Arthur Allen | |
---|---|
22nd Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses | |
In office 1679 | |
Preceded by | William Kendall |
Succeeded by | Thomas Milner |
Member of the House of Burgesses representing Surry County | |
In office 1684-1690 | |
Preceded by | Benjamin Harrison |
Succeeded by | Benjamin Harrison |
In office 1680-1682 | |
Preceded by | Thomas Swann Jr. |
Succeeded by | Benjamin Harrison |
Personal details | |
Born | ca. 1652 Surry County |
Died | 1710 Surry County,Virginia Colony,British America |
Parent(s) | Arthur Allen Sr.,Alice Tucker |
Profession | merchant,planter,politician |
Arthur Allen II,also known as Major Allen (born ca. 1652,died June 15,1710) was a Virginia colonial planter,merchant,military officer and controversial politician who twice served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He supported Governor William Berkeley during Bacon's Rebellion and became a prominent member of the Green Spring faction opposing later royal governors. [1] [2] : 30–31 [3] [4]
Allen was born to merchant Arthur Allen and his second wife,the former Alice Tucker,around 1652. [1] [5] His father had patented 200 acres between Lawnes Creek and Lower Chippoakes Creek in 1649,and by 1665 built a 3-story brick home for his family in what became Surry County,Virginia. [1] Arthur Allen Jr. had an elder half brother,Humphrey Allen,born in England and who died in Virginia around 1666,and four sisters. He received a private education appropriate to his class,including in England,and was certified as a surveyor. [4]
Allen married the heiress daughter of Capt. Lawrence Baker,Katherine Baker,with whom he had eight children. [4] [6] His eldest son,John Allen (1684-1742) not only outlived his siblings,but increased his landholdings to more than 24,000 acres in Isle of Wight,Nansemond and Surry Counties (including the area that became Brunswick County in 1720),in part through an advantageous marriage to Elizabeth Bassett,the daughter of Councillor (and major landowner) William Bassett. John Allen represented Surry County in the House of Burgesses (1736-1740). His sister Elizabeth married Col. William Bridges. Other siblings were Katherine,James (who never married),Arthur (who married Elizabeth Bray),Ann,Mary and Joseph. Joseph's son William Allen (1734-1796) was educated at the College of William and Mary at his uncle's expense and became his principal heir. This William Allen or his son constructed Claremont manor house. William's son by his second wife,John Allen would serve in the Virginia House of Delegates and in the Virginia Ratification Convention. [7] The last of the direct line was Lt.Col. William Allen (1768-1831),who never married but served many terms in the House of Delegates before the War of 1812 and supposedly became the largest land owner and slave owner in the Commonwealth of Virginia of his day. He required his great-nephew and heir,William Griffin Orgain to change his surname to Allen in order to inherit. That man supposedly became the wealthiest Virginian of his day,as well as a lumber and railroad magnate before enlisting in the Confederate cause in May 1861 and financing the Jamestown Heavy Artillery. [8] [9]
After his father died in 1669,as the only surviving son,Allen inherited his father's estate,which included the Allen Brick House (now known as Bacon's Castle),although he was unable to fully claim his inheritance until he reached the legal age of 21 (his mother administering his inheritance until her remarriage to widower John Hardy of neighboring Isle of Wight County). [4] [10] Allen also inherited acreage on Upper Chippokes Creek and the Blackwater River. [2] He would increase his landholdings in his lifetime,until he owned almost 1000 acres in Surry and Isle of Wight Counties by the time of his death. Both counties appointed him their official surveyor. During his lifetime,Allen decreased his use of indentured labor and increased the use of enslaved labor on his plantations. [4]
Upon reaching legal age,Allen followed his father's public career path and began serving on the Lawnes Creek Parish vestry. He also served with the Surry County militia,and attained the rank of Captain in 1677 and Major at some point between the fall of 1680 and the spring of the following year. [4]
An ally of Governor Sir William Berkeley. Allen was appointed a justice of the peace for Surry County in 1675,a year before the start of Bacon's Rebellion. Because of his close association with Berkeley,Allen was appointed to the quorum of the Surry County court in May 1677. [4] When the Surry Court noted to send provisions to the rebels,Allen dissented. [11]
Allen was fighting alongside Governor Berkeley in Jamestown when his brother-in-law Arthur Long (husband of his sister Mary),along with William Rookings and about 70 other followers of Nathaniel Bacon,seized Allen's home across the river in Surry County. [4] Allen also led Berkeley's forces in an unsuccessful sortie against the rebels days before they burned Jamestown. [12] While Allen was able to reclaim his home about four months later,after Bacon died of disease and Berkeley's and royal forces crushed the rebellion,Bacon's followers had caused massive damages to the property,in addition to plundering silver,linen,books and cattle. Ironically given the property's later name,Bacon actually never visited the site. The royal commissioners investigating the rebellion later estimated Allen's losses as at least 1000 pounds sterling. [3] Meanwhile,Allen lost his public offices for about a year,suspended during the investigation by the new Lieutenant Governor,Herbert Jeffreys,but regained some after Jeffreys died in 1678. [4]
Beginning in 1680 Surry County voters elected and re-elected Allen and fellow planter Samuel Swann (son of Thomas Swann,a member of the Governor's Council) as their representatives in the Virginia House of Burgesses,except during the November 1682 session when they elected instead planters Benjamin Harrison and William Browne. [13] Considered to be a man of influence and affiliated with the Green Spring faction led by Berkeley's widow and several members of the Virginia Governor's Council,fellow burgesses twice elected Allen as their Speaker (in 1686 and 1688). [14] Allen joined with Robert Beverley and Philip Ludwell Sr. (leaders of the Green Spring faction) in opposing efforts of the next governor,Thomas Culpeper,to punish rioters who again cut growing tobacco before harvest as they attempted to raise the price (which had fallen spectacularly since the 1660s,as Ludwell Sr. had acknowledged in 1662). [15]
However,the next royally appointed Governor,Francis Howard,with the support of the royal government in London,continued attempts to limit the assembly's influence. In addition to removing Allen from the Surry County court in 1686 for objecting to the governor's choice for county sheriff and from his posts as surveyor in 1688,twice Governor Howard dissolved the Virginia General Assembly. Allen had become a leader in opposing Governor Howard in both his terns as speaker,first in 1686 following the death of William Kendall (the Burgesses later awarding him 10,000 pounds of tobacco for his services),and then in 1688 (during which he forwarded a 12-item censure of Howard's actions to the King). [4] [3] In 1689,when Philip Ludwell Sr. was named governor of North Carolina by that colony's proprietors,Allen accompanied him and made surveys. [3]
In the 1691 assembly Allen and fellow burgess-elect James Bray refused to take the newly rewritten oath of allegiance and supremacy which recognized the ascent of William III and Mary II following the Glorious Revolution. Allen cited "Scruple of Conscience" and his oath of allegiance to the former James II,and so was not seated,and also could not hold any office in Virginia for what turned out to be 14 years. [4] Thus,a new election was held in Surry County,and voters elected Benjamin Harrison to replace Allen. [16] Allen also refused an order of the Surry County court to subscribe to the oath in 1697,and in that year the General Assembly questioned the validity of surveys he might make,also citing his refusal to take the oath. Allen finally subscribed to the oath in the spring of 1702 (after James II had died in exile),and was soon thereafter sworn in as one of the board of visitors governing the College of William and Mary. [4] [3]
Allen also returned to the Surry County Court (as its senior member) in the fall of 1702,after swearing allegiance to Queen Anne. [4] [3] The following year,Allen again sought election to the House of Burgesses,but was not among the top two candidates. Out of anger Allen ordered the local sheriff not to confirm the election of Thomas Swann Jr. (brother to his former co-burgess Samuel Swann and who managed that family's remaining Virginia property),claiming that Governor Nicholson approved of this action. However,the burgesses considered this as showing disrespect for the House of Burgesses,prompting an investigation and Allen's public apology. [4] In April 1703,Governor Nicholson appointed Allen naval officer for the Upper District of the James River,a lucrative post collecting tobacco taxes,and which he held through his death. Allen also was again named surveyor for Surry and Isle of Wight Counties,only resigning that position in favor of his son John in 1707. [4]
Although acting governor Edmund Jenings recommended Allen to the Board of Trade for appointment to the Virginia Governor's Council,he did not receive that highest position in the colony,perhaps because of a falling-out with his former ally Philip Ludwell Jr.,who referred to Allen as a "meddlesome old fool" and criticized his conduct as naval officer. [4]
Allen drafted his last will and testament on February 16,1710,and died on June 15,1710. [4] [3] His estate (admitted to probate later that year) included over a thousand acres of real estate,as well as other property valued at 838 pounds sterling,and 28 slaves valued at more than 682 pounds sterling. His third son,Arthur Allen III (1689-1727) inherited the Allen Brick House. [4] The Allen Brick house now known as Bacon's Castle,was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the oldest houses in Virginia. It is now operated with the assistance of Preservation Virginia.
Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion by Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon against Colonial Governor William Berkeley,after Berkeley refused Bacon's request to drive Native American Indians out of Virginia. Thousands of Virginians from all classes and races rose up in arms against Berkeley,chasing him from Jamestown and ultimately torching the settlement. The rebellion was first suppressed by a few armed merchant ships from London whose captains sided with Berkeley and the loyalists. Government forces arrived soon after and spent several years defeating pockets of resistance and reforming the colonial government to be once more under direct Crown control. While the rebellion did not succeed in the initial goal of driving the Native Americans from Virginia,it did result in Berkeley being recalled to England.
Carter Bassett Harrison was a politician from the U.S. state of Virginia.
Bacon's Castle,also variously known as "Allen's Brick House" or the "Arthur Allen House" is located in Surry County,Virginia,United States,and is the oldest documented brick dwelling in what is now the United States. Built in 1665,it is noted as an extremely rare example of Jacobean architecture in the New World.
Philip Cottington Ludwell was an English-born planter and politician in colonial Virginia who sat on the Virginia Governor's Council,the first of three generations of men with the same name to do so,and briefly served as speaker of the House of Burgesses. In addition to operating plantations in Virginia using enslaved labor,Ludwell also served as the first governor of the Carolinas,during the colony's transition from proprietary rule to royal colony.
Colonel Thomas Ballard was a prominent colonial Virginia landowner and politician who played a role in Bacon's Rebellion. He served on the Governor's Council 1670–79 and was Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses 1680–82.
Theodorick Bland,also known as Theodorick Bland of Westover,was a planter,merchant and politician in colonial Virginia who served as Speaker of the House of Burgesses,as well as in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. The founder of the Bland family of Virginia,his son and grandson of the same name also served in the Virginia General Assembly before the American Revolutionary War,and later descendants sharing the same name would become a federal judge and congressman.
Thomas Godwin was a Virginia politician,planter and real estate speculator in Tidewater Virginia. He thrice served in the House of Burgesses representing the Nansemond River area,and was its Speaker in the June 1676 session that preceded Bacon's Rebellion.
John George (1603–1679) was an early Virginia colonist,landowner,soldier,county court justice and legislative representative (politician). He served at least two terms as a burgess in the Virginia House of Burgesses in the 1640s and 1650s representing Isle of Wight County,Virginia.
The Burwells were among the First Families of Virginia in the Colony of Virginia. John Quincy Adams once described the Burwells as typical Virginia aristocrats of their period:forthright,bland,somewhat imperious and politically simplistic by Adams' standards. In 1713,so many Burwells had intermarried with the Virginia political elite that Governor Spotswood complained that " the greater part of the present Council are related to the Family of Burwells...there will be no less than seven so near related that they will go off the Bench whenever a Cause of the Burwells come to be tried."
The Swann's Point Plantation Site is an archaeological site near the James River in Surry County,Virginia. The Swann's Point area,located west of the mouth of Gray Creek,has a rich historic of precolonial Native American occupation,as well as significant early colonial settlements. It was first granted to Richard Pace,whose warning famously saved the Jamestown Colony during the Indian Massacre of 1622. The Paces abandoned their settlement in 1624.
Joseph Bridger emigrated to the Virginia colony from England where he became wealthy and known for supporting Governor William Berkeley and his successors. As would his namesake grandson and several other descendants,Bridger served in the House of Burgesses representing Isle of Wight County. Bridger also served in the legislature's upper house,the Virginia Governor's Council,and led troops against the rebels during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 as well as in 1682,when he helped suppress the tobacco cutters.
Philip Ludwell Jr. was a Virginia planter and politician who served several terms in the Virginia House of Burgesses,and became an important figure in the colony's new capital at Williamsburg as well as with the newly established College of William &Mary. As had his father Philip Ludwell,and as would son Philip Ludwell III,this man served on the Virginia Governor's Council and operated plantations using enslaved labor.
Samuel Swannn was a planter,militia officer and politician in the Colony of Virginia and the Colony of North Carolina.
Thomas Swann was a planter,tavernkeeper,militia officer and politician in the Colony of Virginia who sat in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly and survived Bacon's Rebellion.
Lawrence Baker (ca.1620–1681) was a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia who immigrated from England and represented Surry County in the House of Burgesses (1666–1676). He is best known for suppressing America's first tax strike,a predecessor to Bacon's Rebellion.
James Bray (ca.1630-1691) was a British merchant who also became an attorney,planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia,serving nearly a decade on the Virginia Governor's Council through Bacon's Rebellion (1670-1679),and later representing James City County in the House of Burgesses,although unseated when he refused to make a loyalty oath.
George Jordan (1620-1679) was a British attorney who also became a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia. He twice served as the colony's attorney general and at various times represented James City County and Surry County in the House of Burgesses,and may have served on the Virginia Governor's Council.
William Browne emigrated from Surrey,England to become a major planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia. He lived on the south bank of the James River at now-historic Four Mile Tree plantation,named for its distance from Jamestown and which in his tenure became part of Surry County. While his lawyer son,also William Browne,held only county offices,his grandson,also William Browne,would become a patriot in the American Revolutionary War,and serve in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Thomas Milner,emigrated from England to the Virginia colony where he became a merchant,planter,military officer and politician who twice served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses.
Richard Lawrence was an Oxford University graduate who emigrated to the Virginia colony where after various real estate speculations,he married a wealthy widow and became a tavernkeeper in Jamestown. Lawrence became one of Nathaniel Bacon's closest confidantes during Bacon's Rebellion and briefly served in the House of Burgesses during that conflict,after which he vanished with two other men otherwise likely to have been sentenced to death for treason.