Robert Scott Allen, 1797-1864

My great great grandfather, Robert Scott Allen, is the genealogical end of the trail in tracing back the Allen family. He was born in Virginia, and it appears that he died in Illinois during the Civil War. His life is a perfect picture of the pioneer spirit in America.

According to several sources, Robert Allen's father was John Allen, or possibly John Watson Allen, and his mother was Rebekkah "Becky" Scott, both from Virginia. In this reconstruction of his life, I hope to clarify my thinking and develop better questions for further research.

To find out what I learned about Robert Allen's father John Allen, please CLICK HERE.

Augustus D. Allen, son of Robert S. Allen and father of my grandmother, Teresa Allen
Augustus was born in Illinois in 1859, the youngest of nine children. His parents were Robert S. Allen of Virginia and Elizabeth Heylands of Ohio. Robert and Elizabeth Allen lived in Kentucky for many years before moving to Hancock, Illinois where Augustus was born. Summary of evidence of parentage:

• 1860 U. S. Census, Hancock, Illinois - parents Robert S., b. Va, and Elizabeth Allen, b. Ohio.
• 1870 U. S. Census, Hancock, Illinois - mother, Elizabeth Allen, 54, b. Ohio living with John W. Allen
• 1883 Illinois Marriage License - parents, Robert S. Allen (deceased) and Elis [sic] House.
• 1900 U. S. Census, Wichita, Kansas - parents both born in Kentucky* 
• 1910 U. S. Census, Wichita, Kansas - parents both born in Kentucky* 
• 1910 History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas - born in 1865 in Hancock, Illinois; "parents died when he was small."**

*The misinformation about Kentucky is understandable. Robert and Elizabeth were married in Kentucky and had their first seven children there. Augustus may not have known their actual birthplace. Ironically, his brother Harrison tells the census taker that both parents were born in Virginia.
** Augustus married a younger woman after he divorced my great grandmother Eva - possibly lied about his age? It is not true that both of his parents died - there is evidence that his mother Elizabeth was alive until 1895, but no indication that he ever saw her again after he moved to Wichita. 

Robert Scott Allen
Robert Scott Allen was born in 1797 in Lunenburg, County, Virginia. He moved to Kentucky, along with many others from Southside Virginia. He married Elizabeth Heylands (Highlands, Hilen) in 1834. Elizabeth was from Hamilton County, Ohio which is just across the river from Robert's home in Covington, Kentucky. Timeline and summary of sources:

• 1797 - Thomas/Steinhauser & Associated Family Genealogy (unverified source***) - Robert Scott Allen, born May 28, 1797 in Lunenburg, County, Virginia. Father: John Watson Allen; mother: Rebecca Scott, born November 25, 1795.
• 1797 - Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume 2 - Robert Scott Allen, born May 28, 1797. His father was John Watson Allen
• 1797 - Findagrave.com - Robert S. Allen, father of Harrison Perry Allen - born May 28, 1797 in Lunenburg County, Va. 
• 1812 - Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume 2 - Robert Scott Allen served in the war as a young boy (again, family lore).
• 1833 - Thomas/Steinhauser & Associated Family Genealogy (unverified source***) - Robert Scott Allen married Elizabeth Hilen, born 1815 (?) in PA (?) on Aug. 2, 1833 (?).    
• 1834 Hamilton County Marriage Records - Robert S. Allen and Elizabeth Heylands were married in Hamilton, Ohio by a Justice of the Peace on August 2, 1834 (ages not given, but Robert should have been about 37 and Elizabeth, about 26 - 29 years old).  
• 1850 U. S. Census, Kenton, Covington Ward, Kentucky - Robert S. Allen, 54, carpenter, born in Virginia; Elizabeth, 37, born in Ohio, Mardissa, 15, John/James (twins), 13, Sarah, 10, Rebecca, 8, Jacob (6).
• 1855 Illinois State Census, 1825-1865 Walker, Hancock County, Illinois - Robert S. Allen; one male under age ten (Augustus), three males under age 20 (John, James, Jacob), one male age 60-70 (Robert); two females age 10-20 (Sarah, Rebecca) , one female age 20-40 (Mardicia). Total in household=8; 2 in the militia. (Where was Elizabeth? She should have been about 42.)
• 1860 U. S. Census, Walker Township, Hancock County, Illinois - Robert S. Allen, 64, farmer, born in Virginia; Elizabeth, 45 (She should be 47. Is this a different Elizabeth?), born in Ohio, James/John, 23, born in KY, Sarah, 20, born in KY, Jacob, 16, born in KY, Harrison P., 8, born in Illinois, Augustus, 1, born in Illinois.
• 1864 Thomas/Steinhauser & Associated Family Genealogy (unverified source***) - Robert Scott Allen, died October 16, 1864 at Tioga, Hancock County, Illinois. Burial at Buckeye Schoolhouse, Tioga, Hancock County, Illinois.
• 1864 - Findagrave.com - died October 16 in Tioga, Hancock County, Illinois.
• 1864 - Illinois Infantry Roster - Robert Allen, enlisted in Springfield, d. 13 Sep 1864 in Memphis. (death date does not match other records which gives death date as 16 Oct 1864 - not positive this is our Robert S. Allen).
• 1864 U. S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 - Nov. 17, 1864 - Elizabeth J. (?) Allen, widow, Robert S. Allen, P.114, Illinois Infantry.
• 1865 Illinois, State Census Collection, 1825-1865 - Elisabeth Allen - one person under 10 (Augustus); one person between 10 and 20 (Harrison); two between 20 and 30 (Jacob, Rebecca); one between 40 and 50 (Elizabeth).  (Robert presumed deceased)
• 1870 U. S. Census, Hancock County, Illinois - Elizabeth, age 54 (should be 57?), born in Ohio, living with John W. and younger brothers.
• 1895 - Findagrave.com - Elizabeth A. Highland Allen, mother of Harrison Perry Allen - born 1815 in Ohio, died 1895 in Illinois. (Confirmation of this birthdate would have made her 29 years old at her marriage date).
• 1918 - Missouri Death Certificate, Harrison Perry Crawford Allen (brother of Augustus) - parents: Robert S. Allen and Elizabeth Hilen.

***Thomas/Steinhauser & Associated Family Genealogy -  I attempted to contact the researcher Jim Thomas but got no response. His information is not to be considered reliable until I can learn of his sources.

Note: Walker Township had two villages:  Tioga and Breckenridge. Tioga was established in 1855 on the former Mormon site, Yelrome (Morley Town). 

CAUTION:
There is another man named "Robert S. Allen" in Montgomery County, Illinois, who also received a land grant for service in 1854 around the same time that our Allen family moved to Hancock County. This other Robert S. Allen left a will dated in the 1890's, proving that he is could not be our Robert Scott Allen (d. 1864). Here is the land grant information for this other Robert S. Allen:

• 1854 Illinois, Public Land Purchase Records, 1813-1909, v. 340, p. 151 - Robert S. Allen - Sep. 29, 1854 - 40 acres ($5.20 @ .13/acre), township 08N, range 04W, meridian 3  (Montgomery County). 

I cannot find any record of a land grant for Robert S. Allen in Hancock County. I have exhausted the online records and scoured every landowner map I could find from the 1850's. I found a David Allen who owned property in the northwestern part of Walker Township, but it is nowhere near Tioga where Robert S. Allen lived.

Rose Spitler, 1st cousin of my grandmother Teresa Allen

I have written several posts now about Rose and her mother Mardisha.  What I forgot to include is a picture.  When I discovered this photo yesterday, I got goosebumps! Rose could be my grandmother's twin. It absolutely confirms for me that I am on the right track with my Allen family research.

Here is a photo of Rose [Nash] Spitler Scofield:

This photo comes from www.floraandwill.com - Rose was mentioned in the diaries of Will & Flora Geiger.  These diaries are being transcribed and will eventually be published.

Compare to this photo of my grandmother, Teresa Allen:

Could they not be more alike!? They are first cousins. Same brow, same eyes, same mouth, same jaw....so sad that they never knew each other. They even shared a similar experience of being orphaned at a young age. These two photos were taken around the same time. Wouldn't they have loved each other if they had known...  

And...there is also a remarkable resemblance to my cousin Cindy:

No doubt about it - my grandmother is definitely the daughter of Augustus D. Allen from Hancock, Ill. 

Mardisha

Made some actual progress on the family tree yesterday!  I decided to focus on the story of Mardicia Allen (Mordicia, Mardecia, Mardisha, Murdista - just a few of the ways I've found her name spelled).  I wrote about her daughter Rose in a previous post this week.

Mardisha (which is the way she actually signed her name) was my 2nd great aunt, sister of Augustus D. Allen.  She was born in Kentucky in 1835, the second oldest of nine children of Robert Scott Allen and his wife Elizabeth.  The family moved to Illinois in the early 1850's, where she met and married John Nash.  Her two youngest brothers, Harrison and Augustus, were born in Illinois.

A while ago, I found a History of Hancock County that told of a Miss Rose Spitler whose birth parents were John and Mardisha Nash.  It said that Rose was orphaned at a young age; her findagrave.com bio states that John and Mardisha both died in 1858.

Yesterday, I found the probate record for John Nash.  He did indeed die in 1858, leaving Mardisha to be his executrix.  Though her name was spelled Mordecia in the document, her signature was "Mardisha." The record mentions that they had three children. With the information from this record, I was able to search and find Mardisha (spelled Murdista) in the 1860 U. S. Census for Hancock County, Ill., also listing her three children, thus proving that she did not die in 1858 as her daughter Rose's findagrave account states.

The 1880 U. S. Census for Hancock County shows Mardisha (M. Z. Nash) at age 45 living with her mother (Elizabeth Allen), grandmother (Sarah House), and brother, John Watson Allen - no mention of her children, though they would have been adults by this time. The Census document indicates that both Mardisha and her brother John were "ill." Some family trees on Ancestry give her date of death as November 1, 1892, but I have not yet found supporting documentation of this.  These family trees give her middle name as "Zerush," also an unverified fact.

So now I am wondering what sad story caused Mardisha to give up her children (at least her baby Rose).  Rose was still living with her mother at age 3; the other sisters (Frances and Ro...[undeciferable]... were 7 and 8. Could she no longer support a young child on her own? When did she move in with her mother and brother? I sense a heartbreaking situation here.

The larger question for me is:  why did Augustus Allen move so far away (to Kansas), while his mother and brothers and sisters remained in Hancock County, Ill., all their lives? Did they remain in contact somehow?  His mother, Elizabeth, died in 1896 - did he return to Illinois around that time? There was a newspaper story telling of a business trip to Iowa in 1903, but this was to western Iowa, not close to Illinois.

Hancock County

Many researchers are out there spreading all kinds of misinformation. Anyone can go on the genealogy website and start a tree.  People grab information from other people's trees, but don't do their own fact-checking.  As a result, false information spreads like an epidemic.

Even historical books and documents contain false information. Much of what is in history books comes from family lore.  My great grandmother, Ada, who was a teacher and avid historian, wrote stories about our family history and about her experiences as an early pioneer in the midwest. Some "facts" were obtained from family lore and are just plain not true.  However, her stories are close enough to reality that it is easy to see how they could have become distorted. For instance, she said that our ancestors were first settlers at Lands End... in truth, they were the first at Graves End (Gravesend).  Similar name, easy to get confused over time.

A History of Hancock County tells of a Miss Rose Spitler who was orphaned at a tender age.  She was the daughter of Mardicia Allen Nash, my 2nd great aunt, and John Nash (of the Nashville family).  Rose became a foster child of Dr. Adam and Mrs. Carrie Spitler and assumed their last name. Rose learned through investigation that Robert Scott Allen (my 2nd great grandfather) was Mardicia's father, and John Watson Allen was her grandfather. According to her family lore, John Watson Allen was a close childhood friend of his famous New England relative, Ethan Allen*. This make a nice story, but I have found no connection between the Virginia Allens and the New England Allens.

Yet.


*I did find a connection between the Allens of Kentucky and Jack Jouett of Revolutionary War fame.  Perhaps this was the origination of the story?