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of Parish & Colosse, NY Many thanks to Esther Rancier
for sharing her information on the BRACE family. Esther is researching
in Richland and Mexico the Soul/Soule, Brace and Daniel
P. Smith families, and would appreciate hearing from anyone researching
these surnames.
As usual, for further information,
please contact your
Allen has become one of the largest surname groups in the United States. The Allen name can be found throughout the New England states. Allens from Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island and Massachusetts all went to Oswego County, NY. Virtually every town had an Allen family. Most of these people were not related. The Allen brothers who arrived in the Colosse area of Mexico, NY and who later moved into Parish were from a Rehoboth, MA family.
This line began in England, according to family researcher Debra Bailey
Trail. William1 Allin [sic] was born in 1602. He married Ales
______. She became the mother of one son before her death in 1632.
William1 died 10 May 1679 in England. His only child, William2 was
born 23 March 1610/11 at Yarmouth, Norfolk Co., England.
The seventh child of William2 and Ann was Benjamin3 Allen who removed to Rehoboth, MA before he died. Four generations of this Allen family lived in Rehoboth. They were Benjamin3 Jeremiah4 Benjamin5 and Barnabas6 Allen. Barnabas6 left Rehoboth and went to Providence, RI where he married Amy Perry Camp on 12 February 1761. She was the daughter of Nicholas and Amey (Perry) Camp. The couple returned to Rehoboth where they had six children. By about 1770 they removed to Adams, Berkshire Co., MA where nine more children were born to them between 1770 and 1790. By
1794 the entire family resided in Springfield, Otsego Co., NY. The
family members were enumerated in the 1800 Springfield, Otsego co., NY
census. Amy died there about 1800, followed by the death of Barnabus
in 1811. It is not believed any of the family remained long in Springfield.
Paul Allen lived in Parish by 1804 on lot 2. He served as a lieutenant of the militia in the War of 1812. His brother Comfort was a private. Both served in Parkhurst’s Battalion of the New York Militia. They participated in the battles which led up to the Battle of Sackett’s Harbor. This militia group was made up of primarily Oswego, Oneida and Jefferson County men who engaged the British fleet and soldiers along the northeastern shore of Lake Ontario. Most wandered away a few days before the formal end of the war as declared by Congress thereby legally forfeiting their rights to bounty lands and pensions. The first tavern in Colosse was opened by David Stanhope Bates on the southwest corner of the crossroad. In 1821 Paul Allen began another tavern on the east side of the road. Paul continued living in Parish which was close by. In 1822 Alvin Richardson bought 1/8th of an acre of lot 133 from Perry and his wife, Betsey for $16 to open a blacksmith shop. The Rev. Gamaliel Barnes founded the Colosse Baptist Church on 15 June 1806. Perry Allen became one of the first two deacons named. The group erected the first church building in Oswego County on lot 145 in 1824 for $2,500. Brother Paul became one of the church trustees who helped to raise funds for the edifice. Local people received a letter from the trustees which argued that a church in their area would raise property values and aid in the instruction of the young. The church was renamed in 1842 the Baptist Church of Colosse. All the brothers participated in activities to help with civic and church affairs. In 1815 Paul served as a Justice of the Peace. While his brother Comfort on 2 September 1815 had the Baptist church meeting at his house. Polly (Mead) Allen, Paul’s wife, was received by letter into membership of the congregation. With sparse populations far removed from governmental agencies, the local churches investigated all the back-slidings and wanderings of the flock. Perry Allen brought charges against Isaac Higbee regarding some furniture which was settled peacefully. These inquiries involved everyone sipping hard liquor. This period came long before the temperance movement began and public drunkards were a common sight. Drinking in church was not rare.
When there was a despite with the Rev. Barnes over his salary of $5 for
6 months work, Perry Allen was designated to preach. But he never
had to orate as Rev. Barnes settled the dispute.
Parish was formally founded as a town on 20 March 1828. At the first town meeting Paul Allen was elected a town supervisor. He held this post 1828-32. In 1828 Paul built and operated a gristmill with three runs of stones on the North Branch of Salmon Creek. The gristmill created an important facility for the Parish farmers and the local economy. Perry Allen7, born in 1771 in Adams, MA, married Betsey Hutchins during 1792/93 while still in Springfield, NY. Perry never moved to Parish after he settled at Colosse. Betsey died at age 74 in 1829. Perry died at age 65 on 18 February 1836 at Colosse, a matter reported in the local Oswego, NY newspaper, The Palladium. The couple were both buried in the Colosse Cemetery, Mexico, NY. Determining all the children of each brother needs further research. In the 1830 Mexico census Perry and Betsey had 1 son, age 5-10, another son, age 20-30 and no daughters listed. However, the FamilySearch Ancestral File does mention an older daughter. 1. Lodema8 Allen b. Springfield, NY 8 Aug. 1795; m. 13 Sept. 1813 at Whitesboro, NY Jesse Munger Higbee; d. 2 Mar. 1879 near Eagleville, Ashtabula Co., OH. Issue: 12 children.2-3-4. According to the Mexico 1820 census there were 3 more teenage females in the household. Names unknown.a. William9 Hutchins Higbee b. 1814. 5. Perry N.8 Allen b. ca. 1809; m. Mary Ann ______ b. ca. 1810; d. after 1880 at Hastings, NY. Perry N. lived in Parish around 1850 where he farmed. The couple had two sons who served in the Civil War. They each enlisted in Battery G, 1st NY Light Artillery and died soon after the war. Perry N. and Mary Ann both lived into their seventies, dying after 1880. Mary Ann lived longer than her husband and made application #270,611 to receive the Civil War Pension of her son Ira D. Allen. Issue 7 children. a. Orzo9 Allen b. Parish ca. 1835; m. bef. 1860 Lorina b. ca 1835; d. 30 Dec. 1863. Buried Pleasant Lawn Cemetery, Parish. Issue: Mary J.10, age 4 in 1860 census.6 Son b. Mexico bet. 1820/25. Prob. d. bef. 1850.
Paul7 Allen, born 1775 probably in Berkshire Co., MA, married Polly Mead
born ca. 1784 as she was age 76 in the 1860 census. He died 29 November
1849. He was buried at Colosse Cemetery, Mexico, NY in an unmarked
grave. Polly’s gravesite remains unknown. She died between
the U.S. 1860 and 1865 NY State Census enumerations. The 1830 Parish
census listed the family as having 1 son, ages 15-20; a daughter ages 10-15
and another daughter ages 20-30 living with the parents.
a. William8 Allen b. 1834; d. 1846, age 12, 6 mos, 18 days. Buried Colosse Cemetery, Mexico.Comfort7 Allen, born 1785 in Adams, MA, married Sarah Huntley. Comfort owned some of lot 145 on the same crossroads with his brothers Perry and Paul. Records for this Comfort contain error. The LDS IGI suggests that this couple married ca. 1811 in Hastings. Other researchers allege that this pair had 3 children before 1800 which seems not probable. The 1830 Parish census showed Comfort with 1 son 5-10 years and 1 daughter 10-15 years. Sarah died 5 October 1822. Sarah Huntley Allen became the first person to be buried in the Colosse Cemetery, Mexico. As of 1837 Comfort remained in Parish as he witnessed a deed on 3 April 1837. One Allen researcher insists that Comfort died 7 November 1851 in St. Clair, MI, but much more research needs to be done to prove that Parish’s Comfort Allen even lived in Michigan.
In the New York 1840 census for Pickney, Lewis Co., NY a Comfort Allen
age 50-60 and a wife were enumerated. Comfort could have remarried.
Pickney is not too far from Parish. This Pickney couple were not
found in the 1850 census. Again more investigation needs to be done.
SOURCES:
Back to Oswego County NYGenWeb Copyright ©
July 2003 Esther Rancier
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