The family of George Robert Allen 1837-1916

 I've learned a good bit in researching the family of George Allen.  I thought I knew this family reasonably well, but there were some surprises along the way.  George and Nancy are my great grandparents so it seems that I would know at least the main things about them.  Wrong!  

George is the son of Archibald and Margaret Dunn Allen, born in 1837 in either Putnam, Porter, or Pulaski county-take your pick.  He lived for the first half of his life in Pulaski County (except for a brief time in the Union Army during the Civil War) and the second half of his life in Daviess County, Missouri.  His first wife, the mother of all but one of his children, was Nancy McCoy, the daughter of Vincent and Eleanor Jackson McCoy.  Nancy died in 1880 and he soon married Sarah Powell Nance, who was a widow, and moved to Daviess County, Missouri, where his father had gone soon after the death of his first wife.  George and Sarah and one child, a daughter.

George and Nancy's children are:

Emma, who was born in 1861 and married Elisha Frost, the son of Elisha and Elizabeth Bourne Frost.  I located only one child for them, a son named Clyde.  There may have been others who were born early in the marriage since the 1890 census is missing.  

Andrew A Allen, who is very much still a mystery.  He was born in 1863 and is shown on both the 1870 and 1880 census records, living with his parents and in 1880, working on the farm.  Then he disappears from history, as far as I can tell.  The only additional information I have about him is from my grandmother's "At the Portal" book, in which she notes his birthdate, that he was the oldest brother of my grandfather, and calls him, in quotation marks "Major".  I have looked through some Army records, not exhaustively, and have been unable to locate him.  "Major" may be a family nick name.  Her book records family births and deaths up until late 1949, and there is no death entry for him.  It may be that they never knew what became of him, or it may be that his death occurred prior to 1909, when she started writing in the book.

Edward was the next son.  He was born in 1868 in Missouri, where his parents had hoped to settle.  They had to return to Indiana because the sale of their land, apparently on contract, fell through.  He married Edith Knott, the daughter of John Wilson and Harriet Starr Knott, and they had six children: Forest, Vernon, Tessora, Nancy Corrinne, Edith, and Richard.  I will write more of this family in my next post.

Edwin was born in 1869 and is seen in the 1870 census but is not in the 1880 census.  I don't know how long he lived, but it was apparently an early death.  

George R (I have seen both Robert and Roswell given as his middle name, but the book gives his name as Robert) was born in 1873.  He married Margaret Lurana (or Lurana Margaret) Black, the daughter of William and Ebeline Henderson Black.  They had two known children, Lois and Robert.  This was the last of the known children of George and Nancy.

George and Sarah had one daughter after they moved to Missouri.  She was Fannie Olive Allen, and she married first Herbert "Earl" Petty.  This marriage ended in divorce or annulment, because six years after the first marriage she married William A Sweaney, the son of John and Elizabeth Miller Sweaney.  Thier children were Opal, Naoma, Hazel, Gerald, Robert, and Leland.  The thing that astounded me was that Fannie lived until 1970, when I was in my early adulthood.  I don't remember my father ever mentioning her.  My grandmother knew of her because "At the Portal" mentions her, but possibly because of the large difference in ages-Edward was 15 years older than Fannie-she apparently was not a topic of conversation in the house growing up.

New to me facts were "Major" in regards to Andrew, the existence, however brief, of Edwin, and most of the information about Fannie.  That's why we do the research, to rescue those who have been forgotten!