ISAAC ALLERTON FIRST ASSISTANT OF PLYMOUTH COLONY ISAAC ALLERTON First Assistant of Plymouth Colony. E. B. PATTEN, Compiler 9 8 Press of IMPERIAL PRINTING CO. MINNEAPOLIS V A NOTE. Mr. ^^'alter S. Allerton, in the "Allerton Genealogy" has outlined what the writer has endeavored roughly to fill in, viz.: A defense of Isaac Allerton's name and fame from the charges and insinuations against his good faith and integrity made by Gov. William Bradford in his History. If any find patience to read this account of an ancient controversv. he hopes that his lack of skill in arranging and presenting the case may not prevent their taking an impartial view of the evidence. Witli little o])ini()n of the fairness of Bradford as a historian, or of his abilities as a business manager, the writer has neither intention nor desire to disparage the courage and political tact which enabled the governor to lead Plymouth colony through its early years of poverty, weakness and dissension, to better and more stable condi- tions. It is only with his injustice and jealousy, which left a legacy of detraction to be administered upon two hundred years later, that the writer has any quarrel. E. B. PATTEN, Minneapolis, Minn. Aug. 8, 1908. IAN ISAAC ALLERTON His connection with Plymouth Colony, with some comments on Bradfords History Isaac Allerton, the first Assistant (Dep. Gov.) of Plym- outh Colony, has left us no clue to his birthplace or ancestry. One of his descendants reports that he was born ni the northeastern part of England about 1583. and was appren- ticed to a tailor of London in his youth, but quotes no authority for these statements. We "know that a sister, Sarah Allerton, married John Vincent of London and it is probable that the Allerton family were living in that city in the first years of the seventeenth centurv. Our first record of Isaac Allerton is as a merchant in Leyden, and as a member of the English church there, under Robinson's pastoral charge. Whether he was with this body during their brief stay in Amster- dam is uncertain, but he probably joined the colony in Holland about the year 1609. He prospered during his residence in Holland, _for he was made a freeman of the city of Leyden. Fel^ruary /. 1614, a considerable honor, conferred on but two others of the 9/^ -n.' IkiuiJiiii coionv; and at the time of the emigration to New *^'"'*'^^En<;iand he was reputed the wealthiest member of the colSny, and was one of the heaviest stocktakers in the com]:)anv. The means to fit out the emigrants, and provide for their transportation and subsistence, were raised only in part among themselves in Holland and England, the re- mainder being furnished bv some seventy adventurers (as thev were termed) of London, who were to hold title to the' lands and propertv of the company, and share in tiie profits of the enterprise, if any there should be, after a term of years. The negotiation for this money proceeded slowly, with a <-rcat deal of discussion, and much (luarrchng and dis- sension, but articles of agreement were finally J'S"*-^' • '7;;> a ship the ••Si)eeradford was chosen governor and Allerton "assistant." or deputy governor, an f)ffice which he held several vears. Bradford's journal says: "In March following. (1621) Mr. Allerton with Capt. Standish 'went venturously' to treat with Massasoit." In September. 16''1, a party was sent to visit the Massa- chusetts Bay Indians, and named the first headland of Xantasket for their deputy governor, "Point Allerton," wl'.ich name it still bears. The colony, so inaus])iciouslv begun, struggled along for some five years, burdened with debt, and at times .suf- fering greatlv for needed supijlic^; the London ad\en- turers. who made the first advances for the outfitting of the emigrants, having refused to supnly the conip:iny with more n-onev. or goods. In 1625 Ca])t. Standish v.ci< s.nt to England with instructions to make some composition with the adventurers, but returned without having effected anything. In 1626 Allerton was sent over to make tfie best ar- rangement he could with the London people, and also to borrow, if possible, money to supply necessaries for the colony. For this purpose he had a power of attorney from three or four of the leading colonists. He succeeded in getting some money and sent home the needed supplies. He also arranged with the adventurers to transfer to him (Allerton) and such others of the colonists as he should think fit to join with him, all the rights that the adventurers had to the lands and property held by the company for the sum of £1,800. this sum to be paid in annual installments of £200. the first payment to be made in 1628. This agreement was to l)e ratified by the planters by the return ship. This was the turning point in the struggle of the colony for existence. The debt thus compromised was about' £7.000, and the adventurers held title to all the land, houses and goods that the colonists had m their pos- session. Until these claims were in some way cleared ott, it was not possible to secure the needed supplies to keep the settlement alive. Allerton was sent, as Bradford says, because he was better qualified by his business experience and education than any other, to transact this business and because he had "good acceptation" with their London friends and creditors. The agreement with the adventurers was signed the 13th of November. 