Free Webinar
The Odyssey of Isaac Allerton: Rebel Pilgrim
Thursday, October 5, 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET
Presented by David A. Furlow
This program charts the odyssey of an almost-forgotten founding father: Isaac Allerton. The First Assistant Governor of Plymouth Colony during its first decade, Isaac Allerton rebelled against the arbitrary authority of church and state in England and America. Hear from historian and Allerton expert David A. Furlow on the many rebellions within the Pilgrim's life, including:
- Isaac's parents Bartholomew and Mary Allerton were the first Mayflower family to separate from the Anglican Church in East Bergholt, Suffolk in 1594.
- Isaac rebelled against King James I and the Anglican Church when he and his sister Sarah emigrated to the Netherlands to join Pastor John Robinson’s Separatist congregation in Leiden.
- He brought his wife and children to Plymouth Colony on the Mayflower in 1620, where he was the fifth signer of the Mayflower Compact.
- He transcended the expectations of his times while trading in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts Bay, and early New Haven, earning a reputation as the First Yankee Merchant.
- In New Netherland, he won popular election to a council of state that challenged the arbitrary authority of New Netherland’s Director General Willem Kieft.
- Isaac gathered signatures and served as the second signer of the 1644 Remonstrance of the Eight Men of Manhattan to the Estates General of the Netherlands. It was the first demand for settler rights and self-government in the Dutch colonial world. It led to Kieft’s replacement by Director General Peter Stuyvesant and the birth of New Amsterdam’s municipal government.
David A. Furlow is a Texas historian and attorney. David founded the Journal of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society in 2011, served as its Executive Editor until 2020, and now serves as its Emeritus Editor and historical conference-planner. David participated as an onscreen expert in History Channel documentaries in 2006 and 2016. He has presented programs and published articles and book chapters about New Netherland, New Sweden, New England, and Chesapeake archaeology and history for the past two decades. The Colonial Society of Massachusetts elected David as a member in 2022. Lisa Pennington and David Furlow married in 1982, while at the University of Texas Law School in Austin. They have three children and four grandchildren (so far). David and Lisa are now writing a biography of Plymouth Colony First Assistant Governor Isaac Allerton and the Allerton family.