Pilgrim Isaac Allerton's Kingston Homestead Location

Mayflower passenger Isaac Allerton (ca 1587-1659) is my 12th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family. I find him interesting to research as he became the wealthiest and one of the most prominent Pilgrims. He was an assistant Governor who was integral in the business side of the Plymouth settlement, but this lead to conflict with the leaders of the colony as he may have primarily looked out for his own interests. Serving as the Pilgrim’s agent, he made at least four voyages to England and ran a trading post in what is now Maine. 

His first wife Mary (Norris) passed away the first winter at Plymouth after delivering a stillborn child while the Mayflower was anchored off Provincetown. Isaac married, second, Fear Brewster, the daughter of church elder William Brewster. After Fear’s death in 1634, Isaac married Joanna Swinnerton.

Isaac owned ships and was heavily involved in trade that included fur, tobacco, wampum, tools, and cloth. He started the cod fishing industry in Marblehead, a town on the north shore of Massachusetts. He owned a wharf and warehouse in what is now Manhattan. He lived in an impressive home in New Haven, Connecticut, and owned land in Virginia. He also became a diplomat, first in his work on behalf of the Pilgrims and later he hosted a summit conference between officials of New Sweden and New Haven colonies to avert a war.

Plaque in New Haven honoring Allerton

Before he met with such incredible success, Isaac lived at Rocky Nook, then part of Plymouth but now in Kingston. His homestead was near the Jones River bank at what is 17 Spring Street today. When he left the area, his daughter Mary and her husband Elder Thomas Cushman (my 11th great-grandparents) lived at the Rocky Nook house, which served as a garrison for “north end” neighbors during times of unrest with Native Americans. 

Traces of the dwelling were found in 1972 when a house was being built and it was used to build a facsimile at Plimoth Plantation. It had approximately 440 square feet of floor space and consisted of two rooms and a loft area. Pilgrim-era artifacts were unearthed which are at Plimoth Patuxet and Kingston Library (in 1976).

I’m always interested in seeing where my ancestors lived, so I took a drive to Spring Street and snapped a few photos of the land where Isaac lived. Because of the number of trees, I could not see Jones River.

Aerial View (Source: Google Earth)

David Furlow is working on a biography of Isaac Allerton. A recording of his presentation with NEHGS is available on YouTube here. He discusses and has great visuals about the location of Isaac Allerton’s NYC wharf and warehouse and an archaeological dig going on there. 

A previous biographical sketch I wrote about Isaac Allerton can be see here.

Source: 

Doris Johnson Melville, Major Bradford’s Town: A History of Kingston 1726-1976, published 1976, p 13