Allen line: Samuel Lamb 1663-1729

 Springfield, Massachusetts is the gift that keeps on giving, as far as part of our Allen heritage goes.  This post is about another of our ancestors who was born and who died in that small village, where Samuel Lamb's parents had settled about twelve years before Samuel was born in 1663.  His parents were John and Joanna Chapin Lamb, and Samuel was one of at least 11 children born to the couple.  When his siblings grew and married, some of them stayed in Springfield, so Samuel was connected in one way or another to many of the families in that town.  He would have grown up as a typical Puritan boy, educated to read, write, and do at least some arithmetic, but perhaps with no desire to continue his education.

Samuel married Rebecca (Rebekah) Bird, daughter of James and Lydia Steel(e) Bird, on December 1, 1687, in Springfield.  Her family was in Farmington, Connecticut so I haven't yet determined how the two met or courted.  The two towns were actually about 35 miles apart, but travel on the Connecticut River was relatively common, and undoubtedly some of the families in each town knew each other.  Samuel and Rebecca had perhaps as many as fourteen children, although Henry Burt in his "The First Century of the History of Springfield" gives them eleven children.  Either way, Rebecca would have been one busy woman.  

Samuel would have been twelve years old when King Philip's War broke out, and when the townspeople either left for somewhere safer, or retreated to one of the three garrisons in the town. Most of Springfield was burned by the native Americans, so whether or not the Lamb family lost their home, they would have shared in the devastation felt by those who did.  We know he was trained in the use of arms and ammunition because he was paid a bounty for a wolf's head in 1680, when he was about 17.

 A Samuel Lamb participated in the expedition to Port Royal in 1710, but I don't know whether it is our Samuel Lamb or not.  (This was part of Queen Anne's War, pitting British and colonials against the French and their native allies, in Nova Scotia.) Samuel would have been 47 at the time, quite within the acceptable age for military service, but there was more than one Samuel Lamb in Massachusetts at the time.  

We don't know what, if anything, Samuel added to his probable occupation as farmer.  We know he had several grants of land, and we know he was one of four men who requested the grant of a pond in 1686.  25 years later, in 1711, he and Tilly Mirick was granted an acres to set up a sawmill on the Skipmunk River, but whether one operation had anything to do with the other is still a question.  

Samuel was relatively "small potatoes" in Springfield.  He was never a selectman, or even a tything man, but he consistently held lower positions in the town, as fence viewer, constable, hayward, field driver, and at least once as surveyor of highways.  These were important jobs, given to men who could get along with people and yet make sure rules and regulations were followed.  He also at various times held the job of "packer, gager, and culler."  These first two jobs seem to have to do with making sure that the proper quantity, weight, or other measurements were used in shipments of goods that left Springfield.  I didn't find a definition I trusted for "culler", but possibly he somehow controlled the quality of goods, food, or animals.  Again, this was a job for someone who was respected for his knowledge.  

Samuel was twice paid for the town's use of his bull, so that the cattle herds would continue to grow.  This and the land that he owned (including 30 acres in one particular location) are our indication that he was a farmer.  

Samuel died December 5, 1729 in Springfield, aged 66.  His widow married William Warriner in 1731 and she lived until 1739.  Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate a will or inventory for Samuel, which leaves me wanting more information.  But I can place him in a town, with many other ancestors in this Allen line, and since we've had a glimpse in these posts of many of his connections, his friends and neighbors, it does seem that we know him better than we know some of out other ancestors.  

The line of descent is

Samuel Lamb-Rebecca Bird

Samuel Lamb-Martha Stebbins

Eunice Lamb-Martin Root

Martin Root-Ruth Noble

Ruth Root-Samuel Falley

Clarissa Falley-John Havens Starr

Harriet Starr-John Wilson Knott

Edith Knott-Edward Allen

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants