The Allen Families of Henry County, Iowa

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

Isaac Allen was born in 1844. and from his second year has been a resident of Henry County, with the exception of two years spent in California. He was educated, married, and has reared a family on her soil, and is one of her best known men. In 1867 Miss Keziah Musgrove, of this county, became his wife. She was born and reared in Clark County, Ill. Her people have all removed from that State to Kansas, and her father, John Musgrove, a member of Company H, 25th Iowa Infanti-y, died in the service. Reece Allen was a member of the same comp.any and regiment, and also Erastus Warren. Since the marriage of Isaac Allen and Miss Musgrove five children have gr.aced their home: Cora B.; Ella M., who married C. C. Wenger, Jr., of Wayland, Dec. 8, 1887; John Jackson, Bessie I. and Anna. Mr. Allen resides upon the farm last purchased liy his father, adjoining the town of Wayland, known.as the R. M. Pickle farm, and a portion of which comprises the village (ilat of Wayland. When a young man he learned the blacksmithing trade of M. C. McCormick & Son, and started a shop of his own in Wayland, at which trade lie worked twenty years, then bought his present farm and went to farming. He is a successful farmer and owns 120 acres of land, and is a credit to the township in wliicli his family resides. We are pleased to make such mention as the Allen family deserve in the history of the county, where for many years they have resided.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

WILLIAM JASPER ALLEN.

William Jasper Allen, who is serving as postmaster at Wayland is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Henry county. The student of history cannot carry his investigation far into the records of this portion of the state without learning of the close and honorable connection of the Aliens with the agricultural development of this locality. Jackson Allen, grandfather of our subject, was a native of Ohio, and was married there to Miss Mary Ann Vade, who was also born in that state. In the early '40s he made arrangements to establish his home west of the Mississippi river and came to Henry county, settling in Jefferson township, where he purchased a tract of land which he converted into a good farm. Pioneer conditions existed at that early day and the task of developing new land was an arduous one, but Mr. Allen persistently carried on his work and was long classed with the enterprising agriculturists of his community. He resided for many years upon his farm and then removed to Wayland, where he continued to make his home up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1887.

Rease Allen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson Allen, and father of our subject, was born in Ohio and was a young lad when his parents came to Iowa. No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for him in his boyhood days. After arriving at years of maturity he sought a companion and helpmate for life's journey and was married to Miss Melissa Warren, also a native of Ohio and a daughter of William O. and Eliza (Edwards) Warren, whi. first opened their eyes to the light of day in the Buckeye state. They, too, became early and prominent settlers of Henry county, and Mr. Warren was one of the organizers of the Methodist Episcopal church in Way land, and took an active and helpful part in promoting the early moral development of the community. At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Rease Allen began housekeeping on a farm southwest of Wayland, which he rented and which he continued to cultivate for some time. In 1885, with the capital saved from his earnings, he purchased sixty acres of land south of Wayland and there he \e.(\ for seven years, when, in 1892, he disposed of the property and took up his above in the city of Wayland, where he and his wife now make their home. Thev are respected and worthy pioneer residents of this part of the state, and are widely and favorably known in their part of the county, having a large circle of warm friends. He enlisted in Company H, Twenty-fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, served three years, being with the Army of the Tennessee, and was twice wounded in a slight manner. He served in all of the important engagements in which his regiment participated, being in the noted march to the sea, and also in the grand review, at Washington, D. C, where he was discharged in 1865, and was mustered out at Davenport, Iowa, after which he returned to his home and soon after married.

William Jasper Allen was born on the old home farm near Wayland, January 8, 1867. and at the usual age entered the public schools, therein acquiring a fair English education. He made his home with his parents until his marriage, which occurred when he was twenty-two years of age. It was on the 28th of November, 1889, that he wedded Miss Nellie McCuen, who was born in Henry county and was educated in the public schools of Wayland. She is a daughter of Harlan and Sarah (Lute) McCuen and her maternal grandparents were among the early settlers of this part of the state. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Allen has been blessed with two sons and two daughters: Inez, born August 9, 1891; Warren R., December 24, 1899; Wayne, March 22, 1902; and Mildred, on the ist of March,

Following his marriage Mr. Allen engaged in farming for several years, but in 1895 turned his attention to the livery business in Wayland, which he continued

66o until July i, 1897. He then took charge of the postoffice and is still acting in that capacity. In his political views he is an earnest republican, thoroughly in sympathy with the principles of the party as embodied in its platform. He was appointed during President McKinley's administration on the ist of June, 1897, the office of postmaster, and has since served in that capacity, faithfully discharging the duties which devolve upon him in this connection. Socially he is affiliated with the iSIodern Woodmen of America and religiously is connected with the Methodist Episcopal church. He has always lived in this county, and the fact that many of his stanchest friends are those who have knon him from his boyhood days down to the present is an indication that his life has been in harmony with honorable, many principles.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JOSEPH BOYD ALLEN. M. D.

