Barkhamsted's Oligarchy: Exposing Nuance in Early Connecticut Town Development

On May 21, 1815, Pelatiah Allyn III passed away at the age of sixty in Barkhamsted, Connecticut.1 His death, three years after that of his contemporary and fellow leading citizen Israel Jones Jr., marked the end of a roughly eighty-year period that witnessed two generations of the Allyn and Jones families rise from the unincorporated township's earliest settlers to its most powerful citizens.2 The Allyn and Jones multi-generational oligarchy led much of Barkhamsted's proprietor committees, its military trainband, its religious society, and the town's most influential local and state government positions. The most important institutions to the development of any colonial town were under the control of an Allyn or Jones throughout the colonial, Revolution, and post-revolution periods.The new township in which the Allyn and Jones patriarchs settled and developed was part of a larger region in the northwest section of the colony referred to as the Greenwoods District. The earliest Euro-American settlers of Barkhamsted turned a rugged and stony landscape, previously inhabited by Indigenous groups, into the beginnings of a colonial township and developed it into a growing, incorporated town by the turn of the nineteenth century. For two generations, Pelatiah Allyn Jr. and his son Pelatiah Allyn III along with Israel Jones Sr. and his son Israel Jones Jr. were not only instrumental to, but also largely in control of, the development of Barkhamsted.Much of the existing literature that is available on colonial Connecticut town development illustrates the collective belief that early towns of Connecticut began as traditional Puritan societies, based on a central town nucleus with a seemingly oligarchical government system ruled by a few leading citizens, and a strict religious conservatism which was also initially dominated by a few. The established history of colonial Connecticut depicts a consolidated town where a few people controlled the government, religious, and military institutions. The nuclear town center, where most of these town leaders resided, acted as a control center of sorts for the municipality. However, due to population increases, religious awakenings, and Enlightenment ideas woven into the fabric of the American Revolution, these early towns underwent drastic changes in their political and societal institutions during the colonial, Revolution, and post-revolution periods. These changes led to more differentiated, decentralized, and less oligarchic societies in Connecticut towns and their institutions. In addition, as the colonial population increased, residents began to settle further from the town center than ever before. As people moved outward, the nucleated town center became less fundamental to the town apparatus. The government, religious, and military institutions of Connecticut towns typically became more populist and democratic during this process.3 While more recent historians have offered evidence to allow for nuances to this popular conclusion, it persists in “the collective American mind.”4In Barkhamsted, an opposite transformation to the traditional historical narrative occurred. Barkhamsted developed during these great population increases, societal changes, and revolutions, but started as a township of scattered outlivers with no influential nucleated town center, and became a municipality where the town center was created later and became more influential as the township matured. Barkhamsted's early decentralized society as the town became more and the to an oligarchic system controlled by two generations of Allyn and Jones In Barkhamsted developed in an opposite to the early Connecticut the Allyn and Jones oligarchy consolidated in early proprietor committees, the military the town's society, and the local and state government of the of a populist was a of Barkhamsted a and from that of most Connecticut years the of Pelatiah Allyn III and Israel Jones Jr., the Barkhamsted of for the at the in Connecticut on The was to a in of the roughly of new that to by the Connecticut The of that the Barkhamsted of were to was part of a larger as the or the and section of the colony of Connecticut largely and by the population of the settlers to the more and and the Connecticut the of the section of the colony to by the earliest the was by an to of the Indigenous population from and were at two Indigenous that were or in the of, Barkhamsted by the the Allyn and Jones families established in the The on the that is but from the by settlers from the Connecticut into the of the Greenwoods District. The the for for but by largely in and in or to and of these the Barkhamsted was a American and on the in Barkhamsted and much for the its the and the the by Euro-American the Connecticut the Greenwoods to the Connecticut towns of and was that became the towns of Barkhamsted, and was that became and The of of and was and and The were this were “the of to a and to their and and of their were the as Barkhamsted, moved to control of their new The of the new was in and was referred to as the and of to the Barkhamsted of based on their from of Pelatiah Allyn Sr. was at which of of In Pelatiah Allyn the of two from for the Allyn in Barkhamsted to in Allyn Sr. of his new and any of in Barkhamsted to his son Pelatiah Allyn Jr. in Allyn Jr. began the of his the part of the new township and was of Barkhamsted's earliest this it is that Allyn in the only in of Allyn Jr., referred to as from the from Barkhamsted proprietor of In the of Allyn Jr. a further from which was to his to the in control of Pelatiah Allyn Jr. was as not only of Barkhamsted's earliest but as its leading as the Connecticut the new were for further at the and established a new for the was The Barkhamsted of with this new and to the a led by Allyn Jr. of Barkhamsted, that to have the township to where it as a part of was the of Barkhamsted's The Allyn Jr. as the for the of Barkhamsted to and Barkhamsted to is but from Barkhamsted to is the for the in the that only a few Barkhamsted of in the township at the and more to in the for the to Barkhamsted to the the and Barkhamsted in the created proprietor the of that the and the patriarchs These proprietor as the early institutions of Barkhamsted its as a town in and were the most important in any unincorporated of the and of the which was by local in the incorporated was in the of the Barkhamsted of and the control these was to control early township to leading the for a in government, Allyn Jr. was also leading important to of that to in town to In a as Barkhamsted in which the and not it to from the was from the Greenwoods was for and and was also for and for was the to Barkhamsted's The to a from Barkhamsted's were a that to Barkhamsted this in the and to in Barkhamsted's leading to the was with Allyn Jr. was also to to to the in in to a from the Pelatiah to the where in Barkhamsted were to and it to to the existing which was further along in its Barkhamsted and also Allyn to the The new referred to as from into Barkhamsted the of Pelatiah Allyn the Allyn Jr. was in control of the and colony and the in Barkhamsted, Israel Jones Sr. from and his to their and The new his Israel Jones The moved to the and of The to the the Jones settled on was not and after Jones Sr. established as of the leading in the and along with Allyn Jr., controlled much of the the Israel Jones Sr. his and to the of Barkhamsted, Pelatiah Allyn Jr. also his on the Allyn Jr. and his from two and Pelatiah Allyn In to his Pelatiah Allyn Jr. to his by the 21, and of and The Allyn and Jones in the the in its most important institutions and the to their Pelatiah Allyn III and Israel Jones the of the two families began to Barkhamsted's oligarchy and Barkhamsted an opposite development than the historical for it is important to the that the Allyn and Jones in this as In colonial is no were an and and in However, is also no that a part in the of any and the and for the families and and that families the of and also and to to their historians have evidence the by colonial For Pelatiah Allyn Jr. and Israel Jones it was these that in with and powerful or from their of the These and the and to rise to the that Allyn and Jones in Barkhamsted's is by at the Pelatiah Allyn Jr. and was the of an early in the town of which Barkhamsted to the As a town that was also created of the from the Greenwoods but roughly years of Barkhamsted in its and was the incorporated town to the Allyn and it the institutions that control town was also the of was an early in and of the town in and the town's In addition, was a citizen of from the of his was a in the state and as a to the in The and by Allyn the and by it for to and in institutions in Barkhamsted that of in These to created by colonial and under but to the of Connecticut town May of years into the and in the Connecticut for an to Connecticut and was to and from the population of the to the of the later the colonial with this to that and have to a and as or and that a the and a than is The new passed The and on the was to the and was The referred to as the was to and at the of town in which it passed The the for by of the the Barkhamsted three in to their the in the to the and to for it by the that on the new from the and from the that but not by the of Barkhamsted Pelatiah Allyn Jr. was to the to the and of the and the of the to as to the from to the of Barkhamsted to three more of in Barkhamsted the Barkhamsted of of the three were much the as the an of their and for the a of after the three of and further of Pelatiah Allyn Jr., was not only in of the proprietor that controlled early Barkhamsted, but was also Allyn Jr. to a further to his and with the from the new of in the of the and the three further of the of great for years a for the of by the colony of Connecticut that the town However, by Barkhamsted settled people the town to the to the of in the Barkhamsted not any in the In Barkhamsted to that no were in town from the of in the Connecticut in the population in years the town to and to a new of the popular history of towns in the of new families and to for not a and of society and its institutions during this Pelatiah Allyn Jr. and Israel Jones Sr. to and in early institutions and to an oligarchic Allyn Jr. and the few residents of the to to the a few years after it was the into and became Connecticut for a to for the residents of the town to on the for to was a to a residents Barkhamsted, to and their and to the Barkhamsted not have a to the an population to to, or the to for the from the and much of the In the Connecticut Barkhamsted for the to the the of and the of in the is in great of and any for the in the unincorporated the of the towns to and the of the town to the the a that of the and the town for the this was not in it for to and or in which for their and in the of Barkhamsted from the the township in to a of and to the to the in than Pelatiah Allyn Jr. the with leading the and important to his town of the Greenwoods and to by the Barkhamsted to the from of the of in the on the to this developed a that and a that from from Barkhamsted not any of the in the of the two and the that Barkhamsted and that the and the of to have to it the the and the the in for a more and moved his and on the to and in these two but an and to The to a in to a new from the system the township further the The the to any the the was to the have from the of the in Allyn Jr., and by Israel Jones the of of the that moved in were to Barkhamsted at the to to the to the new was the that of the Allyn and Jones families on but it was not the in in the In addition, their Allyn III and Jones Jr., much of the their in the For two Allyn Jr. and Jones Sr. were to the of the new However, in of as the Connecticut for the new While to the of the the Allyn and Jones the that the Barkhamsted the for Barkhamsted was a growing, but unincorporated township of residents with no town center, religious society, or military to its the began in Barkhamsted in the military As it the of a of The Allyn and Jones and their were to the of that with Allyn Jr. and Jones of proprietor in of the early town the with was the Jones to have the township incorporated by the colony and to town and have to town and to and as the of Israel Jones Jr., years the that Barkhamsted families and as a Barkhamsted was to and for the of also and the of is much and not His Israel Jones and Barkhamsted residents the Jones Pelatiah Allyn Jr. his son Pelatiah Allyn III the not to the of that as the township's early settlers and The Jones settled later and were not part of the Barkhamsted of have from the of the the township the were for the Jones the and the Allyn the was with a from the in the in the the that the Allyn and Jones patriarchs were the of the the the Jones Jr. The with the of Barkhamsted to the in have the to Barkhamsted the to on its The township have to more years to an incorporated town in the of May after the the Jones to it became to Connecticut that a of the colonial was in the the passed an to the for the and the and for the of for the of this created the of that of residents and the of the new of to by the towns and by the These were in which of the Connecticut towns and The of roughly sixty on the of with to and were led by a a an and The of these during the period illustrates a further of the of institutions that the popular historical during this While in earliest was by the of the and of was However, in Barkhamsted this was not Pelatiah Allyn Jr. was as of the Barkhamsted Israel Jones Sr. was to as his The of Barkhamsted and the in which the two early settlers and leading families in the township as the leaders for military For the three the two at the of the Barkhamsted and control the township's military during the Connecticut that at and in of the colony and with great Connecticut to of to the new These only the end of the and were from the existing state The Israel Jones Jr. in the of the and the with a of and the with the of and the was to the two to and the Jones Jr. the in and in the for the much of the was early in due to a of its Connecticut its of the and for the of the than the that previously the Israel Jones Jr. was by the of Connecticut and the of the Connecticut on Jones Jr. and the and at in in the of and at the in While at Jones Jr. was to the Jones Jr. with at the of In May of Jones Jr. his in the and to Barkhamsted where control of the Barkhamsted of the state that created and controlled by his and Pelatiah Allyn Allyn of of not as as Jones Jr., as an important in his While the of that Jones Jr. in were and Connecticut to a of to the for the new the In and Pelatiah Allyn III was to under Allyn III May the was Allyn III also to Barkhamsted to in the Barkhamsted with his and Jones Sr. after his with the in Barkhamsted, patriarchs Pelatiah Allyn Jr. and Israel Jones Sr. to the of the of from In May Allyn Jr. the and the Jones Sr. to In the of the the state after the was and Barkhamsted into the of the of Allyn III and Jones Jr. their influential leading in Barkhamsted's new military The Allyn III to in the of the new and the was to of the in Allyn III his and was of the Barkhamsted Israel Jones Jr. became of the in the The Jones Jr. was of the that Barkhamsted's where for the Jones was as of the Barkhamsted created its military trainband, to Israel Jones Jr. from at sixty years the Allyn and Jones families controlled the military institutions of the the Barkhamsted its of with the proprietor in the colonial and with in the military institutions during the Revolution, the two leading families of the town controlled the of than its citizens, the township's most important institutions were developed by the Allyn and Jones the in the to new religious societies in settled towns or in the residents to a society the to the for to and with the of an the of the town institutions throughout the the religious societies in Connecticut were also to the of two population increases, and a rise in most towns of their societies and for The in Connecticut at this witnessed a in and in However, in Barkhamsted the was created during this as the residents of the township to their religious and The Allyn and Jones families were at the of an influential town and controlled its May of the of Barkhamsted families and were the to their the the families from Barkhamsted were of society and and were in of a religious Israel Jones Sr. was as and led the in which the to the was and was the of the as In addition, Pelatiah Allyn Jr. was to control the and was to the of any the to the The Barkhamsted led by the Allyn and was referred to as in the proprietor but is Barkhamsted The was to the society by the Barkhamsted also led by the two leading citizens, in as the for the of the that settle in the of the on this that the Allyn and Jones families on a and also where the of the society the the the for a in to the for the and the of a the the in the center of town in which the Barkhamsted a town center years after Pelatiah Allyn Jr. settled in the new is the of this town center by the Allyn and Jones families that in the development of The colonial town center was the center of and this and than from a nucleated town center to a more scattered and decentralized Barkhamsted developed in a from the traditional Connecticut as a scattered and a township with a nucleated center controlled by a years was as the in the his in the was The for to the was led by the Israel Jones Jr. Jones Jr. was the of for the society, from the Allyn Jr., and in the Connecticut that the of the society not their of the society In to the to the a was created by of the society to Israel Jones Jr. the most and the by to Pelatiah Allyn III to in Barkhamsted was and created a by Israel Jones Sr. and initially the by Pelatiah Allyn Jr. the in Barkhamsted to a was by the on the Allyn and Jones families in positions. families the of the and town center, in Barkhamsted with by Jones Jr. and in and by Allyn and The two families to not only the proprietor and military in Barkhamsted, but also in the religious of the town as Barkhamsted's by the Allyn and Jones not the of and that the during the post-revolution In the years from Barkhamsted's new with in The of the religious in Barkhamsted's center, and its in during the further the town's was more to the established historical narrative of Connecticut town than the of societies that much of the state the Barkhamsted's residents initially started as a and people to and a central much of the consolidated into society in the center of town with the Allyn and Jones families at the of the the and religious institutions established in Barkhamsted, and the Allyn and Jones leading the township was for the in its In of Barkhamsted, and its for as towns in While this to the for town not the from The the towns of and and with the and that towns in this by Barkhamsted a town in the state of new municipality was to a of and to the and to town government by the the Barkhamsted residents on its the of the town from the the only were the age of and were under new of Barkhamsted the was also led by the Allyn and Jones families in the new local and state government that were as an incorporated While Barkhamsted's period as a township the town to population for the these two of the Barkhamsted the of town in the of two families than the and that Connecticut towns Barkhamsted a of its and as by the However, during this it became that the town's not to the to the state that it was to In a to the town of Barkhamsted its and for of any state its Barkhamsted a of its and in In this the of was and In to Connecticut this a In was and In the by any Connecticut town that to the state from Barkhamsted's to the and Connecticut town of the Greenwoods District. a of more than Barkhamsted's in the of Barkhamsted only of for or In of was as and of to of to its in in the of the Barkhamsted was for its the to into the as and Barkhamsted not state for Barkhamsted's were in In three years after the town for a in state Pelatiah Allyn Jr., Barkhamsted's leading and its most and to his only son Pelatiah Allyn Allyn III an and the of his as of the most influential and powerful residents in the Israel Jones Sr. his 21, passed away at the age of the years after the Barkhamsted's population to and most of the it previously The town and were its this population and the of the Allyn and Jones not end the two control of The Pelatiah Allyn III and Israel Jones Jr., to and in the town's institutions. While popular history that and more a in their local after the this is not in this Pelatiah Allyn III to more to his in Barkhamsted and Israel Jones Jr. in the to proprietor their Allyn and Jones were to, of that or on the in Barkhamsted to that have In addition, the powerful a on the of the in Barkhamsted for a not In the of Barkhamsted and for the to the in town to the of was and to the in and Allyn III of Barkhamsted an incorporated town in the state of and its to the for the Pelatiah Allyn III and Israel Jones Jr. in more of and to in the town's of Barkhamsted much of their from the that were the in of the in the For this the proprietor that were controlled by the Allyn and Jones families were with and Barkhamsted's more families in the town and the the in Barkhamsted for a the much of its by the end of the In addition, the Connecticut Barkhamsted's for in that the town and local and government institutions. of from the to the town government, not from Allyn and Jones to from to 1815, Pelatiah Allyn III and Israel Jones Jr. dominated these new government institutions. The residents of Barkhamsted to the two of Barkhamsted's earliest settlers to town at the and for not only proprietor committees, but also traditional town government were in the of the two families for more than two early history the most influential town government were that of and town the three much of the town's and was The and the to society and or the of new town The were in control of and were to that were to a The as for The was the most important in town government and not only the and were but also of the town to the The town on the was important as the of the and in town in their and were instrumental in the of any In Israel Jones Jr. was as the town a more In Jones was also as a town in this more Jones Jr. also as a of the in Barkhamsted and during these Jones the town as the Barkhamsted town for years from to Allyn III with Jones as town in Allyn was to as town The Allyn as a Barkhamsted of the for years in Allyn III along with Jones Jr., controlled much of the town government and the were and to that controlled of the of Barkhamsted In to the local town government the Barkhamsted of in and that Barkhamsted developed that further proprietor in the new town was further that the proprietor to from Barkhamsted and no a Pelatiah Allyn III was to in this in Allyn and Jones to with the town on and for also with as from Barkhamsted to the Connecticut the as a to the in was the most important local government by town in For its years of Barkhamsted was to have government but was not any in the due to its to state However, in the period of that Barkhamsted to for its state The the of and in their by of the of a new have not to to the of this but as and and to to the state of Connecticut with its of Barkhamsted was to to Pelatiah Allyn III and Israel Jones Jr. became the to the from Barkhamsted in In to their Allyn and Jones the town in Allyn to a of in the years from and Jones was to in the years from to Barkhamsted's Pelatiah Allyn Jr. and Israel Jones Sr. became leading of society, and in of for the In addition, in the of the Barkhamsted it was and a leading in and the Barkhamsted Barkhamsted was incorporated as an town in their largely much of the from their of the Allyn and Jones families to of and by the people of Barkhamsted into the nineteenth the town the nineteenth Barkhamsted was no a in which few for the to In by the turn of the the town was and the population became much more the end of the Connecticut towns were based on the that were by of the the their in and to the town by These turned into the by of the The that were to the as into the of the in which the only Barkhamsted from this period is from to the by Barkhamsted in the town for from the much Barkhamsted's and development the two Barkhamsted the of to years in in Barkhamsted in Barkhamsted was in of and in to the town only and In of by Barkhamsted was on of and of and These a from the of and of and in in the from Barkhamsted not a or was In the of a two a a two three and a the was in and Barkhamsted's population by the of the nineteenth century. two years after the of was the Barkhamsted from to the of and and to a population of the established town families in which to leaders However, the in and the of for Barkhamsted not a of its most influential but the two most powerful families largely in control of years after was to his town Israel Jones Jr. passed away at the age of of Barkhamsted's leading not a for his Jones Jr., the son of to Barkhamsted from with his and the to much of his and and his In addition, three years on May 21, 1815, Pelatiah Allyn III at the age of As the only son of the town's much more from his than Jones Jr. and much more from part of an in the Barkhamsted of his death, Allyn III a larger of to his three and his two into the nineteenth not only was Barkhamsted's and development as a town but the eighty-year oligarchic by the Allyn and Jones families was as two generations of Allyn and Jones patriarchs and their in in the proprietor committees, the military the religious society, and the local and state government of Barkhamsted from nuances and in the established historical of colonial Connecticut town Barkhamsted and its and development from a town that developed largely in to the collective of the of the state developed