Isaac Allerton
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| Isaac Allerton | |
|---|---|
| Born | Isaac Allerton c. 1585/6 probably St. Andrews under Shaft, London, England |
| Died | April 1, 1659 New Haven, Connecticut, USA |
| Nationality | English Subject |
| Known for | Pilgrim |
| Spouse | Mary Norris, Fear Brewster |
| Children | Bartholomew, Remember, Mary, Isaac and Sarah |
Isaac Allerton (c. 1585 or 1586 – April 1, 1659) was one of the original Pilgrim fathers who came on the Mayflower to settle the Plymouth Colony in 1620. Allerton is an ancestor to Presidents of the United States Zachary Taylor and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
He is believed to have been born in London, England, about 1585 or 1586 and was raised to become a tailor. A religious non-conformist, he apparently followed the Scrooby exiles to Leiden, Holland as a young man. There he married his first wife, Mary Norris (b. 1590), in November 1611. The couple had three children; Bartholomew, Remember and Mary.
Accompanying Isaac and Mary on the Mayflower were their three children and a servant boy named John Hooke, who was 14. Allerton's wife and John Hooke died aboard the Mayflower while it was still anchored in Plymouth Harbor during the first winter, as noted in the death lists. Both were buried in Cole's Hill. Mary died from the effects of childbirth, after giving birth to a stillborn son on February 25, 1621. Because of this birth, Mary was the first woman to give birth in the New England Colonies.[citation needed]
Allerton, a Bronx neighborhood, was named in honor of Isaac Allerton.[citation needed]
[edit] Allerton the Businessman
While serving as the colony's business agent, Allerton began many business ventures of his own, relying on the colony's credit for collateral. These ventures failed, thus leaving his colleagues back in Plymouth saddled with a greatly increased debt. Also, Allerton was asked to bring over trade goods to sell to the natives, however, Allerton brought over retail goods to sell to the colonists and fishermen who came over every year. Later on Allerton did not mark which goods were his and which belonged to the colony. When the goods were unloaded, Allerton took the most expensive items leaving the Plymouth colonists with the cheaper goods. In 1629 Allerton brought Thomas Morton back to New England, and allowed him to live in his house; this got the Plymouth colonists very upset. This rendered Allerton permanently persona non grata in Plymouth.[citation needed]
Bradford wrote: "Mr. Allerton played his own game and ran a course not only to the great wrong and determent of the Plantation... but abused them in England also in prejudice against the Plantation," and later on he wrote "Concerning Mr. Allerton's accounts. They were so large and intricate as they could not well understand them, much less examine and correct them without a great deal of time and help and his own presence, which was hard to get," and also "he screwed up his poor father in law's account".[citation needed]
