Allan Perley

1608 - 1675  (67 years)

• Name	Allan Perley  [1]
  Born	1608	Wales
  Gender	Male
  Immigration	Abt 1630	Massachusetts
  Will	23 Jun 1670	Ipswich, Massachusetts
  	HIS WILL. In the name of God, Amen! I, Allen Perley, of Ipswich, in the County of Essex, in New England, being by the good blessing of God in good health and enjoying my understanding and memory, yet sensible of my mortal and changeable condition here, and desirous to set my house in order, do therefore make my last will and testament: First. I commit my soul into the hands of Jesus Christ, my blessed Savior and Redeemer; my body to be decently buried in what place the Lord shall allot for me to depart this life, in assured hope of a joyful resurrection at the last day. And for my outward estate that God has graciously given me I thus dispose: My three elder sons, viz: John Perlye, Thomas Perley and Samuel Perlye, taking their liberty at the age of twenty-one to leave me at, yet I have given unto them three parts of the land beyond Hachelours brook (each of them a part which they are possessed of and do enjoy) excepting the great meadow, which I do reserve. And all that part of land which was Nathaniel's, my son who is departed this life, which I do give and bequeath unto my two daughters Sarah and Martha Perley. And my house and the use of my land and the great meadow I give and bequeath unto my son Timothy, when he shall attain to the age of twenty-three years, provided still my beloved wife Susanna shall have one room to her own use during her natural life. Item. I give unto my beloved wife all my cattle and movable goods and one-third part of the land bequeathed to my son Timothy during her natural life for her comfortable maintenance. And after her decease my will is, the house and land be unto my son Timothy, and the cattle and movable goods be equally divided among all my children then living. And my will and mind is, that if my said wife shall marry, that then the land and room in the house be unto my son Timothv and he to pay unto his mother seaven pounds a year during her life. And I do make my beloved wife sole executrix of this my last will. My will further is, that my son Timothy at the age of 23 years shall have the use of part of the stock to the value of thirty pounds during the life of my wife and then to be returned to be divided as is above expressed. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the 23 of June Anno Domini, 1670. Signed and sealed and Published as his last will in presence of us: ALLAN PERLEY. [L.S.] Robert Lord. Mary Lord. CODICIL. The 16th day of November, 1671, I, Allen Perley, as an explanation of that clause in my will within mentioned, concerning my wife, having given unto her my cattle and movables during her natural life, besides the thirds of land a room in the house and in case of her marriage to leave the room in the house and land and tp have seven pounds a year paid her by my son Timothy but nothing spoken about the cattle and movable goods,—my will is that she return also the cattle and movables to be divided among my children, as is expressed in said will. Witness my hand the day and year above written. Signed and Sealed and Published in presence of us: ALLAN PERLEY. [L.S.] Robert Lord. Mary Lord. February the 3d, 1675. Before our Honored Majesurates, Mr. Samuel Symond, Dep. Gov. and Major-Gen. Denison, the Clerke being present, this will and addition was proved to be the last will and testament of Allen Perley, by the oaths of Robert Lord, Senior, and Mary Lord. As Attest, Robert Lord, Clerk. The signature above was photographed from his will, which is in the Essex County Court Files, Vol. 24 : 121, and the Registry of Deeds, Vol. 4; and in the latter Registry and the Probate, is
  Died	28 Dec 1675	Ipswich, Massachusetts
  Probate	19 Jan 1675/76
  	THE INVENTORY of the estate of Allan Perley, deceased, the 28th of December last past taken and appraised by us whose names are underwritten, the 19th of January, 1675. £201 0 0 – In primis. The house, barn and orchard with the homestead, great meadow and meadow about home with some little upland belonging to the meadow 16 0 0 – The half part of that land as was Nathaniel Perley's 20 0 0 – The meadow that was Nathaniel's 10 0 0 – 2 Oxen 10 10 0 – 3 Cows 6 0 0 – 2 Cows 1 16 0 – 1 Heifer 1 0 0 – 1 Calf 5 0 0 – 1 Horse, Mare and Colt 8 0 0 – 20 Sheep 4 0 0 – 9 Swine 4 0 0 – His wearing clothes 7 0 0 – 3 Beds with what do belong to them 1 0 0 – 2 pairs Sheets 1 2 0 – 1 Table-cloth, Napkins 0 10 0 – 4 Pillow-cases 0 8 0 – 6 Trays 1 0 0 – Pewter 0 10 0 – 20 pounds Butter 0 5 0 – Cheese 0 16 0 – 20 pounds Cotton Wool 1 0 0 – 20 " Sheep's Wool 1 10 0 – 12 " Woolen Yam 1 10 0 – Linen Yarn 2 10 0 – 3 Guns 1 10 0 – 5 bushels Wheat 0 16 0 – 4 " Rye 3 0 0 – 18 " Indian Com 1 10 0 – Beef 1 0 0 – 2 Iron pots and a mortar 0 15 0 – Brass 0 10 0 – Pans, dishes and spoons and some small things 0 4 0 – Pail, Half-bushel, Half-peck 0 10 0 – A churn, a barrel, a meat-tub and some old tubs and a barrel 0 15 0 – 2 Trammels, Frying-pan, Pot-hooks and a gridiron, Fire-pan and Tongs 0 10 0 – 3 axes and a hoe 1 10 0 – An old Cart, Tumbrel, Wheels, Plow, Yoke and irons, belonging to them 0 4 0 – An Auger, a Chisel, 2 pair Fork-tines 0 2 0 – A Rope 0 2 0 – A pair of Bellows 0 3 0 – Chairs and Cushion 0 5 0 – A Table, Cotton wheel and form 0 2 0 – A smoothing Iron 0 2 0 – Sieves 0 6 0 – A Bible and a Psalm book 0 2 0 – Sacks 3 5 0 – Hay and Flax 0 4 6 – A Chest 0 4 0 – Cards 1 0 0 – 5 Bushels of Barley 3 10 0 – A Boar ---------- 320 2 6 – Total [according to the record] John Kimball Nehemiah Abbott. DEBTS or THE DECEASED. 6 3 0 – Mr. Winthrop, 2 14 0 – To the Constable 0 18 0 – '' Dea. Goodhue 0 10 0 – " Capt. Currier 0 11 0 – Mr. Cobbett, 3 12 0 – Thos. Perley 0 6 0 – Job French 0 4 6 – Dea. Knowlton 0 3 6 – James Howe, senior. ---------- 15 2 0
  Biography	From M. V. B. Perley: ALLAN PERLEY, the emigrant ancestor of the Perley Family in America, was born in Wales, England, in the first quarter of the year 1608, and died in Ipswich, Massachusetts, 28 Dec, 1675. He married, in the year 1635, Susanna Bokesen, or Bokenson, who died in Ipswich, 11 Feb., 1692, after a widowhood of sixteen years. Mr. Perley came to this country, at the age of twenty-two years, in the fleet with Governor Winthrop, and located in "Charlestowne Village," on land which is now included in the city of Woburn and called "Button-end," near a tract of meadow, marked in the cut A A A, which has been known for two and a half centuries as "Parly meddowe," through which meanders a brook spanned by a plank bridge, marked B, six and a half feet wide, and known as "Parly brook." The name is found in probate records, and in the colonial records, 2:75, as it is spelled above; and it is pronounced by the citizens of Woburn today as it is here spelled. Why he relinquished his settlement is a matter of conjecture. The rigors of his first winter were extreme; the sufferings of the settlers were intense. "The weather," reads Lendrum's History of the American Revolution, "held tolerable until the 24th December, but the cold then came on with violence. Such a Christmas eve they had never seen before. From that time to the 10th of February their chief care was to keep themselves warm, and as comfortable in other respects as their scant provisions would permit. They were so short of provisions that many were obliged to live upon clams, mussels, and other shell-fish, with ground-nuts and acorns, instead of bread. One that came to the Governor's house to complain of his sufferings, was prevented, being informed that even there the last batch was in the oven. The poorer sort were much exposed, lying in tents and miserable hovels, and many died of scurvy and other distempers." Such an experience would dishearten the most resolute; in fact, "some of the Board of Assistants," according to Bancroft's History of the United States, "men who had been trusted as the inseparable companions of the common misery or common success, disheartened by the scenes of woe, sailed for England." Many others also went home for the same cause. The statement in Lambert's History of the New Haven Colony, that in 1684 "the colonies at Watertown, Dorchester and Newtown [Cambridge] had become so crowded by the accessions of new-planters, that many left," affords another suggestion. He may have sold his grant and improvements, all his local rights and interests, feeling assured of finding another location as good or better. The great attraction to Boston and vicinity was the learned, wealthy, and noble Governor Winthrop, but our ancestor seems to have found more attraction in the younger Winthrop at Ipswich. However it may have been with our ancestor—whatever his reason or motive for leaving, he remained long enough to stamp his name indelibly upon the territory and to record the unquestioned fact of his possession. According to the manuscript chart of the family, "From thence he moved to Ipswich in 1634." By the town records, he was in Ipswich in 1635. But before identifying himself with Ipswich history, he visited England; for he was there "2nd Aprilis, 1635," according to a record in the Augmentation office, London, and set sail that month for New England. He located in Ipswich, on High street, a short distance from Governor Bradstreet and the Waldo family. The place was and is the second houselot northwest of the High-street cemetery, and it is remarkable that it has the same shape and area now that it had then—two and a half centuries ago. Alexander Knight's homestead was on the northwest, George Smith's on the southeast, "a drift way" on the northeast, and High street on the southwest. At present the new part of the cemetery is on the northeast. It was a picturesque spot. Located on the western slope of Town hill and agreeably elevated from the street, it commanded a fine view of the verdant slopes of Turkey and Timber hills and the ridge-range of houses along Scott's lane, the present Washington street. The deep frontage of his lot afforded ample opportunity to arrange a spacious avenue from the street to his dwelling, with flowering plants and shrubbery on either side, after the fashion of the average gentleman of the old country. Whatever he did in the matter, his selection of grounds of such possible improvements, attest his good taste and judgment, educated, no doubt, by the experiences of his early life. There he brought his young wife and began the business of life anew; there most of his children were born; thence have radiated the family name and influence. He resided there about seventeen years, selling, 3 Sept., 1652, for £21, his "dwelling house and homestead" to Walter Roper, carpenter, of Topsfield. …… Mr. Perley was a large land-holder, and besides possessions in Essex, Rowley, and Boxford, he had in Ipswich, in 1635, land at Heartbreak hill; in 1640, 1 : 3 mo., a road from Rowley to Salem was laid out "over the falls at Mile river and by marked trees over Mr. Appleton's meadowe, called Parlye meadowe"; he was a commoner in 1641; he owned a houselot on Mill street in 1642, the street being now called Washington, and the lot being traversed by Mt. Pleasant street; he had a planting lot on Town hill in 1645; "att a meeting of the seven men the 8th (5) 1651" there was "granted to Alen Perlye (in exchange for Thirty acres more or less at Chebacco lyeing on the west syde of his meddowe) the sume of forty-five acres of upland lyeing beyond Mr. VVinthropes farme Joyneing up to some of the ppriatyes thereabouts"; he was granted 10 acres by the town in 1660; he owned one and a half shares in Plum Island in 1664, and, at some time, five acres of upland and marsh called Reedy marsh. In 1670, he had liberty of the town to cut timber for a "barne." He was admitted to the privileges of freemen, 18 May, 1642; was a grand juror 25 Sept., 1660, and at various times was" witness to legal documents, and served on important committees; he was upon the coroner's jury in the case of his neighbor, Alexander Knight's child Nathaniel, who, while alone, was so burned that he died m a few hours. He was excused from training in 1656 and again in 1664. A court record reads: 1669, Sept. 28, Tobiah Colman vs. Allen Perley, for taking up and detaining his horse. Verdict for pi. 50s, no costs—a case probably wherein the law regarding field-drivers was not rigidly followed. In November, 1662, there was Allen Perley vs. Henry Batchelder, "for not giving him lawful assurance" of land” located near a pond, and Batchelder lost. Mr. Perley was a man of considerable importance, and was held in good esteem. The location of his home, as referred to above, and his clear-penned signature to his will, though he was then nearly seventy years of age, witness a gentle birth, experience and character. The presence of pewter upon his table was a mark of more than ordinary social rank, and the probate inventory of his estate shows his business connections to have been with the honored and best citizens. Coming to America with the Puritans in 1630, he must have been a cordial sympathizer with them in their persecutions and their faith, although it was not till late in life that he was received into full church-fellowship. He and his wife joined the church 12 Aug., 1674. Mrs. Perley's history is quite unknown to us. Marriageable maidens of gentle social rank were titled Mrs., and Mrs. Susanna Bokesen was doubtless one of that class. We have diligently sought the name Bokesen, in books and by correspondence with Old and New England, without satisfactory results. We have, however, met the name Boksen, which is, no doubt, the same as hers. The name is of Danish origin, and she was probably descended from those Danes who early in English history crossed the North Sea, and settled along the east coast of England. Doubtless Mr. Perley had a home prepared on the grant of 1651 beyond Mr. Winthrop's farm, when he sold his town estate to Mr. Roper. The site of the later residence is still pointed out in Ipswich, south of the residence of Charles M. Perley. There they lived and labored and loved for a quarter of a century; there they saw their children grow up about them respected and useful citizens; there they were honored; there they practised sobriety and earned their wealth; and when the sun of their life glowed m the western horizon, “Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams,” they rested in the hope of a blessed immortality. The place of their interment is probably near their first home.
  Person ID	I856	Our Family
  Last Modified	4 Oct 2016

