Allen line: Miles Merwin 1623-1697 Immigrant

This post is fun to write, because it's about an ancestor with good documentation, mostly, and because he was apparently not a VIP, but more of an ordinary guy.  To find good information about an ordinary guy means someone has done a lot of work, and to those family historians and genealogists, my sincere thank you! 

Miles was born in Clewer, Berkshire, England in1623 and christened February 1, 1623/24 in the next parish, New Windsor Berkshire, England.  He was the son of Walter (Gautier) and Margaret Tinker Merwin.  Clewer was very near Windsor Castle, and was an ancient Saxon village site.  Miles would have had every reason to have seen the royal processions of King Charles I of England as a young boy, but apparently the family had no connection at all to the castle.  Still, a procession must have been an exciting sight for a young boy!

It's easy to give the political upheaval of the times as a reason that Miles came to New England, but since sources seem to vary as to when he came, that motive may or may not be the reason for his departure.  One source says he came in 1630, as a boy of seven, with his uncle, and one source says he didn't come until 1640.  At that time, he would have been 17 years old.  His parents died in 1643 (mother) and 1649 (father) so with either immigration date, he came before the death of his parents, and in addition to every other part of "culture shock", he would have been homesick. 

Apparently his first sighting in New England was in 1648, when h was in Windsor, Connecticut, where his Tinker family was living.  He purchased five-acre homelot, dwelling, and 2 1/4 acres of meadow from Roger Williams (is this "our Roger Williams, I wonder?) in Windsor.  He had married Elizabeth Powel, daughter of William Powell and Dorothy Searle, in Windsor in about 1646, and perhaps had lived with that family until he was able to purchase a home for his new family, which by 1650 included two of their eventual seven children. 

For some reason, Miles decided to move on and the town of Milford, of which he is considered a founding member, gave him ten acres, five of them in the "Brick Kiln", which sounds like an industrial area.  Somewhere, Miles had learned the trade of tanning, whether it was as an apprentice or by some other means.  In 1654/1655, the town of Milford allowed him to trade his original grant for a lot by the harbor, which was a more convenient place to practice this business.  We don't know whether the family's living quarters were also there, or not.

Perhaps he wasn't an ordinary tanner, but more of a merchant of leathers, because by 1675 he was a partner, along with William East and Alexander Bryan, in a sloop and two brigs.  The sloop traveled back and forth to Boston, and the brigs traveled the West Indies route, exporting staves, horses, cattle, and cornmeal, and returning with rum, molasses, and European goods. 

Elizabeth died on July 10,1664, when she was 34 years old, and Miles married Sarah Platt, the widow of Thomas Beach, the following year.  They had five children together, including two sets of twins.  Sarah died soon after the death of the second set of twins, and later that year, Miles married Sarah Youngs, who is also our ancestor through her marriage to Daniel Scofield  She would have been his daughter's mother in law.  Sarah outlived Miles. 

Miles disposed of much of his real estate to his three sons prior to his death, and apparently gave, or intended to give, his daughters money, for his will specified that any of his children who had not received their full portion should be given it by his executors.  He also left a bequest for his widow, and gave 100 pounds to be divided between each of his ten grandchildren.  Sarah's grandchildren were also left gifts.  His estate was valued at 453 pounds, 11 shillings, 11 pence, which was not bad considering that he'd already sold/given most of his real estate away.  What was apparently his last remaining parcel he gave to his son John's oldest child. 

I'd like to know more about Miles.  So far I've not found a record of church membership or freeman standing.  I'd like to know more about his commercial ventures, and how he fit into the life of the town. How involved was he in the militia or train band of his towns?   However, we have this much information about him, and it's a start. 

The line of descent is:

Miles Merwin-Elizabeth Powell
Abigail Merwin-Daniel Scofield
Daniel Scofield-Hannah Hoyt
Hannah Scofield-Nathaniel Finch
Jesse Finch-Hannah
Hannah Finch-John Bell
Harriet Bell-Thomas Knott
John Wilson Knott-Harriet Clarissa Starr
Edith Knott-Edward Allen
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants

Allen line: Edward F Allen obituary index: What does it mean?

