Butte County
Biographies
JOHN HENRY ALLEN
JOHN HENRY ALLEN. – An energetic
pioneer, renowned for his prowess as a hunter and unostentatiously enjoying the
distinction of a direct kinship, through ancestors of several generations back,
with the intrepid Ethan Allen, the famous soldier of the Revolution,
John Henry Allen has devoted much of his life to the good and happiness of
others, with the natural result that he merits and has the esteem and good will
of a very large circle of friends. He was born near Genesee Falls, Monroe
County, N. Y., on September 2, 1845. His father was David Allen, the noted
New York shot and peace-maker, who married there Sarah Woolery,
who was born in Ontario, and in 1846 they located in Bellevue, Eaton County,
Mich., and thereafter, in 1853, came to Rockford, Ill., and in 1855 to Le Roy,
Mower County, Minn. In 1859, the plucky couple crossed the plains safely with
ox teams, and settled in Butte County, where Mr. Allen engaged first in
mining, and then in the cattle business. Both Mr. and Mrs. Allen died at Chico.
The third youngest of seven sons and four
daughters, John Henry was educated in the public schools of Minnesota, while he
also roamed the fields and woods, and as a boy learned to be a good shot. In
1859, with his parents, he came to California, where he went to work in a mine,
commencing on Butte Creek. There, in 1864, he discovered a claim, with his
brother Reuben, which they worked out. He continued at mining until, moved by a
restless nature and by inborn patriotic impulses, the tumult of the great Civil
War called him to the front. In January, 1865, he enlisted as a volunteer,
being then less than twenty years of age, and on April 14 following, the night
on which President Lincoln was assassinated, he had an
adventure that might well have tried the mettle of one much older in years. His
best friend, Lieutenant Livergood, was killed by
a man of the company, and Mr. Allen followed the murderer--followed him like a
hound--and got him and brought him in. The culprit eventually was made to pay
the death penalty by the military authorities. Later, while a member of Company
I, Second California Calvary, doing service in Nevada, he had perilous
adventures with the Indians, the campaign against the Redskins extending
through seventeen months. He there participated in several battles and skirmishes, and at Fish Creek no less than five arrows were
shot into his horse. In June, 1866, he was mustered out of service.
Returning home, Mr. Allen remained with
his parents until they died. With them he drove cattle to Sonoma County; but
finding the feed short at Bennett, where they were located, they sold out.
Coming back to Chico in 1869, he bought an interest with his brother in the
blacksmith business at Eighth Street, between Main and Broadway; and there the
firm of Allen Brothers held forth for seven years. Selling out to his
brother, he then started a shop of his own on Ninth Street, which he maintained
for two years, or until he accepted an appointment to the police force; but
after fourteen months of experience as a policeman, he bought a shop on Main
Street, between Fifth and Sixth Streets, and again engaged in the general
blacksmith business. In time, he purchased the property at the corner of Fifth
and Wall Streets, and built his present shop, in which he has worked and
transacted business for twenty years or more, meanwhile living in the residence
adjoining. During this time, however, he spent two years in Vallejo, as
blacksmith in the navy yard. As the result of his steady prosperity, Mr. Allen
has built several residences which he rents to others.
At Chico, Mr. Allen was married to Nellie
Barnes, a native of Missouri, and the daughter of David Barnes, a New Yorker
who served as a volunteer in the Civil War; and who moved to Missouri, later
came to California, and settled at Chico, where he was active as a painter. Two
children blessed this marriage. Fred is a musician in San Francisco; and in
that city the daughter, Ina, now Mrs. Erlenbach, also
resides. In politics, Mr. Allen is a true-blue Republican. He belongs to Halleck Post, No. 19, G. A. R.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
22 April 2008.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages
870-871, Historic Record
Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies