M.B.A. Tf^Vtf0 PREFACE
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SAMUEL ALLIN, REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIER 1756 - 1841 of North Carolina and Kentucky A record of his many descendants 1756 - 1960 Compiled by Maud B, Allen Indexed by Flora F. Iverson and Carma Iverson Pv This record is dedicated to the memory of my beloved husband WILFORD J. ALLEN, without whose kind help and encouragement its success would be less complete. G*\ "' .- M.B.A. tf^Vtf0 PREFACE The compiling of this Allen Record, the story of the forefathers of my children, began at the request of father William Coleman Allen, pioneer of 1847 to Utah, who commissioned me to gather his genealogy for his posterity. The foundation was given to me in 1926, just before his death, in two hand-written family records of his father Andrew Jackson Allen and his own personal record. In the two first generations there was only one date, that of Rial Allen, 1791, and his wife, 1784. This seemed strange, but was later proved to be correct by Pulaski Court vital records which also showed the date of his marriage, 21 Oct. 1806 by Thomas Hill. Much correspondence with a Mr. Hillier of the National Archives at Washington, D.C. proved Samuel Allin's pension record as a Revolutionary Soldier, gave us the first positive PROOF of his age, and provided much valuable information from his records. On a trip to Washington, D.C. in 1934, it was a great thrill and a privilege for me to browse through Samuel's personal record at the National Archives and to read his personal papers, his complete file concerning his pension records, a promisory note to Robert Childress, his statement in 1783 "that his mother was ill and lived alone with a Negro servant" thus preventing him from serving a third enlistment. How very gratifying all of this information is to a genealogical researcher. Census records of 1850 of the Aliens of Pulaski County were also very gratifying. The next stop was Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky. With strange misgivings, the families of de- scendants were contacted. They were all very gracious and were most willing to give of their knowledge and assistance. Following a week at Somerset, trips were made to Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Iowa where the descendants of Samuel's son David had settled and part of Rial's descendants remained. Visits to the graves, pictures of the stones, and most of all, contact with David's posterity all helped to make this record possible. It is hoped that mistakes have been kept minor. Through the years much is left to the memories of mem bers of the families, and unintentionally errors in dates are given. Through no fault of the compiler, this problem of incorrect records sometimes mars the family picture. It is hoped that the errors which may appear may be very few. Years of research on the Easter family has not brought much satisfaction. There were many Easters in Hyde County, North Carolina in 1850, but our Easters were definitely from South Carolina. NANCY EASTER was born in South Carolina but her ancestry has not as yet been positively proven (1966). Maud B. Allen No great literary accomplishment is claimed in preparing a history or a genealogy of a given family. It is really a collecting of names and dates, with a location given, of many family sources, taken from old letters, Bibles, and from the traditional historical events which made up people's lives, as well as records of government and court proceedings. A complete genealogy is almost an impossibility, for so many people, caught up in the strife and tur moil of life, who for lack of time or desire, have left very little in the form of material to make it possible to form a perfect pedigree and history of a family. It is of great benefit to one who is attempting to com pile a genealogy to have his letters acknowledged and a correspondent become interested. For the response to and kind assistance of answers to my queries through the many years, I give credit for the following records. Maud B. Allen SAMUEL ALLIN - THE QUESTION OF HIS ANCESTRY Maud Bliss Allen In 1926 father William Coleman Allen came to me with the two hand-written records--his own and his father's, Andrew Jackson Allen. Andrew Jackson had started his record by 1850. He said, "I am leaving these books with you. I want you to be the genealogist of both the Smith and Allen families, and these books are the Aliens. I am leaving them entirely in your care. " Then he said, "This page is the family of my grandfather Rial Allen and his wife Margaret. These are his children, but the ONLY date we have is the birth by year of Rial, 1791, and of Margaret, 1784. She was older. This is the only record we have of his father, SAMUEL ALLEN, and wife Nancy Easter, but these are their children. " There were no dates. Then he said (and it is probably significant), "You won't be able to go any farther back than grandfather Samuel. " I have regretted through the years that I did not then say "WFIY?" This answer may have solved a question that is still unanswered after 36 years of diligent research. The books were carefully laid away, and in 1929 Archibald F. Bennett started a genealogical class for beginners. After four years of lessons and study with Archibald Bennett, I felt competent enough to work on the Allen line and started the research. Andrew Jackson Allen wrote in his record, "My grandfather Samuel Allen was born under the Blue Ridge mountains, the side of which is blue in the evening light. He was born in a wild land of game, forests and rushing waters. Here on the fork of a creek that runs into a foaming river is a cabin that was chinked with red mud. He came into the world a subject of King George III, in that part of the realm known as the "PROVINCE of NORTH CAROLINA" but was of English and Irish descent. " Bless him for writing this small sketch. It does give the place of birth. Figuring his approximate age, it seemed likely that he would be listed in the Revolutionary War roster. Upon contacting the War Department in Washington D.C., I was fortunate in entering into correspondence with Mr. Hillier. The following war record papers were sent to me by him, copies of which are entered in this record. In 1934 the opportunity came for me to go to Washington, D.C. I went to the National Archives and studied every scrap of paper in the files on Samuel Allen . His statement that in 1783 his mother was desperately ill and lived alone with only a Negro servant, and he had to secure the services of ROBERT CHILDRESS to go in his stead, careful handling of his promissory note for substitute payments, etc., etc., and many other papers gave little of his ancestry. After a thorough search of the census records, I felt that the next stop should be Somerset, Kentucky. Direct contact now seemed the best method to learn something about SAMUEL ALLEN, By this time I had learned that he always spelled his name ALLIN (the Irish spelling), but the families and recorders spelled it ALLEN. Many of his descendants had been privileged to live long lives, but they still had good memories and keen minds. I sought them out, always with the question, "What about Samuel's parents?" The answer was always the same, perhaps worded a little different. "Samuel's parents? Well, we know so little. His mother IV was a Miss Warren, and we know the Aliens came from Ireland. " I went to see Mary Allen Tibbals who said, 'Grandfather Samuel Allen was an only child, and he was born to a Miss Warren who was in her fiftieth year at the time. " "Lum" Columbus Allen of Elihu, Kentucky said, "Well Mrs. Allen, there is nothing to tell except that Samuel's mother was a Miss Warren and she was past forty-nine when he was born. An only child, you know. " From Vol Allen, from Mary Holton, and from Eliza Frazure, who so kindly assisted me with the gathering of many of the families, the same answer, "His mother was a Miss Warren and he was born just be fore she was fifty years of age. " This brings to mind the question, why did everyone say "Miss Warren?" We do know that the Warren families came up from South Carolina to Kentucky and settled in Somerset, and the names CERENUS and CERENA WARREN are both contained in the Allen families up to the present time. The David Allen descen dants told the same story. After thirty-six years of extensive study and research, we are still wrestling with this same problem-- the name of the mother of SAMUEL ALLIN and the ancestor ALLIN of Irish "extraction. " This "Miss Warren, b 1707" evidently was either the sister or the daughter of CERENUS WARREN. Both names, Warren and CERENUS are still prevalent in the Allen line down to this last generation. There has to be a connection somewhere. The name VOLUNTINE (which is a surname in the southern states) is also a name to be con sidered. The spelling is VOLUNTINE, although in later years the families have changed the spelling to VALENTINE. This 36 years of diligent search comprizes the North Carolina Court records (87 vol.), Orphanage Court records, Census and National Archive records, Revolutionary War records in the National Archives, Daughters of the American Revolution Library and the Library of Congress, the Virginia Library, the Chicago Newbury Library, the Salt Lake Genealogical Library and the many trips to important localities and places, cemetaries and periodicals containing lists of "Notes and Queries" read through years of research.