

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