Allen line: Samuel Johnson of New Haven, mystery man

We know a little about Samuel Johnson, but not nearly enough.  We know that his parents were John and Hannah Parmalee Johnson, and we know he was born February 25, 1653 in New Haven, Connecticut and baptized on March 1 of the same year.  We know he was one of at least eight children, and he may have been the oldest in the family.  If so, his parents didn't follow the conventional naming pattern as he doesn't seem to have had a recent ancestor named Samuel.  

The first real mystery we have is that we don't know the name of his wife.  We don't even know her first name, although it could have been Abigail, or Elizabeth, or Mary, if they decided to use a familiar naming pattern.  All three names were common in the time period.  There was a fourth, unidentified child born to the couple and the supposition is that he or she didn't live long.  

The unknown wife, the mother of his children may have died sometime of the birth of their youngest daughter, Mary who was born January 1, 1694.  Many sources say that he next married Francis Wixom or Wicome in Rowley, Massachusetts, but I believe that is incorrect. She married a Samuel Johnson who was born in 1671, not 1653, and that other Samuel was from Massachusetts also. 

But before he married anyone, apparently, Samuel served in King Philip's War.  This is the conclusion that the esteemed genealogist Donald Lines Jacobus came to, based on the fact that he was unmarried and had no estate in 1680, when he received 7 acres of land from the town.  The amount of land granted was partly based on the length of military service and 7 acres seems to have been the highest amount given that year, so Samuel probably wsas involved in the wsar for more than just a few days or weeks.   

Samuel Johnson, senior is listed in the 1704 New Haven census with a total of 6 in his household, so either his wife was still alive or he had remarried, but if so, that possible second wife is unknown.  

Samuel may have left town briefly in the period following his father's death, for there was some trouble in settling the estate and eventually he and his brother appointed others to do that.  Samuel was at that time described as "having left this town".  This leads us to wonder whether the Samuel Johnson Senior mentioned in the 1704 census wsa our Samuel Johnson, but there is no evidence that it wasn't.  Samuel could have gone on a trip for any number of reasons, and then returned to his home as his children were born.  

The final mystery is when and where did he die.  There is a will probated in 1728 for Samuel Johnson of Guilford, Ct.  In it, he mentions daughters Abigail and Mary, but no Elizabeth, and he also mentions sons David, Nathaniel, William and Timothy. Mary is referred to as Mary Crittenden, so that seems to say this is not our man.  Also, in 1728, one would think that children born in the early 1690s would have married and had grandchildren, but this Samuel doesn't give his daughters last names in the will itself.    On the off chance that this is our Samuel, I'm including this information here but I'm thinking it's not our guy.  If someone knows something about the Guilford Samuel Johnson and can clarify this will, I'd be grateful. 

It's likely that Samuel was a husbandman, like his father before him, but it's always possible that he also was involved as a mariner, in one form or another.  It's another item we don't know about him. But he know that he lived, served his country, married and had a family, and is part of our heritage.  Maybe we will learn more about him someday.

The line of descent is:

Samuel Johnson-

Mary Johnson-Matthew Bellamy

Hannah Bellamy-John Royse

Elizabeth Royse-William McCoy

James McCoy-Nancy Lane

Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson

Nancy McCoy-George Allen

Edward Allen-Edith Knott

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants