Allred/ Smith/ Pemberton Connections

 By:  Dawnell Griffin

The search for our Allred ancestry continues, and I would like to express appreciation to all those who have contributed and who are in the process of joining this effort to extend our ancestral lines. 

While Family History and Genealogical research can at times be discouraging, we can be grateful for the progress that has been made towards our goal of identifying our progenitors and in correcting some mistakes that have long been propagated.

It is obvious to those of us who are engaged in this effort, that mistakes will continue to be made, but “the last word,” is the one we have most recently discovered. 

Having said that much, I will attempt to present at least a portion of the documentation we do now have and to make a few statements that may give some satisfaction, at least until we are of a better opinion. In other words, though we do not have absolute proof, the records we do have are sufficient for us to promote our hypothesis.

I would like to begin by giving some background information on the Parish of Eccles, in Lancashire, England.

 In 1864 there was printed a manuscript of the Ancient Parish Church of Eccles, in which it was stated that “Eccles” was a derivative of Ecclesia, or the Latin word for church. The advowson was originally the gift of the Barton family, lords of the manor of Barton-upon-Irwell. At the dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, the advowson^[1]  was vested in the crown, where apparently it remains to this day.

It appears that there were four chantries founded in Eccles Church, three of them by the Booths of Barton and the fourth by Sir Geoffrey Massey of Worsley.  In 1849, it was stated that “formerly the churchyard was more confined.  One early head stone over the remains of Jane Holden read:

Here lies Jone’s [John’s] wife Jane,  
            As it is very plain;  
            And after will come Jone,  
            As sure as this is stone.

And so, I am certain, he did.  Concerning the Glebe, there was a vicar’s acre, in 1663, two new fields on the east side of Mr. Valentine’s land of Beancliffe, the barn field, the kiln croft,^[2] the hemp croft, the Jackson croft, and the Christ Croft. There was one orchard, two gardens, the vicarage house with fifteen rooms including the kitchen, the parlour, the great parlour, the buttery, the milk-house etc.  There was a cow-house, a vicarage barn with four bays, one little hen house and a swine stye.

Rent due the vicarage in that year was exacted from Robert Hobson, James Nailor, Elizabeth Lowe, Ann Wallwork, Richard Parren, Giles Seddon, William Smith, Lawrence Hampson, Ralph Bayley, Richard Nicholas, Thomas Sharples and John Nicholas.

The Stipend [the vicar’s wages] was payable at the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Michael the Archangel by even portions of a little over 16 pounds per year.  Robert Hartley was the vicar.

This information becomes increasingly more valuable when we realize that the Parish Clerk was Thomas Smith, who was possibly one of our direct line ancestors.

Thomas Smith was born about 1591, probably in Eccles, Lancashire, England. The minutes of the vestry meetings give mention of Thomas Smith.

17^th July, 1622. - It was consented, covenanted and agreed unto, by the Right Worshipful and Worshipful of the parish of Eccles, with the Vicar and Churchwardens for the time being, whose names are hereafter specified, on behalf of the whole parish, on the one party, and Thomas Smith, parish clerk, of the same parish, on the other party as followeth:

Imprimis. that the said Thomas Smith, or whosoever shall be clerk for the time being, shall from time to time and at all times from henceforth, when need shall require, collect and gather throughout the whole parish all such sums of money as shall be requisite and expedient for the buying of bread and wine for the several communions when and as often as they shall be warned and appointed.

Item. That the Clerk, shall do all such services as have been accustomed to be done by the parish clerk, or [as] shall be by law required.

Every cottage throughout the parish was to pay a penny a year to the clerk. If they refused, or did not pay within the 14 days allotted for payment, then it was the duty of the Parish Clerk to report their names to the church wardens, who in turn made it a matter of recourse according to law. 

The only notation made during the tenure of Thomas Smith ( in this printed account) was that on the 4^th of April, 1639, Dorothy, the widow of Richard Brereton, Esquire, died. 

Thomas did not live long enough to serve under the iron hand of Cromwell and the Commonwealth, when four magistrates published the banns of marriage and those marriages were performed by justices instead of clergymen. 

Thomas Smith was married to Ann Smith on the 23^rd of February, 1611 in Eccles Parish. They were the parents of at least eight identified children.  Two of those children, that we know of, died young. At least Margaret, Ellen, Alice, and John lived to adulthood.

