Alllen line: Deacon Samuel Wright, Immigrant

You would think that a man known as "Deacon" would be easy to trace.  Much is written about him but as far as I can tell not much is really known about him.  His parents are not known for certain, although the best guess at this point is that his parents were John Wright and Martha Castell.  They had a son named Samuel who was born June 29, 1606 at Wrightsbridge, Essex, England, as well as John, Nathaniel, and Robert. If Samuel was the son of these parents, then he was born into a life that is more privileged than some.  His grandfather would have been Lord John Wright, a member of the House of Lords and his father, John Wright, was at one time a clerk to the House of Commons.  Samuel's parents were Puritans, and so was Samuel.

Samuel married possibly Margaret Stratton or some other Margaret, while in England, perhaps around 1631.  To my knowledge, the marriage record has not yet been found. 

Some of his seven children were born in England and some in America.  He and Margaret arrived here about 1636, and by 1639 they were in Springfield.  He didn't become a freeman until 1648 and one wonders what the reason was for the hold up.  Did Samuel not join the church right away?  Did he not meet the property requirements?  He had already been serving on juries as early as 1640, so was the freeman designation an oversight? 

He was among the early settlers of Springfield and at some point in those earl years acted as church leader or at least speaker, before the church acquired their own pastor.  By 1656, the Wrights had moved to Northampton, 35 miles north of Springfield.  Their oldest son Samuel, Jr. had already moved there and with Samuel Senior already 60, he may have wanted to move to be near family.  Samuel "died in his chair" on October 17, 1665.  His wife, Margaret, lived until 1681. 

Their known children were Samuel, Margaret, Hester, Lydia, and Mary.  The family is traditionally assigned Hannah, also, who is our connection to this line.  At least one researcher does not believe Hannah is their child, but I'm leaving her in this family until proven otherwise.  It is possible that Hannah is a niece that the couple raised.  I'd sure like to learn the truth of this matter.  And of course I'd like to know if any of this line can be traced to my Molly Wright, who is still lost to me.

The supposed line of descent is:

Samuel Wright-Margaret
Hannah Wright-Thomas Stebbins
Edward Stebbins-Sarah Graves
Sarah Stebbins-John Root
Sarah Root-Thomas Noble
Stephen Noble-Ruth Church
Ruth Noble-Martin Root Jr.
Ruth Root-Samuel Falley
Clarissa Falley-John Havens Starr
Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants