John Allin, or John Allen (1596–1671), was an English-born
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
cleric and one of the
patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...
s of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
associated with
the foundation of
Dedham, Massachusetts
Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...
.
Biography
Allen was born in 1596. It is believed he was of
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...
at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, where he proceeded
M.A.[Venn's ''Alumni Cantabrigienses'' rejects an identification with a John Allen who entered Caius College, Cambridge in 1612. ] He was a classmate of
George Phillips.
According to the ''Dictionary of National Biography'', he is described "by one not given to laudation" as having been ‘a hard student, a good scholar,’ and it is added he was ‘an excellent preacher, a grave and pious divine, and a man of a most humble, heavenly, and courteous behaviour, full of sweet christian love to all.’ Nonetheless, was he exposed to the politico-religious persecutions of the times. Being ‘settled’ at
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
, he came under the ban of
Bishop Wren. He voluntarily left his ‘cure’ and removed to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, rather than be contentious.
[ ]
To America
About the year 1637–8 he accompanied a band of English Puritanism to New England, ‘being obliged to go on board the ship which was to convey him thither in disguise, in order to elude pursuit.’ He was invited by the residents to settle in
Dedham, Massachusetts
Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...
"with thoughts of future employment in publik worke." In 1639 he was chosen pastor of the
First Church and Parish in Dedham
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
where he continued "much beloved and useful all the rest of his days," only now and again accompanying
Eliot in his "labours" among the Indians.
He later wrote a history of the founding of the Dedham church.
On the trip over, Allin and his companions spent much of the time in prayer meetings.
When a fellow passenger attempted to fish over the railing on a Sunday, he was questioned as to why he would work on the Sabbath.
[ He responded that he thought every day was the Sabbath as "they did nothing but preach and pray from one end of the week until the other."][
]
Nine Positions
In 1637 a number of English divines, having had it bruited that their brethren in New England were departing from the old landmarks in regard to ecclesiastical discipline and order, addressed to them a letter of inquiry in respect to what they called the ‘Nine Positions.’ The New-England divines answered the communication at great length, frankly acknowledging that on certain points their views had been modified. This in turn was replied to by John Ball on behalf of the English divines, and to this finally a very able and pungent answer was given by Allen along with Thomas Shepard, entitled ‘A Defence of the Nine Positions.’
Baptism controversy
Later, a protracted controversy agitated New England on the proper ‘subjects’ (or objects) of baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
. Allen was foremost in the fray, and published a vigorous ‘Defence of the Synod held at Boston in the year 1662.’ He was likewise associated with Shepard in a treatise on ‘Church Reformation.’
Limitation of colonial allegiance
But Allen was more than a pastor and preacher. Though of rare patience and peacefulness, he could take a stand when called to it. Necessity was laid on him to do so very strongly and peremptorily. In 1646 an attempt which was made to bring the colonists into subjection to the British parliament produced passionate resistance. Allen was chosen to be the ‘voice’ of the colony, and he submitted a statesmanlike paper in ‘a manly and decided tone,’ marking the just limitations of colonial allegiance and imperial rights, and fully sustaining the colonists.
Personal life
He was twice married. His first wife, Margaret, went over with him to New England. They were married by John Phillips, with whom he would later share the pulpit in Dedham. Shortly after her death he married his second wife Katharine, widow of Governor Thomas Dudley. He left three sons, and all over the United States to-day families are found to trace their descent from him. He died on 26 August 1671. He is buried in the Old Village Cemetery
The Old Village Cemetery is an historic cemetery in Dedham, Massachusetts.
History
The first portion of the cemetery was set apart at the first recorded meeting of the settlers of Dedham on August 18, 1636, with land taken from Nicholas Phillips a ...
. In 1639, he was granted land in West Dedham, which later housed the town pound.[
His bereaved congregation published his last two sermons: the one from Song of Solomon viii. 5, and the other from St. John xiv. 22. In their preface the editors denominate him ‘a constant, faithful, diligent steward in the house of God, a man of peace and truth, and a burning and shining light.’ These two sermons were some years since reprinted in a memorial volume, entitled ''The Dedham Pulpit''.
]
Books authored
Allin authored several books, including
*A defence of the answer made unto the nine questions or positions sent from New-England, against the reply thereto by that reverend servant of Christ, Mr. John Ball, entituled, A tryall of the new church-way in New-England and in old wherin, beside a more full opening of sundry particulars concerning liturgies, power of the keys, matter of the visible church, &c., is more largely handled that controversie concerning the catholick, visible church : tending to cleare up the old-way of Christ in New-England churches / by Iohn Allin ndTho. Shepard ...
*Animadversions on the Antisynodalia Americana, A Treatise Printed in Old England, in the Name of the Dissenting Brethren in the Synod Held at Boston, 1662
Legacy
The Allin Congregational Church
Allin Congregational Church is a historic United Church of Christ church in Dedham, Massachusetts, Dedham, Massachusetts. It was built in 1818 by conservative breakaway members of Dedham's First Church and Parish (Dedham, Massachusetts), First Chur ...
was named for Allen after it split from the First Church and Parish in Dedham
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
.
Notes
References
*
Works cited
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, John
1596 births
1671 deaths
17th-century Christian clergy
Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
American Christian clergy
Kingdom of England emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony
American religious writers
17th-century English Anglican priests
Massachusetts colonial-era clergy
People from colonial Dedham, Massachusetts
17th-century New England Puritan ministers
Clergy from Dedham, Massachusetts
People from Northamptonshire
17th-century Calvinist and Reformed ministers
Burials at Old Village Cemetery
Signers of the Dedham Covenant