            On the 18^th of January, 1638, Ann Smith died.  A year later, Thomas was married to Mary, widow of Adam Leaver. Mary had at least one son by her previous marriage, Alexander Leaver, born about 1634.  By Thomas, she had three children, Mary, Eleanor and Thomas.  Only Mary appears to have survived her father.

In 1648, Thomas wrote his will in which he designated himself as the ‘parish clerke of the church of Eccles in the countie of Lancaster.’  He desired to be buried in the ‘churchyarde of Eccles’ at the discretion of his wife, children and friends. He mentioned that he held land in a messuage tenement or cottage with ‘housinge, edifices, buildinges, yardes, gardens, backyards’ etc. [original spellings], that he held by lease from his landlord, Richard Edge.

If his wife, Mary, kept herself unmarried and if she continued to live seven years then she was to have her full one third part of his estate. If perchance, she acted in an “unchast” manner then he assigned his son John Smith to assume the responsibility of seeing that the legacies designated in his will, were to be distributed. 

At the time of his death, Thomas held an estate in two pieces of land one called highest Smithkye and the other the higher end of the ‘Broome Back’ containing two acres. Both these pieces of ground lay within Eccles parish. The latter he had by grant from the executors of John Gooden, who had been deceased for six years.  Mary was to maintain the use of this property to her profit until such time as she deceased or was re-married.

Thomas forgave the debt of his daughter Ellen, the wife of George Alderofte, in the amount of four pounds.  With that bequest she was to buy her apparel and other necessaries. (I assume for the purpose of attending his funeral.) 

In addition he left a legacy to his son John, and daughters Alice and Mary Smith. He gave his sister, Jane Davy five shillings and he bequeathed to Alexander Leaver, his step-son, five pounds. Witnesses to his will were John Tongs, vicar of Eccles and Richard Worseley.  The will was probated in 1649.

Thomas Smith’s daughter, Margaret, seems to have been out of favor with her father, having given birth to an illegitimate daughter, Ellen Pemberton, ten years earlier, in 1638.

Mary Smith, Thomas Smith’s wife, appears to have pursued what her former husband termed ‘unchast’ behavior as she was married a third time.  According to her step-son, John Smith’s will, Mary was married to Ellice [Ellis] Hulton after the death of her second husband.

            On the 16^th of Nov 1656, John Smith, Inn holder and son of Thomas Smith (clerk of Eccles Parish), wrote his will.  He stated that he held a lease from his “kinde and Lovinge Landlord Richard Edge of Ollenforest in Worseley in the said countie of Lancaster yeoman for and duringe the tearme of the lief and lyves naturall of me the said John Smyth and of Mary nowe wief of Ellice Hulton and formerlie the wief of Thomas Smyth deceased my late father and the longer lyver of me and her the said Mary for and under the yearelie rent of tenne shillinges payable at Christmas & midsomer by even portions.”

At the time of the writing of his will, apparently John’s wife, Margaret, was expecting a child. Having no way of knowing whether it was a son or daughter, he nevertheless made provision for the child that was soon to be born.

John Smith and Margaret Newton were married the 5^th of October, 1650, but apparently either they had no previous children, or they had failed to survive.  Further research pending.

Ellen Pemberton, was born the 25^th of Mar 1638, in Eccles Parish, Lancashire, England.  The parish record states that she was the illegitimate daughter of John Pemberton and Margaret Smith. Having searched the Eccles Parish registers for clues as to the parentage of Margaret Smith, it seems likely at this point that she was the daughter of Thomas and Ann Smith of Eccles Parish, the same who was the parish clerk from 1622 and who died. 6 Feb 1648. Had he lived, Thomas would have been even more displeased with a grandchild who turned her back on the Anglican Church and associated herself with a group of people who called themselves Quakers or Friends and refused to pay homage to the Church of England in either manner or stipend.

John Allred and Ellen Pemberton were married in about 1659. They were the parents of nine children.

In 1892 Walter K. Watkins wrote a book he entitled, The Pemberton Family, in which he states that the family of that name derived its name from the chapelry of that name in the parish of Wigan, in the hundred of West Derby, county of Lancaster, England.

According to the English Surnames Series Vol. IV the Surnames of Lancashire, by Richard McKinley, Pemberton is a village within the parish of Wigan which was first noted in 1201, and is considered to be British in origin. “The surname or bye-name de Pemberton or de Penberton, derived from the place-name, has first been found in the early 13^th century.”

