Timeline: Ethelyn Allen AKA Teresa Marie Allen

I like to look at information from different angles.  Usually it helps me to see patterns, discrepancies, etc.  I decided to make a timeline of my maternal grandmother's life based on the facts that I have verified, assuming that Ethelyn Allen and Teresa Marie are the same person.

Teresa Marie Allen, 1893 - 1966

Year - Place - Event
1893 - Illinois - birth - July; Augustus D. and Eva L. Allen (m. 17 years @ 1900 census)
1893 - Keokuk, Iowa - A. D. Allen ran a mercantile business for 7 years.
1900 - Wichita, Kansas - Augustus (41) , Eva (32) , Ethelyn (7), Eliza A. Bosworth (74)
1903 - Wichita, Kansas - Mar 22 newspaper article, A.D. Allen birthday - Ethelyn (10)
1904 - Wichita, Kansas - Eva L. Allen, widow, 125 Fannie St. (city directory)
1905 - Wichita, Kansas - A. D. Allen m. Emma Schindler - no mention of Eva or Ethelyn
1905 - Wichita, Kansas - A. D. Allen, 45, from Iowa; Mrs. Allen, 30 (Kansas Census)
1910 - Woodward, Ok - Eva L. Allen, widow, patient, Old Fort Supply asylum
1910 - Mother Theresa Muldoon died, buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Paris, TX
1910 - Texas - newspaper article about A. D. Allen's trip to South Texas
1911 - Woodward, Ok - Eva L. Allen died (her gravestone was discovered in 1995)
1912 - Sisters of Mercy move to Chicago
1915 - Fort Worth, Texas - last known sighting of A. D. Allen, heading to Canton, Ok.
1916 - Sherman, Texas - Teresa, nurse, resident St. Vincent Sanitarium (with Maude)
1916 - Major fire in Paris, TX, burning half the city
1917 - Paris, Texas - Teresa, nurse, resident at Paris Sanitarium (with Maude)
1917 - A. D. Allen died in Osawatomie State Hospital, Miami County, KS
1919 - Paris, Texas - Teresa, grad, Paris Sanitarium Sch of Nursing (with Maude)
1919 - Paris, Texas - Teresa, resident, 125 Pine Bluff (with Maude)
1919 - Wichita, Kansas - newspaper personal ad in search of A. D. Allen
1920 - Wichita, Kansas - Emma Allen, housemaid, widow of A. D. Allen (US Census)
1920 - Oklahoma City - Teresa, nurse, boarder, Eleventh Street (with Maude)
1926 - Chicago, Ill. - married Horace C. Crofford on January 30
1927 - Waukegan, Ill - residence, 640 Mill Court (near Ada Crofford & family)
1929 - Waukegan, Ill - residence, 2000 Washington St.
1929 - Waukegan, Ill - birth of Horace, Jr. on Nov. 9
1930 - Waukegan, Ill - Horace 35, Teresa 35, son 4 mo., 2 lodgers;  occupation:  none
1932 - Waukegan, Ill - birth of Virginia Maude, Mar. 3, St. Therese Hospital
1940 - Waukegan, Ill - residence, Washington St.; Sonny, 10; Virginia, 8
1940 - Waukegan, Ill - occupation: retail store manager (Horace - warehouse mgr)
1948 - Norfolk, Va. - 3709 Llewelyn Ave (Virginia Registered Nurse Roster)
1951 - Norfolk, Va. - 535 W. 37th St. (Horace, electrician, NOB) - city directory
1954 - Norfolk, Va. - 535 W. 37th St. ("Marie") - city directory
1958 - Norfolk, Va. - 535 W. 37th St. (Tersa A.) - city directory
1960 - Norfolk, Va. - 535 W. 37th st. (Teresa A.) - city directory
1966 - Norfolk, Va. - death, Dec. 10, age 74 (actual age 73)
1966 - Virginia Beach, Va. - burial, Rosewood Memorial Park, Garden of the Good Shepherd

Interesting notes:

1. The last record of Ethelyn is in 1903; the first record of "Teresa" is in 1916.
2. Ethelyn/Teresa remembered a visit from her father while she was in an orphanage/boarding school in Texas - see A. D. Allen's documented 1910 trip to Texas.
3. Ethelyn/Teresa was placed in the orphanage/boarding school sometime between 1904 and 1910 (probably before 1905 as she is not listed in A. D. Allen's household in the 1905 Kansas State Census).
4. Sister Teresa Muldoon opened a boarding school in Paris, Texas in 1900.  In 1910, the school was converted to a hospital.  This coincides with A. D. Allen's trip to Texas. Ethelyn/Teresa would have been 17 years old. 
5. Ethelyn/Teresa never mentioned her father's lifelong passion for horses; nor did she ever know her true birthday and year which is odd since she was at least 10 years old at the time of her last known appearance with family.  As an adult, she celebrated her birthday on August 22.
6. Her best friend Maude moved to Oakland, California and lived there with a "partner," Leila Smith (1930, 1940 Census). Her occupation was given as "radiograph" (X-ray) technician in a funeral home, and a "tray" (X-ray?) technician in an office laboratory.  Maude died in 1965, one year before Teresa.
7. In 1912, the Sisters of Mercy moved back to Chicago (Mercy Hospital). This could be the impetus for Teresa Allen's move to Chicago after 1920.  Sister Theresa Muldoon died and was buried in Paris, Texas' Evergreen Cemetery.
8. Notes according to daughter Virginia: Teresa met Horace at a party in Chicago. Horace was involved in politics. Teresa worked for an ear-nose-throat doctor in Waukegan. Virginia remembers her mother saying that she changed her name.
9. Virginia remembers that they lived in several different houses in Virginia between 1940 and 1948:  
1. Portsmouth - lived temporarily with Ed & Agnes Suter
2. Schafer St (Oak Ridge, Norfolk Co.)  - 3rd - 7th Gr., Coleman Place Elementary
3. 10th St., Norfolk, Va.
4. Omuhundra Ave., Norfolk, Va.
5. New York Ave., Norfolk, Va.
6. Llewellyn Ave. (big Victorian house on the corner)

Humorous side note

Our Allen ancestors in Lunenburg County, Virginia in the 1700's, owned extensive land on "Fucking Creek" (now called Modest Creek).

Abstracted from Library of VA records by Ron Goodman, Nov 2000:
27 May 1755, Robert Allen of Amelia Co., to Joseph Pulliam of Lunenburg, for 11£.11s.7p, 150 ac Lunenburg Co, on forks of Fucking (now Modest) Creek, part of grant to sd. Allen on 10 Sep 1755, Wit: Henry Williams, William Brown, rec 5 Dec 1758 (LuDB 5:350-351)

There are other even worse place names from that era.  I guess you could say that our early Virginia ancestors had a less than romantic view of the land.  If you want a chuckle, check out some of the other early place names in our country, but don't say I didn't warn you: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=134219

Family Tree Overview

I spend a lot of time rechecking facts and dates, confirming my sources, and examining relationships on our family tree.  Time and again I will follow each line back until I come to an ancestor that has questionable documentation, then I'll work on that person for a while.

Our family tree is pretty solidly proven to my 2X great grandparents, with the possible exception of one (Elizabeth Hilen):

Paternal great-great grandparents:

John "Adam" Zaun, 1840-1922 - b. Germany; d. Richmond, VA
Elizabeth "Louise" Wellner, 1847-1924 - b. Germany; d. Richmond, VA

Jefferson Monroe Powell, 1862-1935 - b. Richmond, VA; d. Richmond, VA
Marie "Louise" Judd, 1859-1925 - b. NY; d. Richmond, VA

Whitfield Barrie Abbott, 1844-1889 - b. New Jersey; d. New Jersey
Sarah L. "Sadie" Wright, 1864-1903 - b. NY; d. New Jersey

Eley Bryant, 1829-1887 - b. Southampton Co., VA; d. Princess Anne Co., VA (Civil War, CSA, POW)
Margaret Cobb, abt 1839-1900- b. Southampton Co., Va; d. Princess Anne Co., VA

Maternal great-great grandparents:

Calvin Crawford (later Crofford), 1806-1880 - b. NY; d. Lancaster, NE (Civil War, U.S.)
Anna Dillingham, 1815-1900 - b. OH; d. Fall River, SD

Andrew A. Hall, 1828-1907 - b. Chittenango, NY; d. Newcastle, WY (Civil War, U.S.)
Miriam "Olivia" Wandell, 1824-1908 - b. Westchester Co., NY; d. Newcastle, WY

Robert Scott Allen, 1797-1864 - b. Lunenburg, VA; d. Illinois (Civil War, CSA?)
Elizabeth Hilen (Highland)1814-1896 - b. OH; d. IL (little known information about her)

Orlando Marcus Bosworth, 1825-1884 - b. OH; d. IL
Eliza Ann Applegate, 1826-1899 - b. KY; d. Wichita, KS

I enjoy tracing the family lineage on a map.  Note that we have Virginia roots on both sides! A few of the branches on our tree are way back, even centuries earlier in England. Follow the Judds back to the 1400's.  Trace the Bryants and Allens back to the earliest days of the Virginia Colony, even to Jamestown.  Look at the Judds, Bosworths, Applegates, Dillinghams, and the Halls to find some of New England's first colonists and revolutionaries. See our prominent Mormon ancestor in the Bosworth family.  It is also through the Bosworth family that we are descended from the Mayflower's John Howland.

Here are the only ones of my 2X great grandparents that have photos available:

Miriam Olivia Wandell Hall

Andrew A. Hall

Whitfield Barrie Abbott (no picture of Sarah)

Eley and Margaret Cobb Bryant

Mary Louise Judd and Jefferson Powell

It is amazing to me to know that these people lived and died and loved and suffered hardships that we cannot even imagine. They were far more adventurous and courageous than I ever thought of being.  Many of them left their families and childhood homes to seek a better life in a dangerous, unknown land.  They traveled thousands of miles by primitive means through stormy seas, enemy territories, and rough terrain.  It is because of their lives that I am living the life I have now.  The more I learn, the more I feel a proud reverence for them.

Lunenburg, Virginia

The main focus of my research lately has been on the Allens of Virginia.  I am determined to prove the link between my orphaned grandmother, Teresa (nee Ethelyn), and the Allens that have shown up in my DNA matches.

The Allens started out in New Kent County.  I have pinpointed the exact location of their homestead. The property is described as being on "Williamsburg Road." There are even photos online of the Allen home taken during the Civil War.

Historic map of New Kent landowners showing the Allen property.  There is also Allen property near West Point, Virginia.

The arrow points to the present day location of the Allen property shown on the historic map above.  It is on or near the current site of the New Kent airport.  The branch of the river that runs north toward Tallysville is called "Allen's Run."

The Allens moved to Lunenburg County from New Kent.  Historic Lunenburg County is known as the "Mother of Counties."  It included thirteen counties that were part of the "Hanover Counties," west and south of Richmond. The Allen home was the old "Brengle's Place" in Lewiston.

Our Allen ancestors were instrumental in the development of the road system on Lunenburg.

An act of the General Assembly passed March 21, 1853, authorized formation of the Lewiston Plank Road Company to construct a road from a point on the Richmond and Danville Railroad by way of Lewiston in Lunenburg County to some point on the Meherrin River or to the Lunenburg Plank Road. Capital stock was set at $30,000 with the Board of Public Works authorized to subscribe to 3/5 or $18,000. The construction was to begin within two years, with completion by five years. An increased in capital stock was authorized March 29, 1858 by $10,000 to complete the project.

From the guide to the Lewiston Plank Road Company Minute Book, 1853-1855, (The Library of Virginia)

From here, some of the Allens moved south into North and South Carolina, and some moved west into Kentucky and beyond. Our family was in the group that moved west.

William Allen and his wife, Mary Lewis, have shown up consistently in my DNA matches.  I believe their son Turner was my 4th great grandfather, but have yet to find conclusive evidence of this.