Days before his death, Albert Harrison Allen had his attoeney create a Last Will and Testament wherein he left all his worldly goods to loved ones. Albert had amassed a fortune of well over $300,000.00 in 2012 dollars. That's not bad for a man that couldn't read or write...or scratch out his own name.
To completly understand who Albert was, we have to go back to the begining. Unfortunately, at the present time we are unable to. We have aplethera of material on Albert, more than any other family ancestor to date, yet we still are unable to locate the censuses of 1840, 1850, 1860 and 1870, essentually what amounts to the vast majority of his lifetime. We know so litttle yet we know such a great deal about him. And, perhaps more importantly, we know who Albert Harrison Allen became.
Albert obviously knew he was dying. It wuite possibly was from some terminal disease discvered shortly before s Will was created. Unfortunately that information has also been denied us so far, as probes with the County of San Luis Obispo as well as the State of California have not been able to produce a death certificate. He very obviously died in Paso Robles as he was unlikely to be able to travel given a terminal condition. An obituary probe in Roslyn, WA,. where Albert spent the last 20 years of his life before moving to "Paso" has failed to produce an obituary.
The headstone on his grave says that Albert was born 5 Dec 1833. Our family jisorical documents disagree with that date. Passed down from eldest daughter Mary Ellen Allen Nelson, her tpre written oaoers show that Albert was born 3 Dec 1836. His census data that we do have supports that date as well. His census data also states teat he was born in Misourri and that his father was born in Alabama and his mother was born in Virginia. We also know that his second born daughter handeled his final burial, comissioned the headstone and likely directed that date to be placed on the headstone in err.
That being said, let's begin at what we do know.
Sometime before April 15, 1872, which is the birth of their first daughter Mary Ellen, Albert wed Mary Ann Payne in Missouri or, more likely, Arkansas, we believe. Their edest daughter, Mary Ellen, is known to have been born in Little Rock. Vera Mae Johnson Baughmen, belives that Mary Ellen Allen, Vera's Grandmother, was fom Texarkana, AR becasue she remembers that her grandmother was a bit sensitive about it, obviously subscribing to some belief that it wasn't known as a very well educated area.
Mary and Albert had three children:
Mary Ellen Allen 1872 – 1942 (Born in Little Rock, AR)
Laura Leona Allen 1875 –
Henry Newton Allen 1877 –1957.
Mary Ellen and Henry Newton's histories are very well known to the family. We are still trying to pin down details on Laura Leona lifetime.
The first documentation we have currently on Albert is that he appears with his family on the 1880 United States Federal Census in Coryell, Texas where he lists his occupation as a "Farmer".
Daughter, Mary Allen is 8 and was born in Arkansas, which concurs with our understanding. His other 32 known living children, Laura Leona Allen 5 and Henry Newton Allen 3, are said to have been born in Texas, presumably in Coryell County where they lived at the time of the census. That being the case, we can assume by it that teh damily moved to Coryell County sometime between 15 Apr 1872, when mary Ellen was born and 10 Aug 1875, when second chile Laura Leona was born in Texas.
Also at the census time, Albert was 43 and wife Mary 44.
Albert the appears again in the 1885, 1887 and 1889 Washington State and Territorial Censuses, this time residing in Kittitas, Washington with essentially the same information in a bit more abbreviated form, with each census consistently showing a birth year of 1836.
Albert witnesses his daughter, Mary Ellen, marry Swan Nelson in Rslyn on 16 July 1890. Then tragedy stikes the family in the form of Mary Ann Payne Allen's passing a little over a year later on 27 May 1891. Mary Ann is buried in the "Old City Cemetery" in Roslyn. Unfortunately, she will be one of the earliest burials in the cemetery.
Then on 15 March 1894, we find a filing of a "Land Patent", also known as a "Homestead", to Albert Allen on the legal description:"The SE quarter of Section 12 Township Map No. 20 North, Range No. 14 East, Williamette Meridian in Washington, containing one hundred and sixty acres". This makes Albert's property one of the earliest homestead's in Eastern Washington. Another interesting note here is that Clinton Brosius, Albert's neighbor to the north, is granted a "Homestead on the exact same day, 15 March 1894. In hindsight, we can now say that this was hardly a coincidence.
Clinton Brosius is the person credited with discovering the "Jonesville #3 Coal Mine", also known by the locals as "The Big Dirty", in Ronald, WA. The mine sits on Clinton Brosius's property. Albert is adjacent to Clinton. Albert is Clinton's neighbor. His IMMEDIATE neighbor. The topography of the area in a bit unique. Clinton's land is "locked" from alternate access. To gain ingress/egress to/from the mine, one must traverse Albert Harrison Allen's 160 acre parcel of property! The coal might be there, but if one cannot get to it, it might as well not be there! The mine may be the "Big and Dirty", but Albert has the "Big 'Gotcha!'"! Albert may not have known how to read or write. Albert might not even be able to sign his name, but Albert was not your average "Country Bumpkin".
Now there's more to this story, but it's going to have to wait a bit. You see, Albert Allen was a "thinking man's man". This didn't just "happen" to Albert Allen. Albert Allen was not merely "in the right spot at the right time". Not alt all. This required a great deal of planning.
"Homesteading" was a process. To do it, one must first identify the property, "squat" on the property, "improve" the property with buildings and farm the property for a minimum of 5 years. After that, one must then apply to the Federal Government for a "Land Patent", which is another entire process all together. After one applied for the Land Patent, it took about a year to "formalize" and get the Land Patent recorded. Together, all this took about 10 years time on average.
That puts Albert in Ronald, WA at least in 15 Mar 1884, perhaps before. We know Albert was in the 1885 Washington Territorial census with his family in Ronald. They are also there in 1887 and 1889, respectively. People began coming to the area around 1881 because it was believed that coal was there. Four men finally "discovered" coal in 1887, on the Bat Masterson homestead...
Now, I know just what you're thinking: "Bat Masterson?! Bat Masterson?! What do you mean, Bat Masterson?"
Well now, this Bat Masterson was one Howard D "Bat" Masterson and currently, I don't know the answer to THAT question right now. This Bat was born in Idaho in about 1865. In 1870, he's in Kansas as a 5 year old. This one end's up dying is Seattle in 1951. The other one died in New
30 years prior. But, they might be cousins.
Regardless, this just isn't a story about a national legend, this is a story about a number of 'em yet to become legends.
Willamette 020N - 016E SW¼NE¼ 20
020N - 016E SE¼NW¼ 20
020N - 016E NE¼SW¼ 20
020N - 016E NW¼SE¼ 20
Albert also appears in the 1900 Census as follows:
1900 United States Federal Census about Alber H Allen
Name: Alber H Allen
Age: 63
Birth Date: Dec 1836
Birthplace: Missouri
Home in 1900: Roslyn, Kittitas, Washington
[Kittitas]
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Divorced
Father's Birthplace: Arkansas
Mother's Birthplace: Alabama
Household Members:
Name Age
Alber H Allen 63
E Leona Evens 24
Belle Many 10
This census shows a family in flux. Albert's wife, Kary Ann Payne, has passed on in 1891 at only 52 years of age. Daughter Laura Leona is married with a last name of Evens, but still living at home. There is also a 10 year old "boarder" living with them. Her name is Mary S Bell, not Belle Mary as recorded here. Mary's mother, Agnes Norris Bell, has passed away in Roslyn in the summer of 1895 at the home of the Brady's, after a long illness. Agnes 4 children are spared out amongst the members of the community, Laura taking in Mary to her home and she will raise Mary as her own.
Aubert is in the process of selling his 160 acre homestead in Jonesville, WA just north of Ronald, WA. His homestead sits at the base of a coal mine, "The Big Dirty Seam" as it is known locally, and his property is needed for access to get coal out of the mine and to the railroad spur that is being built. In October, 1900 Albert sells his property, for a considerable profit at that time, $13,500.00, on a contract to the Brown Brothers, which requires annual payments, the final payme3nt to be made in Dec 1903. Unfortunately, Albert will not live long enough to collect the final payment.
After years of looking for Albert, we finally were able to locate his homestead he received in 1894. With that, we were able to locate his sale to the Brown Brothers, and then discover that the property needed to go through probate before final payment was made. It was there that we discovered the paperwork showing Albert's middle name of Harrison, along with the fact that he passed on 24 Dec 1903 and he had been buried here. Unfortunately, an obituary of his death has not been located, so his parents remain a mystery to us.
