In 1630 William Allis came to this country with Winthrop's fleet. The fleet consisted of eleven vessels: Arabella, Talbot, Ambrose, Jewel, Charles, Mayflower (third voyage), William and Francis, Hopewell, Whale, Success and Trial.
William Allis came with the last named company and was no doubt one of the thirty-nine men on the Mayflower's third voyage. They first touched at Salem, but landed at Charlton Harbor, Boston (then called Trimountain), July 1, 1630.
The Mayflower's third voyage was called the Braintree Company, which included William Allis, Thomas Graves and Thomas Meekins, all of whom played an important part in the first generation of our family. Our ancestor was associated with Thomas Graves from the start, always lived at the same place, and the families eventually intermarried. They were both surveyors and laid out the town or fort of Charlestown, the first regular settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The first trace of William Allis after landing was in Mount Wollaston (Braintree), Massachusetts in 1632. That town, comprising fifty square miles, was surveyed and laid out by him before 1634, and during that year, by order of the General Court, it was annexed to Boston, Massachusetts.
Large tracts of land were granted to certain inhabitants to settle in Mount Wollaston (Braintree), Massachusetts and William Allis received twelve acres on February 24, 1640. On May 13, 1640, the inhabitants of Mount Wollaston (Braintree), Massachusetts were incorporated as the town of Braintree and with Dorchester, Dunham, Hingham, Natasket and Roxbury, were incorporated to form the city of Boston, Massachusetts.
On May 13, 1640 William Allis was made a freeman. Only those who were members of the church were allowed to take the Freeman's Oath, which gave them the right to vote and hold office. Several historians have apparently been misled by the records of the Massachusetts Bay Colony into stating that the first knowledge of William Allis was on May 13, 1640. The reason for the error was that the official records of Braintree, Massachusetts were first instituted on that day. He was made a freeman then because Braintree, Massachusetts was incorporated in the city of Boston, Massachusetts.
William Allis lived in Braintree, Massachusetts until 1658 and then emigrated to Wethersfield, Connecticut in the fertile Connecticut Valley. At that time the Massachusetts Bay Settlement was becoming somewhat crowded, and as a result the colonists left there from time to time for Connecticut, settling the towns of Windsor, Wethersfield and Hartford in the order named. Most of the settlers made the trip afoot through the wilderness and brought with them only such things as they needed most, leaving the remainder of their possessions to be brought around from Boston, Massachusetts and up the Connecticut River by boat.
All went well until there arose a difference of opinion among the settlers of these three towns in regard to church government and ordinances. A crisis was reached in 1659 and a meeting was called at which a committee was appointed to go up the Connecticut River and view the lands east and north of Northampton, Massachusetts which had been purchased from the River Indians through Major John Pynchon of Springfield, Massachusetts. A favorable report was made by the committee and about 60 men, 20 of whom lived in Wethersfield, Connecticut agreed to move with their families to that very attractive place, and the land was shared between them and a lot assigned to each one. In that way Hadley, Massachusetts was settled by the English from Wethersfield, Hartford and Windsor, William Allis being one of the number.
It is claimed that William Allis and Thomas Meekins, with several others, made the journey by way of the cart path through Westfield, Massachusetts in 1661, in which year the first of the English settled in Hadley, Massachusetts. The journey was a difficult one on account of the wilderness, the many streams to be bridged or forded and the impassible swamps, and with their heavily loaded carts, women and children, personal effects and live stock of various kinds, it took them ten days to make the trip of about fifty miles.
The Hadley, Massachusetts lands were on both sides of the Connecticut River and had been partly cleared by the Indians. The home lots of eight acres were laid out on each side of the main street, which was ten rods wide and extended a mile north and south. Hadley was laid out somewhat after the fashion of English towns and was named after Hadleigh, Suffolk County, England.
On May 31, 1670, that part of Hadley, Massachusetts became the town of Hatfield, Massachusetts.
In 1671 the northern part of Hatfield, Massachusetts was incorporated as the town of Whately, Massachusetts.
In 1672 William Allis was one of those commissioned to lay out Squakeage (Northfield, Massachusetts).
He was a member of the committee which was appointed by the town on March 7, 1673, and authorized to say who should be the inhabitants of Deerfield, Massachusetts by right of purchase or otherwise, to regulate the herding of cattle, to advise about the institution of a church and secure a good orthodox minister, etc. At a later date, namely May 7, 1673, the Great and General Court appointed him one of a committee of six to act in all respects, to lay out the farms and to admit inhabitants to Deerfield, Massachusetts.
In 1674 William Allis was one of those commissioned to lay out Swampfield (Sunderland), Massachusetts.
During these years, as the Indians had been fairly dealt with by the settlers, peace existed between them until war was incited by King Philip. On October 19, 1675, the Indians, numbering about 800 attacked Hatfield, Massachusetts with the intention of destroying the town and slaying the inhabitants, as they had at the neighboring towns of Northfield, Massachusetts and Deerfield, Massachusetts, but they were expected by the settlers and beaten off with but small loss to Hatfield.
The Indians then assumed a defiant attitude. They stole cattle and horses from the English and appropriated a number of the outlying farms. As a result the settlers decided to take the offensive and the battle at Great Falls (Turner's Falls), Massachusetts resulted.
In 1674 William Allis was one of those commissioned to lay out Swampfield (Sunderland), Massachusetts.
During these years, as the Indians had been fairly dealt with by the settlers, peace existed between them until war was incited by King Philip. On October 19, 1675, the Indians, numbering about 800 attacked Hatfield, Massachusetts with the intention of destroying the town and slaying the inhabitants, as they had at the neighboring towns of Northfield, Massachusetts and Deerfield, Massachusetts, but they were expected by the settlers and beaten off with but small loss to Hatfield.
The Indians then assumed a defiant attitude. They stole cattle and horses from the English and appropriated a number of the outlying farms. As a result the settlers decided to take the offensive and the battle at Great Falls (Turner's Falls), Massachusetts resulted.
For a while after the Falls fight there was an occasional plundering expedition by the Indians, but they became scattered by famine, disease and by the English troops, and the death of King Philip on August 12, 1676 appeared to put an end to the war. Nothing more was seen of the Indians until September 19, 1677 when fifty of them from Canada, led by their chief, Ashpelon, and encouraged by the French, attacked Hatfield, Massachusetts without any warning. They entered the town when most of the men were harvesting corn in a distant field, set fire to many buildings, killed twelve and captured seventeen of the English, and immediately started for Canada with their captives. Mary (?) Allis, the wife of William Allis, was one of those killed in the massacre, and Abigail Allis, his grand-daughter, was one of those taken captive. The suddenness of the attack seemed to paralyze the settlers and apparently no effort was made to rescue their relatives and friends. Perhaps they feared that the captives might be tomahawked, if pursued, and hoped they might be spared if unmolested. The prisoners, upon their arrival in Canada, were turned over to the French, and those who survived did not again see their homes until eight months later.
On June 25, 1678, William Allis m. to Mary (Bronson) (Wyatt) (Graves) Allis, dau. John Bronson and wid. John Graves of Hatfield, Massachusetts. John Graves lost his life in the Hatfield, Massachusetts massacre. She was also the wid. John Wyatt of Haddam, Connecticut bef. she m. John Graves of Hatfield, Massachusetts. William Allis d. September 6, 1678.
William Allis was evidently a prosperous man in his day and at the close of his life he had accumulated quite an estate. The inventory of his property, which was taken September 18, 1678, was as follows: In purse and apparel, £9, 13, 0; arms and ammunition, £6, 1, 0; beds and other furniture, £9, 5, 0; napkins and other linen, £2, 1, 0; brass and pewter pieces, £5, 10, 0; iron utensils, £2, 11, 6; cart, plow irons, chains, stilliards, £7, 15, 0; tables, pitchforks, cushions, scythe, £1, 19, 0; barrels, tubs, trays, £3, 9, 6; woolen and linen yarn, £0 18, 6; several sorts of grain, flax, £11, 12, 0; 2 horses, £7, 0, 0; 3 cows, 2 steers, 2 calves, 1 heifer, £20, 0, 0; swine and sheep, £10, 8, 0; houses and home lot, £100, 0, 0; land in South Meadow, £114, 0, 0; land in Great and Little Meadow, £136, 0, 0; land in Plain and Swamp, £20, 0, 0; land in Quinepiake, £28, 13, 0; a total of £496, 6, 6.
On March 16, 1681, after the death of William Allis, Mary (Bronson) (Wyatt) (Graves) Allis m. Samuel Gaylord.
William Allis was a well-educated, capable man, and well fitted to take his place among the Puritan settlers. He was not only an experienced surveyor, but also a successful farmer in Braintree, Massachusetts. He was a prominent citizen of the town, being one of its selectmen, and had the supervision of building a road from Boston, Massachusetts to Providence, Rhode Island (prob. Route 1 in 1993).
He was a leading citizen of Hatfield, Massachusetts and a trusted Lieutenant of John Pynchon's Hampshire County Troop of Hatfield, Massachusetts. He held the office of deacon, justice of the peace and selectman, was often on advisory committees with prominent men of that section.
Sources
Genealogy of William Allis of Hatfield, Massachusetts and Descendants; 1630-1919, by Horatio Dana Allis, Hartford, Connecticut; Printed by Art Press, Hartford, Connecticut. 237 Pages of information on Allis family.
Available on microfilm from FHC. Connecticut Historical Society, 1 Elizabeth Street, Hartford, Connecticut; Kathryn Colleen (Hillis) Dickinson, R.D. #3, Box 361, 1790 NY 43, Averill Park, New York 12018; 06/1992.
History of U.S., Bancroft ed. 1890, 228-237.
History of Massachusetts, Barry.
Winthrop's Journal, Hosmer's edition, 24.
Mem. History of Boston, Winsor, 82, 85, 90.
History of Ancient Wethersfield, Stiles, 162-4.
History of Hadley, Judd, 11, 23.
Ancestral File Mary Bronson AFN:8R46-HN; Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints Family History Center; Loudonville, New York; 08/20/1992.
Allis, William. William Allis of Hatfield, MA, and His Descendants, 1632-1919, by Horatio Dana Allis. 237 Pages of information on Allis family. Available on microfilm from FHC. Connecticut Historical Society, 1 Elizabeth Street, Hartford, CT; Kathryn Colleen (Hillis) Dickinson, R.D. #3, Box 361, 1790 NY 43, Averill Park, New York 12018; 06/1992.
Allis, William. Allis, Willi. May 13, 1640, Hatfield. List of Freemen, Massachusetts Bay Colony From 1630-1691 with the freeman's oath, the first paper printed in New England, arranged by Hon. H. F. Andrews, Exira, Iowa; Exira Printing Co., 1906. New York State Library, Albany, New York; Kathryn Colleen (Hillis) Dickinson, R.D. #3, Box 361, 1790 NY 43, Averill Park, New York 12018; 12/28/1992.