Allen line: Abraham Clarke, abt 1630 to 1676

I'm writing about this Allen line ancestor for a couple of reasons.  One is that I think this post will be very short.  The other is that he is one of our few Maryland lines.  Many of our Allen ancestors came through New England, a few came through Virginia, and Pennsylvania, and New York, and a few came through Maryland.

We know very little about Abraham. His parents were John and Joan Clarke, of Weathersfield, Essex, England.  Abraham may have been a single child as the families I have seen on Ancestry and other internet sources do not appear to be correct.  I believe Abraham was older than the trees I've found indicate. He immigrated to Maryland and bought land in 1654.  This tells us that he would have been at least 18 in order to purchase land, and it tells us he apparently came to the New World with a bit of money in his possession. 

Apparently in the New World, he married Sarah Kinsey, daughter of Hugh Kinsey and Margaret Johns in 1667. We have record of only two children, Elizabeth and Mary, who were born to Abraham and Sarah, but there may have been more.  

Abraham made several purchases of land and it appears that at one time he may have owned about 650 acres of land.  When he died in 1676 his estate was valued at 26, 714 pounds of tobacco.  So, he apparently raised tobacco, although it may be that the appraisers valued the inventory in tobacco instead of English monetary values.  There is also reference to a court held by Abraham Clark, the attorney of Lancelott Sockwell, but it isn't clear whether this is our Abraham or not.

Abraham is interesting because he came to Maryland with money, since he apparently was never indentured to anyone.  He would have worked hard to acquire as much land as he did without asserting headrights, and he was in Maryland for about 13 years before he was married.  It looks very much like a picture of a prudent man, based on what we know so far.

I'll keep looking for more information about Abraham.  For now, I am picturing a "farmer" or "plantation owner", possibly an attorney, and probably a member of the established Church of England.  He was a landowner and would therefore have had voting rights, and was probably taxed as well.  There must be more records for him, and I will start searching to fill in the blanks of his life.

The line of descent is

Abraham Clark-Sarah Kinsey
Elizabeth Clark-William Wilkinson
Jane Wilkinson-Edward Corbin
Mary Jane Corbin-Samuel Lane
Lambert Lane-Nancy Anderson
Eleanor Lane-Vincent McCoy
Nancy McCoy-George R Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard/Edith/Vernon/Corinne/Tessora Allen
Their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren