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)

Family Tree - maternal grandmother (5 generations)

This is part of the family tree that has been the most work.  There are still some unverified links here... the DNA tests have both helped and confused things.

Proving that my grandmother Teresa was actually born as Ethelyn Allen was the primary aim of the DNA test, and I believe that was a success:

1) DNA indicates a connection to the Allens of New Kent County, Virginia.  

2) Augustus Dozier Allen's father is from Virginia according to census documents.  

3) Dozier is a family name linked to my tree, further proof that Augustus Dozier Allen in my great grandfather.  

4) Augustus Allen's only daughter was named Ethelyn; therefore, she has to be my grandmother.

There is some question still about who Eliza Ann Applegate's parents are.  There are an unbelievable number of Eliza Applegates from Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois! She is definitely listed on a U. S. Census document in the household of "Tabitha" Applegate; however, there is another Eliza Applegate who is the daughter of Samuel and Cassandra Newkirk. This would not seem to be the correct Eliza, except that the Newkirks have shown up in my DNA test results.  I am still scratching my head over that one.

Interesting to note here that my grandmother was born in Illinois, grew up in Wichita, and lived in an orphanage in Texas.  But both her mother and father's families originated in Virginia.  

Augustus D. Allen, 1859-19--

My maternal great grandfather is quite an enigma.  Information about him is plentiful, but some of it doesn't jive.  It's almost as though there are two Augustus D. Allen's at the same place, same time, same career, with the same vital statistics.  Sometime before 1904, Augustus left his wife Eva a widow and his daughter, Ethelyn, an orphan.  Yet he is documented as living and working in Wichita for another ten years, with a new wife.

The following timeline shows his name exactly as it appears in the documentation.  Facts about Eva and Ethelyn/Teresa are interwoven to reveal insights about his life.  I believe that this timeline supports the fact that the same A. D. Allen who left Eva a widow, is the A. D. Allen who continued living and working in Wichita as though his first wife and child never existed.

Augustus "A. D." Allen

Augustus D.Allen > Teresa/Ethelyn Allen > Virginia M. Crofford > Teresa Zaun Austin

1860

Hancock, Illinois - Augustus, 1 year old.  
Household at the 1860 Census:  Parents -  Robert Allen, born in Virginia; Elizabeth Allen, born in Ohio. Siblings -  James & John (twins) b. Ky, Sarah b. Ky, Jacob b. Ky, Harrisson b. Ill. Note the birthplaces of his parents and of his older siblings.

1870

Hancock, Illinois - Augustus, 11 years old.
Household at the 1870 Census:  Elizabeth Allen, b. Ohio; John, Jacob, Harrisson.  Again, note his mother's birthplace.  His father must have been deceased.  His siblings' names are consistent with the 1860 census.

1870 Littleton, Illinois - Eva Bosworth, age 3.  O.M. b. Ohio, Eliza b. Ky, Richard R. b. Ill.
1880 Littleton, Illinois - Eva Bosworth, age 13.  M.O. Bosworth b. Ohio, Eliza A Bosworth, b. Ky.

1883

Littleton, Illinois - Augustus D. Allen married Eva L. Bosworth.
Parents: Robert Allen, Elis. House, Orlando Bosworth, Eliza A. Applegate. Parents' names are consistent with prior census information.

1893

Illinois - Ethelyn Allen born (per 1900 census).
         A. D. Allen moved to Keokuk, Iowa, and ran a mercantile business for 7 years.*

Augustus D. Allen, Ethelyn,
Eva L. Allen

1900

Wichita, Kansas - Augustus D. Allen, Real Estate Agent.  Parents born in Kentucky.  Augustus consistently gives his parents' birthplaces as Kentucky.  Since Augustus' older siblings were all born in Kentucky, he may have made an erroneous assumption.  Household at census:  Eva L. Allen, Ethelyn Allen (age 7), Eliza A Bosworth.  Eliza Bosworth died around this time.  A. D. Allen was first employed with the Kansas Bureau of Immigration on Douglas Avenue, and then with B. D. Allen Realty.* There was a huge real estate boom in Wichita at this time. I do not know whether or not B. D. Allen is kin.

From Wichita newspaper articles:
1900
A. D. Allen & Eva L. Allen were defendants in a lawsuit over a mortgage loan.

1901
A. D. Allen was injured in an accident involving runaway horses & overturned carriage.

1902 
A. D. Allen, Mrs. Allen were victims of a burglary while sleeping at their residence on Pattie Avenue, an $85 roll of bills from a real estate sale was taken from his pants pocket.  Mrs. Allen had been ill.

1902
A. D. Allen sold property at 137 Pattie Avenue and bought another local property.

1902 Wichita - an "A. D. Allen" moved to Wichita from Allen County - no occupation given.  I believe this is a coincidence...I found another Augustus D. (Dennis) Allen (1860-1930) who is buried in Allen County.

1903
Mrs. Allen gave A. D. Allen a birthday dinner on March 21.  Her brother R. R. Bosworth's family was there, as well as Ethelyn Allen.  Ethelyn would have been about age 10.

1903
A. D. Allen went on a business trip to Iowa; returned with 11 men to buy land. B. D. Allen took over the sales.

1904
Wichita City Directory - Eva L. Allen, widow A. D. 125 Fannie Street.

Augustus Allen is dead.  Or is he?

1905
Wichita - A. D. Allen married Emma Schindler of Wichita.*

1907
Wichita City Directory - A. D. Allen, Emma S. 1027 s. Water Street.

1908
Wichita City Directory - A. D. Allen, Emma S. 1347 s. Main; with B. D. Allen Realty.

1908 Hospital at Old Fort Supply admitted its first patients.  Oklahoma's first mental hospital.

1909
Wichita City Directory - A. D. Allen, Emma S. 1347 S. Main.  A. D. Allen Real Estate and Loans, 121 E. Douglas Avenue.

1909
Wichita newspaper articles - A. D. Allen, president and champion of horse show; Fred Willingham, trainer. Article on A. D. Allen tells about his "two fads" - real estate and horses.  A. D. Allen made two good real estate sales.  The interest in horses is what made me wonder if this was the same Augustus D. Allen that was Ethelyn's father - my grandmother never mentioned this about him.

1910 Census, Woodward, Ok - Eva L. Allen, widow. Inmate, Old Fort Supply Hospital. 

1910
Wichita -  Augustus D. Allen, Emma S., Fred Willingham.
Census:  Real Estate Agent. b. in Illinois, Parents born in Kentucky. 

1910
Wichita newspaper article - A. D. Allen, defendant in a lawsuit over real estate; another article about trip to South Texas.  His daughter, Teresa/Ethelyn, remembered a visit from her father in Paris, Texas - this may be the occasion.

1911 Old Fort Supply Hospital cemetery -  gravestone inscription: "Eva L. Allen, 1867-1911."

1911
Wichita City Directory - Augustus D. Allen, Emma S. 1347 S. Main; 121 E. Douglas Avenue.

1911
Wichita newspaper article - Mrs. A. D. Allen is better from pneumonia.

1915
Dallas City Directory - Augustus D. Allen, real estate. 912 S. Akard, Dallas, Texas.

1916
Wichita personal ad - person looking for A. D. Allen, last seen in Fort Worth (near Dallas) headed toward Canton, OK in October 1915.

1916 - Sherman City Directory - Teresa Allen, nurse, St. Vincent's; 416 W. Laurel.
1917 - Paris City Directory - Teresa Allen, nurse, Paris Sanitarium through 1919; 125 Pine Bluff.  

1919
Wichita personal ad - This is the most compelling evidence thus far that Teresa is the same person as Ethelyn:

TO ANYONE knowing anything of A. D. Allen, formerly a real estate dealer, would appreciate all information. Teresa Allen, 125 Pine Bluff, Paris, Texas. 

1920 Census, Oklahoma City - Teresa Allen, nursing professional.  Boarder, Eleventh Street. Parents born in Kentucky.

Note about Augustus' grave:
I found a promising entry for Augustus D. Allen on findagrave.com some months ago, but when I went to look for it again, it was gone.   The grave was in Osawatomie Cemetery, Paola, Miami County, Kansas, and the date of death was 1916.  It is no longer in the database.  It was there, and now it's not.  Weird.

All of this has made me wonder...

• What made Augustus move to Iowa in 1893?
• Did Augustus and Emma divorce?  Where was he between 1911 and 1915?
• Why didn't the R. R. Bosworth family take in Ethelyn?
• What happened to the findagrave entry for Augustus?
• Where was Eva L. Allen between 1904 and 1908 (before the mental hospital opened)?

Sources:
*History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 705 & 706 [NOTE:  this bio on A. D. Allen does not mention either Eva or Ethelyn, but the birthdate and place are the same, though the birth year is six years off - March 21, 1865.  My grandmother, Ethelyn/Teresa, never mentioned that her father was passionate about horses.]
          
Newspaper sources:  Wichita Beacon, Wichita Daily Eagle