Background
Isaac Allerton was born ca. 1586 in London, England, one of two survived children of
Edward Allerton and Rose Davis. He and his family were passengers in 1620 on the historic voyage of the ship Mayflower.
Isaac Allerton was born ca. 1586 in London, England, one of two survived children of
Edward Allerton and Rose Davis. He and his family were passengers in 1620 on the historic voyage of the ship Mayflower.
Allerton was a tailor in London, but moved to Leyden in 1608 before the Scrooby contingent arrived. In 1614 he became a citizen of Leyden. When the emigration to America was decided upon, he was one of four to complete the arrangements at Leyden and was one of those who bought and equipped the Speedwell. In it, he, his wife, and three children sailed in 1620, transferring later to the Mayflower. When Bradford was elected governor on the death of Carver in 1621, Allerton was elected assistant and was for three years the only other officer.
The crisis in the colony's life came in 1625. They learned that the merchants who had originally financed the venture had decided to do no more. It was to Allerton that the Pilgrims turned to effect a settlement of their problems. In successive trips to England, he reached a settlement with the first merchants for the repayment of the original expense of equipping the colony (1626); borrowed money to purchase much-needed supplies of goods and cattle which ended the extreme poverty at Plymouth; arranged for the emigration of the remainder of the Leyden congregation (1629); induced many able people to emigrate who later became prominent at Plymouth and much strengthened the colony; interested a new group of English merchants; and secured the Patent of 1630 which at last gave the Pilgrims a title to their lands and property. These are among the most important achievements in the history of the colony.
Thereafter its future was no longer in doubt.
In 1630 Allerton became convinced that trading ventures could be pursued with such profit and certainty that the colony might soon become rich. He borrowed further sums of money; the new English associates loaned more; he equipped a ship to trade and sailed back in another with a large consignment of goods which they had not ordered him to buy. He had wittingly exceeded his authority and had more than doubled their indebtedness; they therefore declined to accept his acts on their behalf and renounced him altogether as their agent (1631). He seems to have left Plymouth at once in 1631, though he was taxed there until 1634 and his name was carried on the list of Freemen until 1637.
Allerton's faith in trading was unquenchable and he now himself embarked in the elaborate series of ventures proposed. Many disasters overtook him, but on the whole he made money and became, as he had predicted, a rich man for those days. His will proves that he was trading with the Dutch at Manhattan on a large scale, with Delaware Bay, with Virginia, and with the West Indies. He died at New Haven.
In 1611 Allerton married Mary Norris. She died in 1621 and he married, at some time between 1623 and 1627, Fear, the daughter of Elder Brewster. His second wife died at Plymouth, in 1634. All his children by both marriages also remained behind. His daughter Mary, who died at Plymouth in 1699, was the last survivor of the Mayflower passengers. Some time before 1644 he married Joanna Swinnerton.
She died in infancy.
He died in infancy.
His first name is unknown.
His first name is unknown.