The first man identified in the first half of the 13^th century was Adam de Pemberton who was a landowner at Pemberton. Ralph de Pemberton, who was deceased by 1236 held land at Pemberton.  Other names which occur until the 1300's were William, John, Hugh, Roger, and Henry.  William de Pemberton was the son of Adam who had at least sons, William, John and Hugh.  The article states that by the year 1350 the surname had become widespread and that the 16^th and 17^th centuries there were numerous Pembertons listed in the registers of Walton on the Hill, Childwall, West Derby and in Liverpool. One family of Pemberton held land at Aspull during the late 16^th and 17^th centuries and in Winwick parish to the south of Wigan. The name was also common in Halsall parish but by the time the 1642 Protestation Returns for Salford Hundred were brought in, there were only three persons named Pemberton on the list. Therefore, states McKinley, “Outside West Derby Hundred the surname seems to have uncommon in the 17^th century....Pemberton as a surname after being in its early history largely confined to the Wigan area, spread during the 14th century to the townships around Liverpool.”

It is to Wigan that we look for our first link to the Pemberton family and our first claim to accuracy is a connection to the family of William Pemberton who was born in about 1580, presumably in Wigan, Lancashire, England.  He was married to Ann [last name not known] on the 10^th of December 1602. 

It has been printed in various sources that William and Ann were the parents of children Ralph, Ellin, Margery and Alice, however, it is our claim that the Ellin so referred to in these many sources, was in fact, Ellin the daughter of John Pemberton and Margaret Smith, referred to above.  It is much more likely that Ralph and John Pemberton were brothers as per following documents.

Not only are there various Pemberton family lines in England, but there are several different lines in the New World as well.  There has never been any proof, for example, to connect the Pembertons of Pennsylvania with the Pembertons of Massachusetts.

We do know that Ralph Pemberton, son of William and Ann, was a practicing Quaker, as was his surviving son, Phineas Pemberton.

Ralph Pemberton was born 3^rd of January, 1610 in Aspull, Wigan Parish, Lancashire, England.  He was married to Margaret Seddon on the 2^nd of September, 1648, the same year that Thomas Smith, clerk of the parish of Eccles left his will. 

Margaret Seddon was the daughter of Thomas Seddon and Margaret Newton.  If there is a connection between this Margaret Newton and the Margaret Newton who married John Smith, I have not yet discovered it.

We have record of only two children for Ralph and Margaret Seddon Pemberton, Phineas born the 20^th of January 1650, and Joseph.  Apparently Phineas was the only child of this couple to survive. Joseph Pemberton died on the 3^rd of August 1655.  He was three years old.

Ellin or Ellen Pemberton, appears to be the only surviving child of John Pemberton and Margaret Smith.  That would appear to be another reason for these two first cousins, Phineas and Ellen,  to have established a familial relationship, in addition to the fact that were both staunch proponents of the Quaker Faith that flourished in during the time period in which they were growing to maturity.

Persecution of those who professed to be of the people called Quakers, appears to have begun in the year 1654 when John Lawson, a shopkeeper in Lancaster, was set in the stocks for four hours. 

The year following Ellin’s marriage to John Allred, she was arrested and jailed for attending Quaker Meetings.  Her husband, John, was arrested the following year, 1661, for the same offense.

In 1660, Soldiers with drawn swords and cocked pistols came to the meeting of the Quakers in the Lancaster District and arrested approximately 30 people. One of those arrested at Wray in Lancaster County, was William Edmondson. William was born in 1627 in Westmoreland but because of his journey to Ireland in 1652 where he conducted business in Lurgan, he was referred to as “the Quaker apostle of Ireland.” 

In Manchester John Abraham, Isaac Mosse, Abraham Garside, Jonathan Bradshaw, John Burgess, Mary Ridgway, Mary Poole, Elizabeth Owen, and Elizabeth Fletcher were arrested and committed to prison. 

Arrested 10 Feb 1660 for attending Quaker Meetings were Richard Madder, Ed Dawson, Nehemiah Pool, Arther Walker, Hannah Taylor, Mary Mosse, and Ellen Allred. There can be no question that Ellen Allred was acquainted with the Quaker members of the Manchester MM.