1626. On Allerton's return the agreement was submitted to the Plvmouth people and approved. The colonists, or the maioritv of them, then took shares in this purchase, each head of a familv and each unmarried man being allowed to take one share and tbe forn^er to take in addition one share for each member of his family, each shareholder to be re- snonsible for anv deficit that might arise (from the profit of the trade of the companv being insufficient to discharge the obligations incurred bv the purchase) in proportion to the number of shares held.' The trade of the colony m fish, furs, tim1;er. etc.. to be carried on for the benefit of the pur- Thi^^ matter (.f buving the claims of the London credit- ors having been decided, before they sent Allerton back to iMigland to ratifv the agreement. P.radlonl ^■ays ^ome ot -tf-e chief men among the planters deliberated privatel> . "Xot onlv how thcv might ('ischarge th..-e great engage- "ments which lay so heavily upon them, but also, how they "might (if possibly-they could) devise means to help some "of their friends and brethren at Leyden over unto them, "who desired so much to come to them, an.d they desired "so much their company." "To efifect which, they resolved to run a hii^h course, "and of great adventure, not knowing otherwise how to "])ring it about." "W'hicli was, to hire the trade of the com])any for cer- "tain years, and in that time to undertake to pay that "£1,800 and all the rest of the debts that then lay on the "plantation, which was about £600 more, and so to set "them free, and to return the trade to the generalitie again "at the end of the term." Bradford continues:' "They called the company to- "gether, stated what the debts w-ere, and the terms upon "wdiich this new partnership would agree to clear them, in "a certain time, etc." "But their other ends (i. e., the bringing over of the "Leyden people) they were fain to keep secret, having only "acquainted privately some trusty friends ; who were glad "of the same, but (Unilited how they would l)c able to ]:)er- "form it." The company (i. e.. those who had just taken shares in the purchase of the adventurers' rights) after some discus- sion agreed with the new partnership as follows, viz.: The company sold to Bradford, Standish and Allerton, and such other parties as these should see fit to take as jiartuers. all the boats, the pinnace, all tools and imple- n^ents, and all the stock of merchandise and furs that were then in the company's possession. They also agreed that the new partnership was to have- for si.x years the whole trarle in furs and merchandise, with all the privileges therof, "as the said colony doth now, or "may, use the same." The term of the trade to begin on the last of Se])tcml:er. then next ensuing. And thcv abo agreed that each holder of a share in the company should pay annually to the jiartnership three bushels of cradford says: "Upon consideration of the business about' "the patent, and in what state if was left, and "Sir. Shirley's "earnest pressing to have Mr. Allerton come over again to "finish it. and perfect the accounts, etc., it was concluded "to send him over this vear again, though it was with some "fear and jealousy. Yet he gave them fair words, and "promises of well performing their business according to "their direction, and to mend his former errors." It is hard to coniecture exactlv what errors .Allerton promised to "amend," unless it v.-ere the harboring and employment of Morton. The same ship that carried Allerton back to England this vear took letters from the Plymouth folk leaving the London partners to decide whether or not to send over a ship for fishing, only desiring that if one were sent she should bring some trading goods. There w^ere no letters, Bradford .'•ays, for manv months f'-om Allerton or Shirley, but at last came a letter from Shirlev "which made them much to marvel thereat." This letter stated that the London people had "this year set forth "a fishing ship, and a trading ship, which latter we have "bought, and so have disbursed a great deal of money, as "may and will appear bv the accounts." .And because this ship'vas intended both for trading and fishing. Air. Hnther- lev was to go over in h?r to assist, if necessary. Mr. .\ller- 10 ton, and also to get a full account of the business of the partnership. Shirley begs the Plymouth people to enter- tain Mr. Hatherley kindly, and to i^^ive him all information as to the state of the business. This trading ship of which Mr. Shirley writes was called the "White Angel." The London partners thought her neces- sary to supply the stations which the partnership had estab- lished on the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers, ancl though the bills of sale of the vessel were taken in the name of the London partners, Shirley writes that they had no thought of dividing in anything from their Plymouth partners. Li another letter he says that Allerton had told him that un- less a ship were bought Ashley could not be supplied, and unless he were supplied "we could not be satisfied what we "were out for you, and further, he gave some reasons, "which we spare to relate, luiless by your unreasonable re- "fusal you will force us, and so hasten that fire, which is "kindlings too fast already." The differences between the partners were brought to an open rupture by this dispute about the "White Angel," and the losses made by the fishing vessel, the "Friendshi])." .Allertofi left the partnership, Bradford says "being dis- missed," but probably he left at his own motion, for Brad- ford afterward complains that Allerton, having got them "an^ong the briers," has now deserted them and left them to get out alone. Bradford sums up his complaints against Allerton (p. 285 of the 1856 Ed. of his History) as follows: "I shall not need to l)e large therein, doing it here, once "for all : "First. It seems to ap!)ear clearly that Ashley's busi- "ness and the buying of this ship (the \Vhite Angel) and "the courses framed thereon were first contrived and pro- "posed bv Mr. Allerton, as also the pleas and pretenses "^^ hich he made of the inabilitv of the plantation to repay "their moneys, etc.. and the hopes he gave them of doing "it with i^rofit. was more believed and relied on bv them "(the London partners) than anything the plantation did "or said." "Second. It is like, though Mr. Allerton might think "not, to wrong the plantation in the main, yet his own gain "aufl private ends led him aside in these things; for it "came to be known and I have it in a letter under Mr. Shir- "ley's hand, that in the first two or three years of his em- "])loyment he had cleared up £400 and put it into a brew "house of Mr. Collier's of London, at first under Mr. Shir- "lev's name. etc.. besides what he might have otherwise." 11 "Again, Mr. Shirley and he had particular dealings in "some things : for he had bought up the beaver that sea- "men and other passengers had brouglit over to Bristol, "and at other places, and charged the bills to London, which "Mr. Shirley paid; and they got sometimes £50 apiece in "a bargain, as was made known by Mr. Hatherley and oth- "ers, besides what might be otherwise: which might make "Mr. Shirley barken unto him in many things. "And yet. I believe as he (Shirley) in his fore-mentioned "letter writes, he wo,uld never side in any particular trade "which would be conceived wrong the plantation, and eat "up and destroy the general" (i. e., the company). In his third specification Bradford intimates that the London partners having done so much for the plantation previously, thought there might be an opportunity for profit in buying these two ships (the "Friendship" and "\\'hite Angel") and sending them over, but, finding a loss prob- able, bad charged them to the general account, "feeling" (the Gov. says) "it was more meet for the plantation to "bear the loss than they who had lost so much already." In the dispute about the "White Angel" Shirley said that Allerton approved the purchase, as agent for the Ply- mouth end of the partnership. The only power of attorney ever mentioned as given to Allerton was one authorizing him to borrow money for supplies in 1626, before the pur- chase of the adventurers' rights. That was a personal and individual authority for the specific purpose of borrowing some £200, and was lodged in Mr. Shirley's hands at the time the m.oney was borrowed, as a security, and was never, so far as appears, heard of again. At any rate, so far as creating any liabilit}^ of the new ))artnership goes, it was mere waste paper, but this Brad- ford seems to have overlooked. The ])ower given to Shirley & Beauchamp was suffi- cient to hold the partners for any expenditure, however extravagant, that was in the wav of their trade. As to the Ashley business. Bradford certainly was losing his memory of events when he wrote that paragra]:)h, for Shirley pro- posed their joining with them (the London peo])le) in this venture, an'l distinctly says that Allerton had no power to go into such a venture for his partners and would do noth- ing in it without their consent and approl)ation. And the governor says thev joinerl in it for fear their London friends would be offended if they declined. So far as the governor's second charge is at all worthy of notice, it is refuted by his own statement at its close. Allerton certainlv had a right to anv rain he could make in any dealing that did not injure or compete with his part- nership business, and Bradford says he does not beHevc he would do anything in a "particular" or private deal that would "eat up and destroy the general". His third count is directed rather at Shirley and Beau- champ than at Allerton, and needs no refutation here. His last complaint is more serious. He says that when Allerton retired from the partnership he claimed that they owed him some £300, while the partnership (i. e.. the Ply- mouth end) claimed that he owed them £2,C00. A part of this was a claim for a part of the cargo of the "W hite Angel," which the Plymouth people refused to receive, oi to pay for, and which was sold by Hatherley, acting for the London partners, to Allerton. after he had terminated his connection with the partnership. Allerton was bound by his bargain to ])ay th.e price of these goods to Shirley & Beaucbamp, for whom and himself Hatherley was acting, and the Plymouth people having refused to accept, or to pay for. these goods, certainly had no right to the payment from Allerton. This, however, was but a small part of the difference between their claims. The great divergence in the accounts may perhaps not appear so wonderful if we refer to Bradford's story of the attemi)t to adjust the ac- counts with the London partners five years later. He says (p. 347) that "Beaucbamp & Andrews com- "plainedthat though each of them were out about £L100 "since 1631 that now (in 1635) tbey had not received a "penny, but that all furs, etc., had been sent to Mr. Shirlcv "who still desired to draw money from them — and blamed "them liecause they would not advance it. They (the Ply- n^outh folk) marveled much at this," for thcv had consigned furs to England in that time, v hich ihey thought to be of the value of over £10,000, and had no invoice of goods ship]3ed them, nor account sales of furs. In fact, from the beginning the bookkeeping at the Plymouth end scenes to have been of the loosest and most careless sort, if. indeed, one can call it bookkee])ing. where no 1)oohs are kept. Xo invoices of goods received from London, nor ac- counts of furs, etc., sold for their account in London seem to have been received, or if received, preserved. In 1631 Shirley sent over to Plvmouth a young man (a younger brother of Winslow) as an accountant for them. TTe had proposed to send one the year before, but the Plymouth people were unwilling to be at this charge. This year, however, Josias Winslow came over, and they em- ploved him. 13 Now (h\ 1636) they tried to reckon np their liabilities and assets, and found they had nothing to show, either what they had had from England, nor what they owed. Bradford says (p. 347) : "But it may be objected. How "comes it that they could not as well exactly set down their "receipts as their returns, but thus estimate it? I answer, "Two things were the cause of it: The first and ]:)rincipal "was that the new accountant, which they in England "would needs press upon them, did wholly fail them, and "could never give them any account, but trusting to his "memory and to loose papers, let things run into such con- "fusion that neither he, nor any with him, could liring "things to rights. "But being often called upon to perfect his accounts. "he desired to have such a time, and such a time of leisure, "and he would do it. "In the interim he fell into a great sickness, and in con- "clusion it fell out that he could make no account at all. "His books were, after a little good beginning, left alto- 'gether unperfect, and his papers, some were lost, and ■'others so confused, as he knew not what to make of them, "himself, when they came to be searched and examined. "This was not unknown to Mr. Shirley, and they (the "Plymouth people) came to smart for it, to purpose, both "thus in England and also here. "For they conceived they had lost some hundreds of "pounds for goods trusted out in the place, which were lost, "for want of clear accounts to call them in. Another reason "of this mischief was that after 'Sir. Winslow was sent to "England to demand accounts, and to except against the " 'A\'hite Angel' thev never had any price sent with their "goods nor anv certain invoice of them, but all things stood "in confusion and they were fain to guess at the price of "them." This astounding confession of carelessness, incompe- tence and stupidity, under P>radford"s own hand, makes it rather unnecessary to refute any claim of indebtedness which has no better base to stand on than the evidence of the governor and his bookkeeper. WMiv did nr)t Bradford, or Winslow. or some of the other five Plyn-outh lartntrs. discover this state of affairs l)efore five years had elapsed? Was .-Mlerton the only one of the eight Plymouth men who could keep an account f^r prevent the business falling into this chaotic confusion? 14 When he retired from the firm, was the business fi^ivcn over to be looted by an}- who were near enough to the managers to get their hands in the till? In these latter days that would be the inevitable con- clusion. Were the Pilgrims better men than we? Per- i.aps ; but there is little to show them so. Allerton mav have been a speculative, and over sanguine business man, l)ut he could hardly have made a worse mess of their affairs tlian the\- did. \\ inslow was "sent into England to de- mand accounts" (in 1632), says Bradford. \\'ell ! Why didn't he get them? And whv was it that from that time "they never had any price sent with their goods, nor any "certain invoice of them, but all things stood in confusion, "and they were fain to guess at the price of them"? \\'in- slow was governor in 1633 and 1636, Prence in 1634, Brad- ford in 1635. The delinquent bookkeeper was Winslow's brother. Is there anything in Allerton's record, one-half as bad as this flagrant neglect and mismanagement of the afYairs of the firm ? Yet not a word from Bradford against W'inslow's good faith. His creed was all right. He had not harbored the Godless Morton, nor extended a friendly hand to Roger Williams. After Allerton's connection with the partnership ceased, he began trading and fishing on the eastern coast on his own account. He became, thus, a competitor to his former partners, and the hostile feeling growing out of their former disa- greements became stronger in the governor's mind. Pie complains that .\llerton sold goods on credit to traders on the Maine coast, and thus injured the Plymouth trade. \Mn- should not Allerton sell to whom he pleased? Did he ow'e his old jiartners any considcrat'on ? He had been \" ith them in Holland for vears. had put his money in with theirs in the outfitting of the Speedwell and the Mayflower, lie had been an alile and effici^ent worker in their first years in New England. When the colony was in dire distress, and Standish had failed to secure any settlement w'th their creditors, Aller- ton was sent over, and by his diplomacy and business tact, persuaded the adventurers to accei)t the .Agreement of ComjKisition. which gave to the coloni-ts for the first time the owncrshij) of their home^, an