Monday, December 30, 2013

Wilkes Allen born 1775

Wilkes Allen was born 10 Jul 1775 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, USA.

Wilkes Allen was the son of Elnathan Allen and Thankful Hastings.

Wilkes Allen married Mary Morrill  20 Nov 1805. (both the "Walter Allen of Newbury, Mass" book and the "Family Register of Shrewsbury, Mass" book indicate he was married 13 Nov 1805, but the Vital Records of Chelmsford indicate 20 Nov 1805.

Rev. Wilkes Allen was a clergyman.

Rev. Wilkes Allen was a charter member of the Masons, Pentucket Lodge.  He was Grand Chaplain 1824-1827.

Rev. Wilkes Allen died 2 Dec 1845. The cause of his death was a fall down the stairs.


Rev. Wilkes Allen was buried in Forefather's Burial Ground, Chelsmford Center, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA.

Rev. Wilkes Allen, Forefather's Burial Ground, photo by Rick Weaver, used with permission


The children of Rev. Wilkes Allen and Mary Morrill include:

James Morrill Allen

Charles Hastings Allen

Wilkes Allen

John Clark Allen

Israel Allen

Nathaniel Glover Allen

Mary Allen

Sarah Allen

Sources:

The book "Walter Allen of Newbury, Mass" has the following entry for Rev. Wilkes Allen:

"107. REV. WILKES6 ALLEN (Elnathan5) was born in Shrewsbury, Mass.,July 10, 1775, and died in Andover, Mass., Dec. 2, 1845, '. 70.  In youth he toiled on his father's acres of stony ground. When eighteen years of age he left the farm for the carpenter's shop.  His last work as a mechanic was in building the pews in the church at Bolton, Mass. He prepared for college at Andover Academy, then in charge of Mark Newman. Entering Harvard College in 1797, he graduated in 1801. He wrote several lengthy poems, two for exhibitions and one for graduation. During his collegiate course he taught school in the rural districts, teaching not only the usual courses but also music. Music afforded him great pleasure and he played the bass viol as well as being a good singer. He began the study of divinity with his old pastor, Dr. Sumner of
Shrewsbury, and completed it with Rev. Dr. Thaddeus Mason
Harris of Dorchester, in whose pulpit he preached his first sermon.
 In 1803 he received and accepted a call to the church in Chelmsford, where he was ordained Nov. 16 and remained until Nov. 16, 1832, when he retired from the ministry and spent his remaining days on a small farm in Andover, where his death came, caused by a fall down the stairs of his barn.
As a minister he was a Unitarian of the old school, sincere and earnest. He was an early preacher on temperance in the days when everybody drank, including most ministers. Like ministers of his day he tilled the soil, for his salary was small, and in addition taught school four months of the year. He had a fine perception of the English, Greek and Latin classics, and urged and aided several young men to gain a liberal education. Three of his own sons he sent to college. He was a Mason, and passed to the highest orders existing in his day, being Chaplain in several stages of his ascension. He delivered several Masonic discourses. In 1816 or 1817 he established a public library, which he kept in his own house. He wrote a history of the town of Chelmsford, published in 1820 (192 pages). The quotation on the title page of this pamphlet is from his preface. The title page of his work follows:

THE HISTORY OF CHELMSFORD FROM ITS ORIGIN IN 1653 TO THE YEAR 1820--TOGETHER WITH AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHURCH AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF THE FOUR FIRST PASTORS.

TO WHICH IS ADDED A MEMOIR OF THE PAWTUCKETT TRIBE OF INDIANS, WITH A LARGE APPENDIX BY

WILKES ALLEN, A.M.
PASTOR OF THE CHURCH AND SOCIETY IN
CHELMSFORD.
Tell ye your children and let them tell their children, and their children another generation.--Prophet Joel.

HAVERHILL
PRINTED BY P. N. GREEN
1820.

Rev. Wilkes Allen married Nov. 13, 1805, Mary, daughter of Deacon James Morrill (1751-1833) of Boston. She was born Feb. 20, 1779, and died in Cambridge, Mass., Jan. 5, 1864, but was buried in Chelmsford.

Children of Wilkes and Mary, born in Chelmsford:

     117. i. JAMES MORRILL, b. Oct. 5, 1806.
     118. ii. CHARLES HASTINGS, b. March 11, 1809.
     119. iii. WILKES, b. Dec. 30, 1810.
          iv. JOHN CLARKE, b. Nov. 15, 1812; graduated from Harvard College in 1833 in the class with Daniel Webster's son Fletcher, but d. the following year (June 26, 1834).
          v. ISRAEL, b. Nov. 27, 1814; d. young.
     120. vi. NATHANIEL GLOVER, b. Jan. 23, 1816.
          vii. MARY, b. Feb. 26, 1818; d. Sept. 9, 1821.
          viii. SARAH, b. 1820; d. 1825."

The book "Family Register of Shrewsbury Mass" has the following entry for Rev. Wilkes Allen:

"ALLEN, Rev. WILKES, (s. of Elnathan,) grad. H. U. 1801; ordained min. of Chelmsford, Nov. 16, 1803, and dis. at his own request, Oct. 21, 1832; d. in Andover, Dec. 2, 1845, aged 70. His wife was Mary, D. of Dea. James Morrill, of Boston, m. Nov. 13, 1805. Chil. James Morrill, b. Oct. 5, 1806; Charles Hustings, March 11, 1809; Wilkes, Dec. 30, 1810; John Clarke, Nov. 15, 1812, grad. H. U. 1833, and d. June 24, 1834; Nathaniel Glover, Jan. 22, 1816; grad. H. U. 1842; and three others, who d. infants."

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