William Edmondson settled in West Nottingham, Chester County Pennsylvania and is the progenitor of the Edmondson family of that county as well as those who settled in Cecil County, Maryland, York, and Allegheny Counties, Pennsylvania. [For further information on this family, contact this author.]

In 1663, George Fox and Margaret Fell were committed to the Lancaster Castle. Both were noted Quaker preachers.

Alice Pemberton, in 1664, was committed to the House of Correction for three months, for attending Quaker worship. (Besse’s Suffering, 1., p. 315) It is purported that this is Alice, daughter of William and Ann Pemberton, and a sister to Ralph and John Pemberton. The following year, Phineas Pemberton moved to Manchester when he was just fifteen years old.

In 1666, James Harrison was imprisoned in the Castle of Chester, incident to his having attended meetings held by the Quakers.  From his prison cell on the 26^th of the 8^th months he wrote to his wife:

“Most dear and right dearly beloved wife...for thy reverent, courteous behaviour in gesture and words towards me...a real acknowledgment of thy spiritual and lively testimony that breaks and tenders my heart, I rest thy very loving husband.” She wrote back that nothing could separate them. 

Two years after that, James and Ann Harrison removed from Cheshire County to Lancashire, where Phineas Pemberton undoubtedly became acquainted with their daughter, Phoebe.

Phineas Pemberton and Roger Longworth were imprisoned in 1669 in Lancaster Castle for attendance at religious meetings. Phineas was sixteen years old.

At the age of 20, Phineas was  apprenticed to John Abraham, a grocer in Manchester. That same year, he was, again, imprisoned in Lancaster castle for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the king and for attending Quaker meetings.

Phineas Pemberton married Phoebe Harrison on the 1^st of January, 1776 at the house of John Haydock in Coppull, Near Standish in Lancashire, England. Ralph Pemberton  removed to Radcliffe Bridge.

The marriage entry in the minute of the MM read:

Phineahas Pemberton of Boulton in the moores in the County of Lancaster grocer And Phebe Harrison daughter of James Harrison of Boulton aforesaid tooke oath other in marriage in a publick assembly mett together for that end and purpose in the house of John Haydock of Coppull in the said County the first day of the Eleventh month Anno Dom: 1676, In the presence of Ralph Pemberton Roger Longworth Ann Harrison. Signed: James Harrison, John Abraham, William Yardley, John Bancroft, Isaac Ashton, Richard Buggan, Elizabeth Johnson, Elizabeth Hodgson, Elizabeth Haydock with others.

The microfilm copy of this document from the FHL in Salt Lake City appears to be a transcription of the original which is undoubtedly in the CRO in Lancashire, England.  I cannot help but wonder if some of the “others” would include the names of John and Ellen [Pemberton] Allred.  Finding the original document is a future project.

On the 9^th of November, James Harrison was preaching at a meeting in his own house when the constables came with a warrant from Thomas Laver and John Kenyon, justices, and made a seizure of leather and other goods to the value of 10 pounds 19 shillings. Phineas Pemberton and his wife were at the meeting and had goods taken from him to the value of 4 pounds 25 shilling 4d. At the time, Phineas and Phoebe were living at Stiall-Green, in Cheshire. 

It is probable that sometime during this time period, Phineas  wrote the following letter to his father, Ralph:

To Father

My duty to you rememberd this is to acquaint ... ye ... first day I & several others were att a meeting att Neamiah Pools & there came in the wardens & the constable & took us into the town hall & there kept us all the after noone then after the S... was done there came by

Justices so called but there is butt littel justes in them   There was littel done at night so were had afore them one .. other morning as palbearer here of concell more at ... in the witinus was maid so either to guide in bond to apeare att the cessions or go to Lancaster aboute the 3 day of February so my mistress hath a greate desire to see you this weeke but bee not you troubled att it for I am very well contented....   hands, you to be here this weeke because its is my mistores desire   So with my deare love to Ant & Ellin & the rest of friends & neighbors I rest your dutyfull son

Undoubtedly this is the same Nehemiah Pool with whom Ellen Pemberton Allred was arrested in 1660, and the Ellen to whom Phineas refers in this letter.

For additional information on this family and a copy of the letter written by John Allred of Manchester in Lancashire, England to Phineas Pemberton of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, refer to Issue No. 54 page 3  of the Allred Family Newsletter.  To be continued....

Dawnell H. Griffin