But they are out there...and we will find them.
Welcome back to the family Albert. We have been looking for you for a long, long time.
To completly understand who Albert was, we have to go back to the begining. Unfortunately, at the present time we are unable to. We have aplethera of material on Albert, more than any other family ancestor to date, yet we still are unable to locate the censuses of 1840, 1850, 1860 and 1870, essentually what amounts to the vast majority of his lifetime. We know so litttle yet we know such a great deal about him. And, perhaps more importantly, we know who Albert Harrison Allen became.
Albert obviously knew he was dying. It wuite possibly was from some terminal disease discvered shortly before s Will was created. Unfortunately that information has also been denied us so far, as probes with the County of San Luis Obispo as well as the State of California have not been able to produce a death certificate. He very obviously died in Paso Robles as he was unlikely to be able to travel given a terminal condition. An obituary probe in Roslyn, WA,. where Albert spent the last 20 years of his life before moving to "Paso" has failed to produce an obituary.
The headstone on his grave says that Albert was born 5 Dec 1833. Our family jisorical documents disagree with that date. Passed down from eldest daughter Mary Ellen Allen Nelson, her tpre written oaoers show that Albert was born 3 Dec 1836. His census data that we do have supports that date as well. His census data also states teat he was born in Misourri and that his father was born in Alabama and his mother was born in Virginia. We also know that his second born daughter handeled his final burial, comissioned the headstone and likely directed that date to be placed on the headstone in err.
That being said, let's begin at what we do know.
Sometime before April 15, 1872, which is the birth of their first daughter Mary Ellen, Albert wed Mary Ann Payne in Missouri or, more likely, Arkansas, we believe. Their edest daughter, Mary Ellen, is known to have been born in Little Rock. Vera Mae Johnson Baughmen, belives that Mary Ellen Allen, Vera's Grandmother, was fom Texarkana, AR becasue she remembers that her grandmother was a bit sensitive about it, obviously subscribing to some belief that it wasn't known as a very well educated area.
Mary and Albert had three children:
Mary Ellen Allen 1872 – 1942 (Born in Little Rock, AR)
Laura Leona Allen 1875 –
Henry Newton Allen 1877 –1957.
Mary Ellen and Henry Newton's histories are very well known to the family. We are still trying to pin down details on Laura Leona lifetime.
The first documentation we have currently on Albert is that he appears with his family on the 1880 United States Federal Census in Coryell, Texas where he lists his occupation as a "Farmer".
Daughter, Mary Allen is 8 and was born in Arkansas, which concurs with our understanding. His other 32 known living children, Laura Leona Allen 5 and Henry Newton Allen 3, are said to have been born in Texas, presumably in Coryell County where they lived at the time of the census. That being the case, we can assume by it that teh damily moved to Coryell County sometime between 15 Apr 1872, when mary Ellen was born and 10 Aug 1875, when second chile Laura Leona was born in Texas.
Also at the census time, Albert was 43 and wife Mary 44.
Albert the appears again in the 1885, 1887 and 1889 Washington State and Territorial Censuses, this time residing in Kittitas, Washington with essentially the same information in a bit more abbreviated form, with each census consistently showing a birth year of 1836.
Albert witnesses his daughter, Mary Ellen, marry Swan Nelson in Rslyn on 16 July 1890. Then tragedy stikes the family in the form of Mary Ann Payne Allen's passing a little over a year later on 27 May 1891. Mary Ann is buried in the "Old City Cemetery" in Roslyn. Unfortunately, she will be one of the earliest burials in the cemetery.
Then on 15 March 1894, we find a filing of a "Land Patent", also known as a "Homestead", to Albert Allen on the legal description:"The SE quarter of Section 12 Township Map No. 20 North, Range No. 14 East, Williamette Meridian in Washington, containing one hundred and sixty acres". This makes Albert's property one of the earliest homestead's in Eastern Washington. Another interesting note here is that Clinton Brosius, Albert's neighbor to the north, is granted a "Homestead on the exact same day, 15 March 1894. In hindsight, we can now say that this was hardly a coincidence.
Clinton Brosius is the person credited with discovering the "Jonesville #3 Coal Mine", also known by the locals as "The Big Dirty", in Ronald, WA. The mine sits on Clinton Brosius's property. Albert is adjacent to Clinton. Albert is Clinton's neighbor. His IMMEDIATE neighbor. The topography of the area in a bit unique. Clinton's land is "locked" from alternate access. To gain ingress/egress to/from the mine, one must traverse Albert Harrison Allen's 160 acre parcel of property! The coal might be there, but if one cannot get to it, it might as well not be there! The mine may be the "Big and Dirty", but Albert has the "Big 'Gotcha!'"! Albert may not have known how to read or write. Albert might not even be able to sign his name, but Albert was not your average "Country Bumpkin".
Now there's more to this story, but it's going to have to wait a bit. You see, Albert Allen was a "thinking man's man". This didn't just "happen" to Albert Allen. Albert Allen was not merely "in the right spot at the right time". Not alt all. This required a great deal of planning.
"Homesteading" was a process. To do it, one must first identify the property, "squat" on the property, "improve" the property with buildings and farm the property for a minimum of 5 years. After that, one must then apply to the Federal Government for a "Land Patent", which is another entire process all together. After one applied for the Land Patent, it took about a year to "formalize" and get the Land Patent recorded. Together, all this took about 10 years time on average.
That puts Albert in Ronald, WA at least in 15 Mar 1884, perhaps before. We know Albert was in the 1885 Washington Territorial census with his family in Ronald. They are also there in 1887 and 1889, respectively. People began coming to the area around 1881 because it was believed that coal was there. Four men finally "discovered" coal in 1887, on the Bat Masterson homestead...
Now, I know just what you're thinking: "Bat Masterson?! Bat Masterson?! What do you mean, Bat Masterson?"
Well now, this Bat Masterson was one Howard D "Bat" Masterson and currently, I don't know the answer to THAT question right now. This Bat was born in Idaho in about 1865. In 1870, he's in Kansas as a 5 year old. This one end's up dying is Seattle in 1951. The other one died in New
30 years prior. But, they might be cousins.
Regardless, this just isn't a story about a national legend, this is a story about a number of 'em yet to become legends.
Willamette 020N - 016E SW¼NE¼ 20
020N - 016E SE¼NW¼ 20
020N - 016E NE¼SW¼ 20
020N - 016E NW¼SE¼ 20
Albert also appears in the 1900 Census as follows:
1900 United States Federal Census about Alber H Allen
Name: Alber H Allen
Age: 63
Birth Date: Dec 1836
Birthplace: Missouri
Home in 1900: Roslyn, Kittitas, Washington
[Kittitas]
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Divorced
Father's Birthplace: Arkansas
Mother's Birthplace: Alabama
Household Members:
Name Age
Alber H Allen 63
E Leona Evens 24
Belle Many 10
This census shows a family in flux. Albert's wife, Kary Ann Payne, has passed on in 1891 at only 52 years of age. Daughter Laura Leona is married with a last name of Evens, but still living at home. There is also a 10 year old "boarder" living with them. Her name is Mary S Bell, not Belle Mary as recorded here. Mary's mother, Agnes Norris Bell, has passed away in Roslyn in the summer of 1895 at the home of the Brady's, after a long illness. Agnes 4 children are spared out amongst the members of the community, Laura taking in Mary to her home and she will raise Mary as her own.
Aubert is in the process of selling his 160 acre homestead in Jonesville, WA just north of Ronald, WA. His homestead sits at the base of a coal mine, "The Big Dirty Seam" as it is known locally, and his property is needed for access to get coal out of the mine and to the railroad spur that is being built. In October, 1900 Albert sells his property, for a considerable profit at that time, $13,500.00, on a contract to the Brown Brothers, which requires annual payments, the final payme3nt to be made in Dec 1903. Unfortunately, Albert will not live long enough to collect the final payment.
After years of looking for Albert, we finally were able to locate his homestead he received in 1894. With that, we were able to locate his sale to the Brown Brothers, and then discover that the property needed to go through probate before final payment was made. It was there that we discovered the paperwork showing Albert's middle name of Harrison, along with the fact that he passed on 24 Dec 1903 and he had been buried here. Unfortunately, an obituary of his death has not been located, so his parents remain a mystery to us.
But they are out there...and we will find them.
Welcome back to the family Albert. We have been looking for you for a long, long time.
Days before his death, Albert Harrison Allen had his attoeney create a Last Will and Testament wherein he left all his worldly goods to loved ones. Albert had amassed a fortune of well over $300,000.00 in 2012 dollars. That's not bad for a man that couldn't read or write...or scratch out his own name.
To completly understand who Albert was, we have to go back to the begining. Unfortunately, at the present time we are unable to. We have aplethera of material on Albert, more than any other family ancestor to date, yet we still are unable to locate the censuses of 1840, 1850, 1860 and 1870, essentually what amounts to the vast majority of his lifetime. We know so litttle yet we know such a great deal about him. And, perhaps more importantly, we know who Albert Harrison Allen became.
Albert obviously knew he was dying. It wuite possibly was from some terminal disease discvered shortly before s Will was created. Unfortunately that information has also been denied us so far, as probes with the County of San Luis Obispo as well as the State of California have not been able to produce a death certificate. He very obviously died in Paso Robles as he was unlikely to be able to travel given a terminal condition. An obituary probe in Roslyn, WA,. where Albert spent the last 20 years of his life before moving to "Paso" has failed to produce an obituary.
The headstone on his grave says that Albert was born 5 Dec 1833. Our family jisorical documents disagree with that date. Passed down from eldest daughter Mary Ellen Allen Nelson, her tpre written oaoers show that Albert was born 3 Dec 1836. His census data that we do have supports that date as well. His census data also states teat he was born in Misourri and that his father was born in Alabama and his mother was born in Virginia. We also know that his second born daughter handeled his final burial, comissioned the headstone and likely directed that date to be placed on the headstone in err.
That being said, let's begin at what we do know.
Sometime before April 15, 1872, which is the birth of their first daughter Mary Ellen, Albert wed Mary Ann Payne in Missouri or, more likely, Arkansas, we believe. Their edest daughter, Mary Ellen, is known to have been born in Little Rock. Vera Mae Johnson Baughmen, belives that Mary Ellen Allen, Vera's Grandmother, was fom Texarkana, AR becasue she remembers that her grandmother was a bit sensitive about it, obviously subscribing to some belief that it wasn't known as a very well educated area.
Mary and Albert had three children:
Mary Ellen Allen 1872 – 1942 (Born in Little Rock, AR)
Laura Leona Allen 1875 –
Henry Newton Allen 1877 –1957.
Mary Ellen and Henry Newton's histories are very well known to the family. We are still trying to pin down details on Laura Leona lifetime.
The first documentation we have currently on Albert is that he appears with his family on the 1880 United States Federal Census in Coryell, Texas where he lists his occupation as a "Farmer".
Daughter, Mary Allen is 8 and was born in Arkansas, which concurs with our understanding. His other 32 known living children, Laura Leona Allen 5 and Henry Newton Allen 3, are said to have been born in Texas, presumably in Coryell County where they lived at the time of the census. That being the case, we can assume by it that teh damily moved to Coryell County sometime between 15 Apr 1872, when mary Ellen was born and 10 Aug 1875, when second chile Laura Leona was born in Texas.
Also at the census time, Albert was 43 and wife Mary 44.
Albert the appears again in the 1885, 1887 and 1889 Washington State and Territorial Censuses, this time residing in Kittitas, Washington with essentially the same information in a bit more abbreviated form, with each census consistently showing a birth year of 1836.
Albert witnesses his daughter, Mary Ellen, marry Swan Nelson in Rslyn on 16 July 1890. Then tragedy stikes the family in the form of Mary Ann Payne Allen's passing a little over a year later on 27 May 1891. Mary Ann is buried in the "Old City Cemetery" in Roslyn. Unfortunately, she will be one of the earliest burials in the cemetery.
Then on 15 March 1894, we find a filing of a "Land Patent", also known as a "Homestead", to Albert Allen on the legal description:"The SE quarter of Section 12 Township Map No. 20 North, Range No. 14 East, Williamette Meridian in Washington, containing one hundred and sixty acres". This makes Albert's property one of the earliest homestead's in Eastern Washington. Another interesting note here is that Clinton Brosius, Albert's neighbor to the north, is granted a "Homestead on the exact same day, 15 March 1894. In hindsight, we can now say that this was hardly a coincidence.
Clinton Brosius is the person credited with discovering the "Jonesville #3 Coal Mine", also known by the locals as "The Big Dirty", in Ronald, WA. The mine sits on Clinton Brosius's property. Albert is adjacent to Clinton. Albert is Clinton's neighbor. His IMMEDIATE neighbor. The topography of the area in a bit unique. Clinton's land is "locked" from alternate access. To gain ingress/egress to/from the mine, one must traverse Albert Harrison Allen's 160 acre parcel of property! The coal might be there, but if one cannot get to it, it might as well not be there! The mine may be the "Big and Dirty", but Albert has the "Big 'Gotcha!'"! Albert may not have known how to read or write. Albert might not even be able to sign his name, but Albert was not your average "Country Bumpkin".
Now there's more to this story, but it's going to have to wait a bit. You see, Albert Allen was a "thinking man's man". This didn't just "happen" to Albert Allen. Albert Allen was not merely "in the right spot at the right time". Not alt all. This required a great deal of planning.
"Homesteading" was a process. To do it, one must first identify the property, "squat" on the property, "improve" the property with buildings and farm the property for a minimum of 5 years. After that, one must then apply to the Federal Government for a "Land Patent", which is another entire process all together. After one applied for the Land Patent, it took about a year to "formalize" and get the Land Patent recorded. Together, all this took about 10 years time on average.
That puts Albert in Ronald, WA at least in 15 Mar 1884, perhaps before. We know Albert was in the 1885 Washington Territorial census with his family in Ronald. They are also there in 1887 and 1889, respectively. People began coming to the area around 1881 because it was believed that coal was there. Four men finally "discovered" coal in 1887, on the Bat Masterson homestead...
Now, I know just what you're thinking: "Bat Masterson?! Bat Masterson?! What do you mean, Bat Masterson?"
Well now, this Bat Masterson was one Howard D "Bat" Masterson and currently, I don't know the answer to THAT question right now. This Bat was born in Idaho in about 1865. In 1870, he's in Kansas as a 5 year old. This one end's up dying is Seattle in 1951. The other one died in New
30 years prior. But, they might be cousins.
Regardless, this just isn't a story about a national legend, this is a story about a number of 'em yet to become legends.
Willamette 020N - 016E SW¼NE¼ 20
020N - 016E SE¼NW¼ 20
020N - 016E NE¼SW¼ 20
020N - 016E NW¼SE¼ 20
Albert also appears in the 1900 Census as follows:
1900 United States Federal Census about Alber H Allen
Name: Alber H Allen
Age: 63
Birth Date: Dec 1836
Birthplace: Missouri
Home in 1900: Roslyn, Kittitas, Washington
[Kittitas]
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Divorced
Father's Birthplace: Arkansas
Mother's Birthplace: Alabama
Household Members:
Name Age
Alber H Allen 63
E Leona Evens 24
Belle Many 10
This census shows a family in flux. Albert's wife, Kary Ann Payne, has passed on in 1891 at only 52 years of age. Daughter Laura Leona is married with a last name of Evens, but still living at home. There is also a 10 year old "boarder" living with them. Her name is Mary S Bell, not Belle Mary as recorded here. Mary's mother, Agnes Norris Bell, has passed away in Roslyn in the summer of 1895 at the home of the Brady's, after a long illness. Agnes 4 children are spared out amongst the members of the community, Laura taking in Mary to her home and she will raise Mary as her own.
Aubert is in the process of selling his 160 acre homestead in Jonesville, WA just north of Ronald, WA. His homestead sits at the base of a coal mine, "The Big Dirty Seam" as it is known locally, and his property is needed for access to get coal out of the mine and to the railroad spur that is being built. In October, 1900 Albert sells his property, for a considerable profit at that time, $13,500.00, on a contract to the Brown Brothers, which requires annual payments, the final payme3nt to be made in Dec 1903. Unfortunately, Albert will not live long enough to collect the final payment.
After years of looking for Albert, we finally were able to locate his homestead he received in 1894. With that, we were able to locate his sale to the Brown Brothers, and then discover that the property needed to go through probate before final payment was made. It was there that we discovered the paperwork showing Albert's middle name of Harrison, along with the fact that he passed on 24 Dec 1903 and he had been buried here. Unfortunately, an obituary of his death has not been located, so his parents remain a mystery to us.
But they are out there...and we will find them.
Welcome back to the family Albert. We have been looking for you for a long, long time.
To completly understand who Albert was, we have to go back to the begining. Unfortunately, at the present time we are unable to. We have aplethera of material on Albert, more than any other family ancestor to date, yet we still are unable to locate the censuses of 1840, 1850, 1860 and 1870, essentually what amounts to the vast majority of his lifetime. We know so litttle yet we know such a great deal about him. And, perhaps more importantly, we know who Albert Harrison Allen became.
Albert obviously knew he was dying. It wuite possibly was from some terminal disease discvered shortly before s Will was created. Unfortunately that information has also been denied us so far, as probes with the County of San Luis Obispo as well as the State of California have not been able to produce a death certificate. He very obviously died in Paso Robles as he was unlikely to be able to travel given a terminal condition. An obituary probe in Roslyn, WA,. where Albert spent the last 20 years of his life before moving to "Paso" has failed to produce an obituary.
The headstone on his grave says that Albert was born 5 Dec 1833. Our family jisorical documents disagree with that date. Passed down from eldest daughter Mary Ellen Allen Nelson, her tpre written oaoers show that Albert was born 3 Dec 1836. His census data that we do have supports that date as well. His census data also states teat he was born in Misourri and that his father was born in Alabama and his mother was born in Virginia. We also know that his second born daughter handeled his final burial, comissioned the headstone and likely directed that date to be placed on the headstone in err.
That being said, let's begin at what we do know.
Sometime before April 15, 1872, which is the birth of their first daughter Mary Ellen, Albert wed Mary Ann Payne in Missouri or, more likely, Arkansas, we believe. Their edest daughter, Mary Ellen, is known to have been born in Little Rock. Vera Mae Johnson Baughmen, belives that Mary Ellen Allen, Vera's Grandmother, was fom Texarkana, AR becasue she remembers that her grandmother was a bit sensitive about it, obviously subscribing to some belief that it wasn't known as a very well educated area.
Mary and Albert had three children:
Mary Ellen Allen 1872 – 1942 (Born in Little Rock, AR)
Laura Leona Allen 1875 –
Henry Newton Allen 1877 –1957.
Mary Ellen and Henry Newton's histories are very well known to the family. We are still trying to pin down details on Laura Leona lifetime.
The first documentation we have currently on Albert is that he appears with his family on the 1880 United States Federal Census in Coryell, Texas where he lists his occupation as a "Farmer".
Daughter, Mary Allen is 8 and was born in Arkansas, which concurs with our understanding. His other 32 known living children, Laura Leona Allen 5 and Henry Newton Allen 3, are said to have been born in Texas, presumably in Coryell County where they lived at the time of the census. That being the case, we can assume by it that teh damily moved to Coryell County sometime between 15 Apr 1872, when mary Ellen was born and 10 Aug 1875, when second chile Laura Leona was born in Texas.
Also at the census time, Albert was 43 and wife Mary 44.
Albert the appears again in the 1885, 1887 and 1889 Washington State and Territorial Censuses, this time residing in Kittitas, Washington with essentially the same information in a bit more abbreviated form, with each census consistently showing a birth year of 1836.
Albert witnesses his daughter, Mary Ellen, marry Swan Nelson in Rslyn on 16 July 1890. Then tragedy stikes the family in the form of Mary Ann Payne Allen's passing a little over a year later on 27 May 1891. Mary Ann is buried in the "Old City Cemetery" in Roslyn. Unfortunately, she will be one of the earliest burials in the cemetery.
Then on 15 March 1894, we find a filing of a "Land Patent", also known as a "Homestead", to Albert Allen on the legal description:"The SE quarter of Section 12 Township Map No. 20 North, Range No. 14 East, Williamette Meridian in Washington, containing one hundred and sixty acres". This makes Albert's property one of the earliest homestead's in Eastern Washington. Another interesting note here is that Clinton Brosius, Albert's neighbor to the north, is granted a "Homestead on the exact same day, 15 March 1894. In hindsight, we can now say that this was hardly a coincidence.
Clinton Brosius is the person credited with discovering the "Jonesville #3 Coal Mine", also known by the locals as "The Big Dirty", in Ronald, WA. The mine sits on Clinton Brosius's property. Albert is adjacent to Clinton. Albert is Clinton's neighbor. His IMMEDIATE neighbor. The topography of the area in a bit unique. Clinton's land is "locked" from alternate access. To gain ingress/egress to/from the mine, one must traverse Albert Harrison Allen's 160 acre parcel of property! The coal might be there, but if one cannot get to it, it might as well not be there! The mine may be the "Big and Dirty", but Albert has the "Big 'Gotcha!'"! Albert may not have known how to read or write. Albert might not even be able to sign his name, but Albert was not your average "Country Bumpkin".
Now there's more to this story, but it's going to have to wait a bit. You see, Albert Allen was a "thinking man's man". This didn't just "happen" to Albert Allen. Albert Allen was not merely "in the right spot at the right time". Not alt all. This required a great deal of planning.
"Homesteading" was a process. To do it, one must first identify the property, "squat" on the property, "improve" the property with buildings and farm the property for a minimum of 5 years. After that, one must then apply to the Federal Government for a "Land Patent", which is another entire process all together. After one applied for the Land Patent, it took about a year to "formalize" and get the Land Patent recorded. Together, all this took about 10 years time on average.
That puts Albert in Ronald, WA at least in 15 Mar 1884, perhaps before. We know Albert was in the 1885 Washington Territorial census with his family in Ronald. They are also there in 1887 and 1889, respectively. People began coming to the area around 1881 because it was believed that coal was there. Four men finally "discovered" coal in 1887, on the Bat Masterson homestead...
Now, I know just what you're thinking: "Bat Masterson?! Bat Masterson?! What do you mean, Bat Masterson?"
Well now, this Bat Masterson was one Howard D "Bat" Masterson and currently, I don't know the answer to THAT question right now. This Bat was born in Idaho in about 1865. In 1870, he's in Kansas as a 5 year old. This one end's up dying is Seattle in 1951. The other one died in New
30 years prior. But, they might be cousins.
Regardless, this just isn't a story about a national legend, this is a story about a number of 'em yet to become legends.
Willamette 020N - 016E SW¼NE¼ 20
020N - 016E SE¼NW¼ 20
020N - 016E NE¼SW¼ 20
020N - 016E NW¼SE¼ 20
Albert also appears in the 1900 Census as follows:
1900 United States Federal Census about Alber H Allen
Name: Alber H Allen
Age: 63
Birth Date: Dec 1836
Birthplace: Missouri
Home in 1900: Roslyn, Kittitas, Washington
[Kittitas]
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Divorced
Father's Birthplace: Arkansas
Mother's Birthplace: Alabama
Household Members:
Name Age
Alber H Allen 63
E Leona Evens 24
Belle Many 10
This census shows a family in flux. Albert's wife, Kary Ann Payne, has passed on in 1891 at only 52 years of age. Daughter Laura Leona is married with a last name of Evens, but still living at home. There is also a 10 year old "boarder" living with them. Her name is Mary S Bell, not Belle Mary as recorded here. Mary's mother, Agnes Norris Bell, has passed away in Roslyn in the summer of 1895 at the home of the Brady's, after a long illness. Agnes 4 children are spared out amongst the members of the community, Laura taking in Mary to her home and she will raise Mary as her own.
Aubert is in the process of selling his 160 acre homestead in Jonesville, WA just north of Ronald, WA. His homestead sits at the base of a coal mine, "The Big Dirty Seam" as it is known locally, and his property is needed for access to get coal out of the mine and to the railroad spur that is being built. In October, 1900 Albert sells his property, for a considerable profit at that time, $13,500.00, on a contract to the Brown Brothers, which requires annual payments, the final payme3nt to be made in Dec 1903. Unfortunately, Albert will not live long enough to collect the final payment.
After years of looking for Albert, we finally were able to locate his homestead he received in 1894. With that, we were able to locate his sale to the Brown Brothers, and then discover that the property needed to go through probate before final payment was made. It was there that we discovered the paperwork showing Albert's middle name of Harrison, along with the fact that he passed on 24 Dec 1903 and he had been buried here. Unfortunately, an obituary of his death has not been located, so his parents remain a mystery to us.
But they are out there...and we will find them.
Welcome back to the family Albert. We have been looking for you for a long, long time.
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