  
  

  Family	Susanna Bokesen,   b. England ,   d. 11 Feb 1692, Ipswich, Massachusetts
  Married	1635
  Children	1. John Perley,   b. 1636, Ipswich, Massachusetts ,   d. 15 Dec 1729, Boxford, Massachusetts  (Age 93 years)   2. Samuel Perley,   b. 1640, Ipswich, Massachusetts ,   d. Aft 1707  (Age > 68 years)   3. Thomas Perley,   b. 1641, Ipswich, Massachusetts ,   d. 24 Sep 1709, Boxford, Massachusetts  (Age 68 years)   4. Nathaniel Perley,   b. 1643, Ipswich, Massachusetts ,   d. 29 Apr 1668, Ipswich, Massachusetts  (Age 25 years)   5. Sarah Perley,   b. 1648, Topsfield, Massachusetts ,   d. Bef 1695  (Age < 47 years)   6. Timothy Perley,   b. 1653, Ipswich, Massachusetts ,   d. 25 Jan 1718  (Age 65 years)   7. Martha Perley,   b. Apr 1657
  Last Modified	18 Dec 2016
  Family ID	F301	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 1608 - Wales Immigration - Abt 1630 - Massachusetts Will - 23 Jun 1670 - Ipswich, Massachusetts Died - 28 Dec 1675 - Ipswich, Massachusetts  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Documents

  Allen Perley (1608-1675)

  
  

• Sources

  [S16] Perley, Perley Family (Reliability: 0).