I located an index for the obituary for Edward F. Allen on Family Search.  I was supposed to be able to view the actual image but the link isn't working, which is a huge disappointment.  However, the index alone makes me ponder some unanswerable questions.

First, a little background:  The family story has always been that my grandfather was more or less kicked out of his home at the age of 13, (1881 or so) because his new step mother had several young children and there was no room for him in their home.  Presumably, young Ed was left to fend for himself, end of story.  Except, bit by bit, I'm finding information that makes me doubt that story.

For instance, it seems that he was with his brother, George R., in Montana for some period of time in the 1890's, before he became a school teacher in Soda Springs, Idaho  He emulated the man in that both became attorneys, and surely big brother had a bit of influence on him.  Secondly, his father's will in 1915 indicates that Ed owed him $200.  If there had been no contact, why did son owe his father that sum of money?

Now, I find the obituary index.  I don't know who provided the information for the obituary, but I suspect that Ed's oldest son Vernon may have written it, simply because he was the newspaperman of the family.  Still, whoever wrote it mentioned Ed's parents, George R. Allen and Nancy McCoy Allen, his widow and four surviving children, and Andrew Allen, brother, Mrs. Fanny Sweeney, sister, and Frank Nance, brother.  Maybe the obituary itself differentiates and lists Mrs. Fanny Sweeney as a half sister and Frank Nance as a step-brother, but maybe the family didn't consider them to be any differently than brother and sister. This sort of destroys the myth that there was no contact after Ed left home.  We just don't know the story.

So, I got curious.  I wanted to know more about Frank Nance, who was one of the children of Peter and Sarah Powell Nance.  He was born in 1876, the same year that his father died, and he must have been a person of drive and ambition.  I found his World War I draft card, when he was in Chelan, Washington, married to Mabel.  He had been there since at least 1909, when he was granted a degree by the state board of education.  His census information indicates that he had finished four years of college, but I'm not sure when or where that occurred.  At any rate, he was in Washington State for a period of at least 7 years.  By 1920, he and Mabel and his mother, Sarah F. Allen, were living in West Palm Beach, Florida.  (Sarah died there in 1923).  Frank was a real estate agent. 

I have so far not been able to determine whether he became wealthy or even well to do there, but a real estate agent and developer in West Palm Beach in those early years would probably not have starved.  It doesn't appear that he and Mabel had children; at least I haven't located a census showing children.  It's possible that children were born and died between the census years, of course.  Frank lived a very long life, dying in 1973 shortly before his 97th birthday.  His wife Mabel had died in 1966. 

With a brief outline of Frank's life, I next turned to Ed's half-sister, "Mrs. Fanny Sweeney."  Her name was Francis, but she was known in the family as Fannie.  She was born in 1883, and married Herbert E Petty in Jamison, Daviess County, Missouri, on September 4,1901.  I haven't yet found either divorce records or death records for Herbert, but Fanny married Willaim A. Sweany on May 5,1907 in Pattonsburg, Daviess County, Missouri, and lived until 1970.  Fanny and William had at least five children, and if the oldest daughter was theirs, that would make six.  Fanny outlived William by 20 years, dying in 1970, having apparently spent her entire live in Daviess County.

Andrew Allen, apparently the only one of Ed's full siblings to outlive him, is proving harder to trace down.  I haven't located anyone in the 1900 census in either Indiana or Missouri that seems a likely match, or for that matter, in the later censuses, either.  I'm still working on him.

So these are the new questions (lots!) and new answers (a few) just from looking at the index to my grandfather's obituary.  It was printed in the Salt Lake City Telegram 5 on July 11,1940.  I sure hope that link gets fixed so I can someday see the actual obituary.  Who knows what else it would tell me, or hint at?   

Also, I am extremely curious to know if my father knew of these relatives.  We don't recall their names every being mentioned in our home growing up, but that may or may not mean anything.  That is one question that will likely not be answered here on earth.  But here are their names, they were part of my grandfather's family, and it is worthwhile to know a little of their history.  

The line of descent is:

Edward F Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook
Their descendants