Butte County
Biographies
ISAAC M. M. ALLEN
AND
JOHN E. ALLEN, M. D.
ISAAC M. M. ALLEN AND JOHN E. ALLEN, M.
D.--Veteran merchants of Butte County,
located at Bangor for many years,
I. M. M. Allen and Dr. J. E. Allen made their influence for good felt in the
community in which they lived, as well as in the commercial and professional
world, from 1872 until 1918, in which year Dr. Allen passed to his reward, and
I. M. M. Allen disposed of his interests in the Bangor store and retired to
enjoy the fruits of his years of labor.
I.
M. M. Allen was born on March 5, 1841, at Rome, Richland
County, Ohio, and attended the
academy at Hayesville, that state, after which he engaged in teaching school in
his native county. In 1868 he went to Kansas and engaged
in the mercantile business at Emporia until coming to California,
in 1875. He arrived at Bangor that
spring, and took charge of the mercantile business owned by his brother, Dr. J.
E. Allen, continuing to manage the business until
1879, when he purchased an interest in the store. The firm thereafter became
known as the "Allens"--dealers in general
merchandise--a household name throughout that section of the country. This
partnership continued until 1911, when Dr. Allen retired and was succeeded by
his son, Serny E., and the firm name was changed to
I. M. M. Allen & Company. This continued until 1918, when, on July 18, the
stock and realty of the I. M. M. Allen & Company was sold to H. C. Conger.
Mr. Allen then retired to make his home in Oakland.
He was appointed postmaster of Bangor
five years ago, and still holds that office, the post office being in his
store.
Dr.
John E. Allen was born at Columbiana, Columbiana County,
Ohio, and followed in the footsteps of his
father, becoming a physician. He graduated from the Medical Department of the University
of Michigan, at Ann Arbor,
and in 1860 came to California to
build up a practice. His first location was at the Indiana Ranch. Then, for
three years, he was at Forbestown, after which he
came to Bangor and bought the
general merchandise store from a Mr. Stewart, who had been a pioneer merchant
of the town. After his brother, I. M. M. Allen, came to California,
the Doctor devoted more time to his large and growing practice throughout this
part of the country. The business conducted by the "Allens"
grew to large proportions for a little foothill town far from the
railroads.
Dr.
Allen married Mary Elizabeth McNulty, born in Quincy,
Ill.; and they became parents of six
children. Anna Belle became Mrs. McDougall, and is the mother of three
children: Lloyd, Stanley, and Alma. She resides at Kellogg,
Idaho. Serny E.
was
associated with the firm of I. M.
M. Allen & Company until they sold out. He married Florence May Marden, by whom he has two children, Robert E. and Howard
E. Clifford E. died at Stockton; Gilbert I. is also
deceased; Grace E., Mrs. Papesh, has three children,
Beulah, George, and Doris, and lives at Kellogg, Idaho;
and Elmer Blaine resides in Oakland
with his wife, formerly Miss Amelia Newman, and their child, Harry. Dr. Allen
died on March 22, 1918, when in his eighty-fourth year, after which his widow
sold
her interests at Bangor,
intending to make Oakland her
future home. The Doctor was a strong advocate of good schools, and served for
years as a member of the board of trustees of the Bangor District. He was a
Mason, belonging to Forbestown Lodge, and was buried
with Masonic honors.
Isaac
M. M. Allen is the only survivor of the seven children born to his parents, Dr.
Gustavus A. and Esther (McMunn)
Allen, the former of Scotch-Irish extraction, born in the North of Ireland, and
who practiced medicine for fifty-two years. Mrs. Allen was born in Pennsylvania.
I. M. M. Allen is an influential Democrat, and wielded a strong influence in
the Bangor district for many years.
He is popular socially, has a high commercial rating, and is a man who wins and
retains friends among all classes.
Transcribed by Sande Beach.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 481-482, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2007 Sande Beach.
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