Jeremiah York of Olney, Buckinghamshire, England
Why The Interest in Jeremiah York?
Most American Allreds descend from Solomon Allred, born 1680 Lancashire, England. A letter written by Solomon's father in 1695 proves Solomon was living with his family in Manchester, England. Another letter dated 1719 proves Solomon was living in West Nottingham, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Circumstantial evidence leads some researchers, including me, to believe Solomon most likely came to America as an Indentured Servant after his father died in 1701. A likely Time Frame is: Solomon had remained in England for a year or so following his father’s death. He would have used this time to mourn and to make arrangements to sail to America, probably as an Indentured Servant. Solomon's father had been extremely poor so it is unlikely he would have had enough money to pay ship’s passage. This means Solomon probably arrived in Pennsylvania around 1702-1703. The average term of Indenture was 4-7 years, so Solomon would have been a Free Man by 1710. Free means he was no longer Indentured and he was Free to marry. Strong circumstantial evidence suggests he married Anne York (daughter or sister of Jeremiah York) around 1710. Solomon wrote to his cousin Israel Pemberton of Philadelphia, PA in 1719 so he could have had 3-4 or more children at the time of the writing. (No birth control and no night time distractions meant babies usually arrived every 2 years on average.)
Thus, the York family history is very important to the Allred family.