Allen line: Samuel Lane, Immigrant 1628-1682

There is a lot of information about Samuel Lane on-line, but of course some of it contradicts other information and some is just not very clearly explained.  I'll try to pick and choose and leave the contradictory parts out of this post, or at least point out the points of disagreement. 

Samuel Lane, immigrant was born about 1628 in probably London, England.  I haven't yet found documentation for this, but most sites seem to agree that this is correct.  His parents were Richard and Alice Carter Lane.  This family is interesting because although they were Puritans, they didn't follow the typical route to New England.  They arrived in 1635 at the Island of Providence, which I believe was the main island of the Bahamas.  There is another Island of Providence off the coast of Costa Rica, and it could possibly be here that the family settled.  However, Richard is reported to have drowned at Eleuthra, another Bahamian Island, so that makes the Bahamas theory more logical.  Both islands were initially settled by Puritan families, so at least we know that the family was Puritan and that they were in the Caribbean, more or less.  Probably one of the many people who have worked on this family can clear up this mystery.

So Samuel was on the island of Providence by about 1635, as a seven year old boy.  He had at least three siblings, two brothers and a sister and it is fun to think of them living in an almost enchanted world, at least for their early years.  It would have been a very different world from that of England, with a different diet, a different religious culture and a different way of life.  All went well until Richard died in 1657.  Samuel was 22 by now and perhaps in England, for he is mentioned as a "clerk" which generally means a cleric, and would mean that he had an education to acquire that title. 

In Maryland, he was apparently a man of some importance.  In various documents he is called a gentleman, chirurgeon, doctor, doctor of physick, commissioner of Anne Arundel county, justice of Anne Arundel County, gentleman of the quorum (another term for justice), and major.  It was his role as major that apparently led to his death.  It appears that he may have led or at least participated in some sort of skirmish with the Seneca Indians of New York, who were ranging farther afield in 1682 when Samuel's death occurred.  He and his second wife Margaret Mauldin, a wealthy widow, had at least six children, but all would have been minors at the time of Samuel's death.  His widow married Job Evans, who apparently helped raise the children.

There are still unanswered questions,of course.  What religion did they practice in Maryland?  What is the true story of his death?  How wealthy was he at his death?  I'll bet Samuel would have some interesting stories to tell, if we could talk to him!

The line of descent is:

Samuel Lane-Margaret Maulden
Dutton Lane-Pretitia Tydings
Samuel Lane-Mary Jane Corbin
Lambert Lane-Nancy Ann Anderson
Nancy Ann Lane-James McCoy
Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson
Nancy McCoy-George R. Allen
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants