Allen line: Nicholas Street 1677-1733

 His father and paternal grandfather were pastors; so what's a young man in a small town to do?  Well, of course...leave town!  And that's what Nicholas did, although of course only he knew the motivation for the move.  

Nicholas was born July 14, 1677 in Wallingford, Connecticut, the son of Samuel and Anna Miles Street.  He was one of at least seven children born to the couple, and was born in the aftermath of King Philip's war.  Wallingford had come under attack then, and it's possible the family fled to a safer location, perhaps New Haven, during that time.  Nicholas grew up in Wallingford, under the guidance and direction of his parents, and would have been raised as a Puritan, and would have learned to read, write, and probably at least the basics of arithmetic.  He may have learned more than that, as his father was college educated and therefore knew one or more languages other than English.  

As mentioned, we don't know when and why Nicholas left Wallingford for Groton, Ct., which was about 40 miles east of Wallingford, and was near the coastline.  If it was for love of the sea, that apparently didn't work out well for him.  We are told that he was a tailor, but not how high up in the trade he rose.  The top job would have been as a finisher.  Of course, he may have been self employed.  In his will, he refers to himself as a husbandman, so he likely also owned and farmed a small amount of land.  

We know that he married Jerusha Morgan, daughter of Captain James and Mary Vine Morgan, on April 22, 1704 in Groton.  Nicholas is listed in 1704 on a "Grand List of Wallingford" as having an estate of 43 pounds, so it seems that the move to Groton may have been made shortly after this.  In Groton, he was well respected, being appointed deputy for the governor in October 1727 and King's Deputy in 1729.  He was one of four signers to grant land to the Pequot nation in 1721.  

All of the known eight children of Nicholas and Jerusha were born in Groton.  Jerusha died January 2, 1726 and Nicholas then married Mary Elliot Hartnell just a few months later.  They had one child together.  

Nicholas died July 10, 1733 in Groton.  He left a will providing for wife Mary (her widow's third), a farm for son James and 20 pounds for each of his five daughters, plus land not included in the farm to be shared between the daughters.  There was no mention of his daughter with Mary, so perhaps she had died. 

 I wish I could find an inventory.  All of the personal property was to go to his wife, so perhaps an inventory wasn't taken, but I would sure like to know the answers to my usual questions as to books, military arms, and evidence of an occupation other than farming.  Of course, I'd like to know whether he was involved in any military actions, but I guess this glass is half full.  At least we know some of the basic facts of his life, including that he left descendants.

Fun fact:  If you Google for "Rev. Samuel Street House", you should pull up a picture of the house that Nicholas was born in.  The house was built in 1673.  There are only a handful of homes of our ancestors still standing, so this is a cool, very cool even, find.  

The line of descent is:

Nicholas Street-Jerusha Morgan

Jerusha Street-Thomas Starr

John Starr-Mary Sharp

John Starr-Betsy Havens

John Havens Starr-Clarissa Falley

Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants