SHREWSBURY – When Elnathan Allen moved to Shrewsbury around 1725, he couldn’t have had any idea that his family would continue to occupy his 80-acre farm for the next 300 years, through 12 generations.
After moving to Shrewsbury from Hopkinton, Elnathan and his wife, Mercy, started their farm. Sadly, Mercy passed away in 1727, the same year that Shrewsbury was incorporated as a town. Elnathan continued to care for the farm with his six children; one other child, Mary, passed away as a toddler in 1711.
In 1735, Elnathan, died in an unfortunate accident. According to a letter at the time, Elnathan “died [as he was] standing on the hinter end of a cart load of stalks [after] his oxen started, whereby he fell off and was killed in his 69th year.”…