Tulare County
Biographies
WILLIAM S. ALLEN
William S. Allen, one of Porterville’s enterprising and public-spirited merchants, head of the firm of Allen & Barlow, proprietors of the well established A. & B. show store there, is a native son of the old Hawkeye state but has been a resident of California since the days of his boyhood, engaged for years in the shoe business, and is thus thoroughly acquainted with conditions here. He was born on a farm in the immediate vicinity of the city of Burlington, Des Moines county, Iowa, February 18, 1885, and is a son of John and Nancy (Moore) Allen, both of whom are living, still making their home on the old home farm where John Allen was born and where he has farmed all his life. John Allen is a son of Robert Allen, who was one of the pioneers of the Burlington country. The Allens of this line are of an old American colonial family and of Revolutionary stock and in the present generation the family is widely represented throughout the country.
Reared on the home farm in the vicinity of Burlington, William S. Allen acquired his early education in the local schools and remained at home, helpful in the labors of the farm, until he was seventeen years of age, when, in 1902, he came to California and began to take part in the operations then going on in the Imperial valley. After awhile he opened a “toggery shop” in Imperial, dealing in men’s furnishings and shoes, and thus entered upon his mercantile career. After carrying on that business for some time Mr. Allen sold his store to advantage and then became employed as a traveling salesman for a wholesale shoe house, with headquarters in Los Angeles. For nine years Mr. Allen was a salesman, “on the road”, and then on June 17, 1921, he bought his present interest in the A. & B. Shoe Store, an old established mercantile concern in Porterville, and his since been quite successful in that line, this firm also having a well stocked store in Tulare.
On May 2, 1922, in Fresno, William S. Allen was united in marriage to Miss Ethel Black of that city and he and his wife have a very pleasant home in Porterville. Mrs. Allen is a native daughter of California, born in Fresno, and is a daughter of Harvey Black. Mr. and Mrs. Allen are republicans and take a proper part in the general civic and social affairs of the community. Mr. Allen’s wide experience in mercantile operations makes him a valued acquisition to local commercial circles and he is one of the active members of the locally influential Rotary Club. He is a Knight Templar (York Rite) Mason, is also affiliated with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and is a life member of Al Malaikah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. of Los Angeles.
History of Tulare County and Kings County, California – Kathleen Edwards Small & J. Larry Smith, Vol. I, Chicago, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1926, Page 247
Transcribed by Jeannie Miyama
LIEUTENANT COLONEL ALLEN ALLENSWORTH
When Lieutenant Colonel Allen Allensworth passed away one more name was added to the list of honored dead whose earthly records closed with the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” but so long as memory remains to hose who knew him the influence of his noble life will remain as a source of encouragement and inspiration.
Allen Allensworth was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in slavery, on the 7th day of April, 1842, and was therefore in the seventy-third year of his age at the time of his tragic death. In his youth he was twice sold on the slave block, and during the Civil war he served with the northern forces, in both the army and the navy. After the close of the war which gave him his freedom, he and his brother, William Allensworth, returned to St. Louis and ran a restaurant for a short time. He then returned to Louisville and worked at manual labor. Joining the First Baptist church and being intensely ambitious to secure an education, he entered and worked his way through the American Missionary School, near Louisville, and on April 9, 1871, he was ordained to preach. For a while he taught school, filled pulpits and lectured in many states. On April 1, 1886, he joined the United States regular army and was sent to Fort Supply, Oklahoma (then Indian Territory) as chaplain of the Twenty-fourth Regiment, colored troops, and he remained with that regiment until his retirement with the rank of lieutenant colonel. During his eventful service he was located at different forts in the southwest and the middle and Rocky mountain west, much of the time at Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he was ordered to Kentucky and Tennessee to recruit soldiers for the Twenty-fourth Regiment, which later performed such heroic service at the battle of San Juan Hill, Cuba. In 1889 he was sent with the regiment to the Philippines and in 1900 was severely injured by being run into by a horse and buggy there, which resulted in his being given a leave of absence. He returned to the United States by way of Japan and was stationed at Fort McDowell, where he remained until April 1, 1902, when he went to Fort Harrison, near Helena, Montana. Then, having reached the age limit, he was retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was one of the most noted negro chaplains in the American army and at the time of his retirement he was ranking commissioned officer among the colored military officials.
After his retirement from the army, in order to do something of real value for his race, he prompted the townsite of Allensworth, Tulare county, and lived to see it become a thriving community of several hundred souls. Colonel Allensworth was a brilliant orator and his lectures were well received by all classes who heard him. He was the author of a book, “The Battles and Victories of Allen Allensworth, “ which was in press at the time of his death and which contains many vitally interesting accounts of events in his extraordinary life. The introduction to this work was written by John Stephen McGroarty, the well known author of southern California and founder of the “Mission Play.” Colonel Allensworth met with injuries in an accident in Los Angeles on September 14, 1914, being run over by a motorcycle, which caused his death on the following day.
Colonel Allensworth was connected with a number of fraternal organizations, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Spanish War Veterans. On September 20, 1877, Allen Allensworth was married to Josephine Leavell, of Trenton, Kentucky, and they became the parents of two daughters: Eva, now the wife of H.P. Shanks, a clerk in the postoffice at Los Angeles; and Nellie, who is the wife of L.M. Blodgett, a contractor and builder in Los Angeles.
History of Tulare County and Kings County, California – Kathleen Edwards Small & J. Larry Smith, Vol. I, Chicago, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1926, Page 454
Transcribed by Jeannie Miyama