American Union: First Dive Into Ancestry

Union

Cyrus Allen was born on Christmas Day, 1794, in Scipio, NY, into the Allen family, "an old and highly respected family of the east," as stated by G. A. Ogle & Co. of Chicago in 1901. Before settling a farm on "the frontier of his day" in Livingston, NY, he married Amanda Durkee (1795-1887) in November 1818. He remained a farmer until his untimely death in 1857.

Durkee

Amanda Durkee's name appears on multiple occasions in historical records due to the service of her ancestors in the Revolutionary War and the conflicts between the Pennamites and Yankees.

Amanda recorded her mother's (Hannah Gore, 1769-1855) accounts of events during the times of the Pennamite-Yankee Wars and the American Revolution when Hannah was a child. Specifically the Battle and Massacre of Wyoming, where five out of the seven of Hannah's uncles in the battle were killed or massacred by British-Iroquois forces. She survived by fleeing east with family and neighbors.

Amanda's maternal grandfather Judge Obadiah Gore II (1744-1821), and father of Hannah Gore, "entered the Continental Army in a regiment commanded by Isaac Nichols in 1776 and served six years. He was commissioned 1st Lieut. by John Hancock October 11, 1776 and by John Jay March 16, 1779. Lieut. Gore served in the battles of Bound Brook, Mud Creek, Brandywine, Germantown, and Millstone. Frequent mention is made of the Durkees and Gores in Stone's Poetry and Pearce's Annual of Lucerne County." wrote Lynn D. Allen (b. 1888), Cyrus and Amanda's great-granddaughter, in her 1953 application for membership in the National Society Sons of the American Revolution (S.A.R.).

The Gore family, from which Judge Obadiah Gore II descends, immigrated from England in 1635 and settled in Roxbury, Mass.

Amanda's paternal grandfather, Andrew Durkee, also served in the American Revolution as part of John Douglas' Regiment of Connecticut.

The Durkee (Durgy/O'Durgy) line arrived in America on November 9, 1663, with the son of an Irish knight, William Durkee. It's recounted in New Englanders in Nova Scotia by F. E. Crowell that he, as an Irish Catholic soldier, was captured on the battlefield by Oliver Cromwell's forces during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (possibly at the Siege of Drogheda). Sold into slavery in Barbados, he was among the "red legs" who toiled on the plantations. Being among the thousands freed by the proclamation of Charles II and having no means of support, he sold his services as an indentured servant. It's claimed elsewhere that Durkee is the first documented Irish immigrant, not only in the Massachusett's Bay Colony but in North America. He faced persecution for being unwilling to renounce his Catholicism. Furthermore, this meant he could not own land. As a result, he raised his children Protestant.

Allen

Earlier, I referred to the Allen's as an "old and highly respected family of the east." I borrowed this phrase from Geo. A. Ogle & Co. in Memorial and Biographical Record and Illustrated Compendium of Biography containing a compendium of local biography including biographical sketches of hundreds of prominent old settlers and representative citizens of Columbia, Sauk and Adams counties, Wisconsin (1901) on page 556 (link). The publishers are writing about Nelson E. Allen (1821-1903), son of Cyrus Allen and brother of William Durkee Allen (my ancestral line). They attribute part of this comment to the fact that N. E. Allen's paternal great-grandfather is a cousin of Ethan Allen's.

Furthermore, Lynn D. Allen claims, in the application to S.A.R., that the Allen family has been traced back to 1066 A.D. Based on other possible ancestors, they were early colonial settlers in New England. However, I have been unable to entirely corroborate the claim that Allen's were related to Ethan Allen.

There is evidence on Ancestry, in association with records on Find A Grave, that Gideon Allen was the father of a William Allen, who married Betsey Watkins, later giving birth to Cyrus Allen. Contradicting this fact are lists of Gideon's children that do not include William and instead attribute Sylvester Allen as William's father.

It seems understood, on Ancestry.com (Ancestry), the location of source documents and the family tree, that Cyrus's father's name was William. But unfortunately, family trees point to different Williams and corrupt the identity of Cyrus's grandfather. For example, was it Sylvester Allen or Gideon Allen?

Let us, for the moment, approve the more salient outcome that Gideon Allen, cousin of Ethan Allen, was the father of William Allen. That allows me to introduce Henry Watkins, who further entangles the character in this story.

Henry Watkins (1742-1824), an immigrant from Wales, served with Ethan Allen in the Revolutionary War and carried dispatches between Allen and the defeated General Burgoyne, according to the obituary of his grandson, George Watkins.

The History of Cayuga County details the story of Henry Watkins. Watkins built the first framed structure of what would become the town of Scipio in 1790. In addition, his settlement precipitated the first marriage in Scipio between Watkin's daughter, Betsey, and the elusive William Allen. Also mentioned in the story (TOWN OF SCIPIO) is the arrival of Mr. Gideon Allen in Scipio the same year.

Not to be outdone by others in his generation, Gideon Allen also served in the Revolutionary War, achieving the rank of Sergeant in the Vermont militia. At first glance, the Allen (Alling) line traces back to Robert Allen Alling (1612-1674). An English immigrant who came to America in 1638 served as the first treasurer of New Haven, CT.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the union of Cyrus Allen and Amanda Durkee is a confluence of ancestors from a generation of frontiersmen and patriots. Some were first-generation Americans, and others had ancestors tracing back to the first settlers of the colonies.

I hope to continue looking at records on Ancestry and corroborate the records with documents that already exist from previous works on family trees. This dive has been fun but time-consuming. So when I return next, I'll continue walking down the Allen family tree until I reach my great-great-grandparents, Harry C. Jones and Florine Adele Allen, or I'll see how far back I can take another tree branch.