Dr. Joseph Boyd Allen, who for many years was actively engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery and still at the age of eighty years writes prescriptions and does some office work in the line of his profession, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, a son of Thomas and Rachael (Green) Allen. His paternal grandfather was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and his wife lived to be one hundred and two years of age. There is no very extended history, however, of the ancestry of Dr. Allen, for both of his parents died when he was less than ten years of age. so he learned little concerning the stock from which he sprang. His father was a major in the war of 18 12 and was with Hull at the time of the surrender of Detroit, after which he was exchanged, together with other American soldiers.

with the Canadian prisoners. He was a farmer by occupation and his political support was given to the Democracy. Li the fami w'ere four children, of whom two are yet living. Jane, the eldest of the family, became the wife of Julius Beech and both are now deceased. They had five children: Thomas; Augustus, who married Leah Isamon; George; Eugene, who wedded Lillian Piper; and Lucy, who became the wife of Colby Smutz and is living in Nebraska. Alfred Augustus Allen, the second member of the father's family, married Sarah Heel and after her death wedded Nancy Maloy, who is also now deceased. Thomas Green, the third member of the family, has passed away.

Dr. Allen, the youngest member of the household, was educated in Cumberland, Ohio, and afterward read medicine in that state until twenty-four years of age, when he began practicing in Indiana. In 1845 he removed to Monmouth, 'warren county, Illinois, where he practiced for ten years and in 1854 came to Hillsboro. where he has since remained, practicing as a physician of the regular or allopathic school. He has also displayed splendid ability as a surgeon and has occupied a position of prominence in the ranks of the medical fraternity in this county because of his superior ability.

Dr. Allen gave his early political support to the 'big party and has been a stanch republican since the organization of that party. He has served as a member of the school board both in Illinois and Iowa, but otherwise had held no office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his professional duties. He is a

Mason of Belmont Lodge, No. 451, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and for many years was an Odd Fellow. He and his wife are members of the Congregational church, and at one time he served as secretary and treasurer of the church, to which he belonged, but there is no organization of that denomination in Hillsboro.

Dr. Allen has been married twice. He first wedded Miss Dorothy Hammond, a native of Alabama, whose father was a lawyer. She was born December 27, 1827, was married May 27. 1845. " died in 1854. the interment being made at Little York, Illinois. By this marriage there were three children. Richard Eugene, born March 12. 1846, in Little York, Illinois, is now living with his sister in Hillsboro. Mary A., born January 12, 1848, is the wife of Cyrus Newbold, of Hillsboro, and has had five children, all of whom are living. Edwin Allen, the younger son of the first marriage, died when only two years of age, soon after the arrival of Dr. Allen and his family in Hillsboro. The daughter, Mrs. Newbold. has five children: Aills B., who married Emily Whitaker, by whom he has two sons, Joseph and Cyrus, their home being in Farmington; Otis C, who married Mrs. Jessie Newbold and lives in Hlilsboro; Ellis B., who married Jessie Cleve and resides in Milan, Kansas; Belle, the wife of Professor Wright, of Howe's Academy, in Mount Pleasant; and George E. Newbold, who married Miss Mae Groves and lives in Hlilsboro. They have one daughter, Mina A.

On the 1 8th of October. 1855. Dr.

Allen married Sarah J. Kimes, of Van Buren county, Iowa. She.was born in Cuba, Illinois, March 7, 1838, a daughter of Dr. R. P. and Priscilla (Hull) Kimes. Her father was born in Ohio and her mother in New Jersey. He was a practicing physician and died at the comparatively early age of thirty-six years, his remains being interred in St. Louis. He was a republican and served as postmaster and justice of the peace in Illinois. He was making his home in Hillsboro at the time of his death, but had gone to St. Louis on business and there passed away. His widow still survives at the advanced age of eighty-seven 3'ears and is one of the oldest residents of Hillsboro and still quite active for one of her age. She makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Allen. In the family of Dr. and Mrs. Kimes were three children, of whom two are living. After the death of the Doctor his widow married John Billingsly, a farmer. Royal P. Kimes, a younger brother of Mrs. Allen, is living in Moulton, Iowa. Joseph S. Kimes was a soldier of the Civil war and served for three years as a member of Company K, Sixth Iowa Infantry, but is now deceased. By her second marriage Mrs. Billingsly had two children: Mary, the wife of J. Runyan, of Hillsboro; and Samuel Billingsly, of Hillsboro, who married Kate Woods, and has three sons, Vernon, Ralph, and Roy, all in Hillsboro.

Unto Dr. and Mrs. Allen have been born five children. W. S. Allen, born August 26, 1856, in Hillsboro, was married November 13, 1878, to Miss Ella D. McCormick. He is a lawyer of Birmingham, Iowa, and was educated at Denmark and Iowa Colleges, graduating in the university of the later place before he was twenty-one years of age. Unto him and his wife have been born two children: Roy D. and Grace Helene, both of whom are students in the public school. Louis Allen, born May 22, 1858, in Hillsboro, was educated in Keokuk Medical College, from which he was graduated and is now practicing in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. He married Miss Queen V. Goler and they have a daughter, Florence, who is teaching music in Howe's Academy. Emma, born March 11, 1861, in Hillsboro, is the wife of Elmer Alton, of Birmingham, Iowa, and they have one child, Craig, a furniture dealer and undertaker. Anna Belle Allen, born May 22, 1863, is the wife of J. M. Harper, a fur dealer of Fairfield, Iowa, and they have three children: Leslie D., Zola, and Myrtle, who are attending either the high school or Parson's College, in Fairfield, Iowa. Flora Allen, born June 26, 1868, died August 8, 1869.

There is now no citizen living in Hillsboro that was here when Dr. Allen came to the village. He has done an excellent work for his fellow men, not only in the line of his profession but also in his efforts to improve the village and promote its substantial development. The country all around was unbroken and the work of progress had scarcely been begun at the time of his arrival. He is a self-made man in the trust and best sense of the term. His energy and ambition coupled with strong mentality and force of character have enabled him to work his way steadily upward and he has prospered in business, and at the same time has done much charity work. Mrs. Allen came to Hillsboro when a little girl, there being only one frame building in the town — the Pope Hotel. The family lived in a log house until the father could build a fram dwelling in the lot where the Methoodist parsonage now stands. He had to carry pistols in those early days to protect himself from the attacks of the wolves while on his round of visits. Dr. and Mrs. Allen are very widely and favorably known in this part of the county and his life history indeed forms an integral chapter in the annals of Hillsboro.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

Andrew. Allen, now deceased, was for many 3'ears actively engaged in general farming and stock-raising in Henry county and became a prosperous citizen. His birth occurred in Knox county, Missouri, on the 31st of October, 1842, his parents being Robert Oden and Keziah (Davis) Allen, both of whom were natives of Indiana. In early life they went to Missouri with their respective parents and were married in the latter state. They then began their domestic life there and continued to reside in Missouri until called to the home beyond.

Andrew Allen was educated in the common schools near his father's home and was reared to farm labor, gaining in proficiency in the work of the fields as the years passed by. He continued with his parents until twenty-six years of age, when he removed to McDonough county, Illinois. On the 8th of August, 1865. he was united in marriage to Miss IMalvena Hungate, who was born in McDonough county, and was a daughter of Charles and Catherine (Dorothy) Hungate, both of whom were natives of Kentucky.

whence they removed to JMcDonough county, Illinois, in an early day and were there married.

Not long after his marriage Mr. Allen came to Henry county, Iowa, settling in Canaan township, where he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land, building thereon a good house. He otherwise improved the property, which was a tract of wild prairie when it came into his possession. He turned the first furrows in the fields and continued the work of plowing, planting and harvesting until annually he gathered rich crops, which found a ready sale on the market and thus brought him a good financial return for his labor. He worked persistently and untiringly year after year, giving his undivided attention to his agricultural pursuits up to the time of his death.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Allen were born six children:

Charles, born June 1, 1867, and died at the age of thirty-one years. He was a farmer and resided in Canaan township. He married TIiss Fannie Lynn, who now resides in Missouri.

Robert, born November 20. 1868, resides in Canaan township, where he is engaged in farming. He married Jennie Bryson. They have one daughter. Donna.

Frank, born on the 20th of December. 1 87 1. He resides in Baltimore township, Henry county, Iowa, and is a farmer. He married Stella Davey. and they have two daughters. Vida and Fern.

Mary Catherine, who was born February 16. 1875. in Canaan township, Henry county. Iowa, was educated in the public schools of Mount Union. She married Richard Peckham, now deceased, who was born in Washington township, Des Moines county, Iowa. He was born October 20, 1869, and was a farmer and resided in Washington township until his death, which occurred February 22, 1899. They had one son.

Perl Monroe, born in "washington township, Des Moines county, Iowa, on March 25, 1896, is now a student in the Alount Union schools.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

GEORGE W. S. ALLEN, dealer in clothing, hats, caps and furnishing goods, has been

JiS! established in that business in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, since 1882. He is a native of Rutland County, Vt., born Oct. 15, 1850, and is a son of Robert and Eliza (Albee) Allen, both of whom were also natives of the Green Mountain State. The Allen family were of English and Scotch ancestry, and for many generations had been residents of New England. The parents of the subject of this sketch removed to Iowa in 1855, and made their home in Lee County, whence they removed to Salem, Henry County, in 18G2, in which j'ear the elder Allen died, aged forty-three. His wife is now living atCreston, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Allen had four children, all of whom are now living, and are named: John F., who is a hotel-keeper at Creston, Iowa; Elvira, wife of Levi Snell, formerly a merchant in Mt. Pleasant, now a real-estate dealer in Lincoln, Neb.; Ella M., wife of Charles Dahlburg, in charge of the telegraph lines on the West Division of the C, B., & Q. R.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

GEORGE C. VAN ALLEN.

George C. Van Allen, deceased, who in the face of opposing circumstances and unfavoring environment that would have utterly discouraged a man of less resolute spirit, advanced to a position of prominence in the business world and was for many years recognized as a leading and representative citizen of Mount Pleasant, was born July 6, 1830, on the north shore of Pillar Point, in Jefferson county, New York. He was descended from Holland ancestry connected with the history of the Empire state from colonial days, and he claimed descent from three Revolutionary soldiers, Increase Child, Robert Ackerman and Cornelius Van Allen. His parents were Cornelius and Lory Ann (Ackerman) Van Allen, who in 1831 removed from the birth place of our subject to a farm overlooking the Black River bay, across the waters of which could be seen Madison barracks, where General Grant was once quartered and the village of Sacket Harbor, famous in connection with one of the early battles of the second war with England, occurring there in May, 18 13. The father purchased this farm and upon the homestead there George C. Van Allen was reared to manhood. He was one of a family of eleven children, nine of whom reached adult life: Martin, who is now deceased; Sarah H., widow of General D. B. White, also now deceased; Lory Ann, the widow of George Hoover, and a resident of Chicago, Illinois; Catherine Grinnell. who married G. G. Grinnell. now deceased, and lives at Mayfair, Cook county, Illinois; Mrs. C. M. Beckford, of Hampton, Virginia, the widow of Selwyn E. Beckford; Cornelius A., formerly a real-estate dealer of Effingham, Illinois, now deceased Ailliam a surveyor of Ukiah, California; and Florence O., the wife of J. J. Baulch. of St. Louis, Missouri.

Reared upon his father's farm George C. Van Allen attended the country schools and at different times worked at the village and in the ship yards. He was also engaged at intervals at hauling heavy timbers from the forests to the place of ship building. He formed a strong attachment for the water for it afforded him pleasure as a boy and gave him opportunity to earn a living as a man in the early days before transportation by means of the water ways was supplanted by the railroads. While still quite a young man, Mr. Van Allen engaged in teaching in the public schools of his home locality, and then, anxious to promote his own education, became a student in Falley Seminary, in Fulton, New York. He afterward matriculated in the old Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where he was a member of a secret society organized by a few congenial spirits, including William and Andrew Roe, O. W. Powers, Mr. Bailey and David J. Brewer, the names of whom have since become known throughout the country in connection with successful accomplishment in different lines. The last mentioned, then a most modest young man. obtained elevation to the bench of the United States supreme court.

After having spent a little less than two years as a student in Connecticut, Mr. Van Allen was obliged to return home. He had made a creditable record in his classes, and moreover he was a close and discriminating student forming his own opinions as based upon the subject matter before him. and his own intellectual discrimination. A few weeks were passed in recuperating at his old home at Pillar Point and then, with the little capital at his command. Mr. Van Allen started westward by way of the Great Ikes. He found the trip a delightful one. which gave him broader ideas of the ways of the world and its people than he had ever obtained from books. Detroit and Milwaukee were beautiful cities even at that time, but Chicago was a dirty little village with i6 broken sidewalks and muddy streets, yet with a citizenship even then characterized for remarkable enterprise and achievement. Mr. Van Allen continued on his way to Dubuque, Iowa, with the expectation of securing employment as a surveyor there, but failing in this he accepted the aid of an old friend, George Rogers, who was instrumental in obtaining for him a position as bookkeeper in the office of the Dubuque Herald, at that time published by J. B. Dorr, afterward colonel of the Eighth Iowa Cavalry. In the following spring Mr. Van Allen obtained employment with the firm of Webb & Higby, surveyors, and later was with Charles Smith, local engineer of the Dubuque & Pacific Railway, while in July following, through the influence of his brother, Martin, he secured a still better position in the land department of the Illinois Central Railroad, which he represented in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. On the ist of January, 1857, he was promoted and sent to Effingham, Illinois, two hundred miles south of Chicago on the Illinois Central road to sell the company's lands, and by the I St of October had disposed of realty to the amount of thirteen thousand acres. The unsettled condition of the state at that time is indicated by the fact that in an hour's ride on the cars one could hardly see a dozen houses, save for the few at the scattered stations.

It was while thus engaged that Mr. Van Allen was married on the 6th of August, 1857, in Scriba, New York, to Miss Jennie M. Wright, who had been his classmate at Fulton, New York. A lady of superior culture and innate refinement as well as of intelligence, she made his home a happy one and their married life was most congenial. In October following their marriage there came the great financial crash memorable in the history of the country. Business was largely suspended in all lines, land sales were discontinued and payments were stopped, and many who had attempted to establish new homes in the west were obliged to seek their old places of location. In this financial disaster Mr. Van Allen's loss amounted to about six thousand dollars and he found it again necessary to take up the practice of surveying in order to provide for. his family), but he was ambitious and devoted his leisure hours to reading law. Removing to Watertown New York, in the fall of 1859, he there spent two years in the office of Judge E. W. Hubbard, who had recently retired from the supreme bench of the Empire state. Through the succeeding two years Mr. Van Allen was for a part of the time a student in the Albany Law School, and was admitted to the degree of counsellor at law before the supreme court of New York at the regular term in April, 1861.

Attracted by the west and its possibilities, having become imbued with a strong attachment for this section of the country, Mr, Van Allen soon afterward returned to Chicago and thence went to Kenosha but the progress of the Civil war was detrimental to the establishment of a new business, and after spending a few months in the office of Judge Pettitt ]\Mr. Van Allen accepted the superintendency of the high school in Plover, Wisconsin, where he remained until July, 1862. At that date he went to Burlington, and was engaged on the survey of the Burlington

& Missouri River Railway, from Ottumwa to Chariton. At the close of the season he located in Mount Pleasant, where he began compiling records for the examination of title, and from that time until his death he maintained his residence in this city, and was a factor in its business life, giving his attention largely to the abstract business, which is one of the important branches of the law. In 1883 he suffered a loss of two thousand dollars through a disastrous fire, but every obstacle and difficulty in his path seemed but to serve him as an impetus for renewed labor, and he at once began the arduous task of re-writing his books.

In 1 89 1 ]Mr. Van Allen was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 27th of Januaiw. leaving a son, Alfred M. Van Allen, represented elsewhere in this work. On the 26th of October, 1893, the father was married to Aliss Anna L. Watters. In the social life of the city he has occupied a position of prominence that is always accorded in recognition of true worth, intelligence and culture, winning his friends from among the best citizens of Mount Pleasant. His political allegiance was given to the republican party from the time of its organization and although without aspiration for office himself, he labored quietly but untiringly and efficiently for the interests of others and for the party's success. Although reared in the faith of the Methodist church, he became a member of the Presbyterian church on his removal to Mount Pleasant, his wife being a communicant of the latter denomination Associated with various lines of public interest and activity he gave tangible support to every movement which he believed would contribute to the general good up to the time of his death, which occurred on the 4th of September, 1902. He was a man of action rather than of theory-, and yet he took no important step in life without due consideration. He held friendship inviolable, the duties of the home sacred and with a sense of conscientious obligation performed every task which devolved upon him in connection with citizenship or public trust.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.