Researching Alvin Allen

I’m not having much luck searching for Asahel Allen so I switched my focus to Alvin Allen.

I took a class a few weeks ago and the most useful thing I learned was to put together charts from census records for the family you are working on.

Because I can’t find any of the Allens in 1860, it looks like there are two families. Alvin is listed with the family in 1850 and 1870 which gives this continuity. By 1880, Alvin was married to Sarah Finney (or Finley?), they had a child, Claude, listed as being born in 1873 in Canada, and were living in Westboro, Wisconsin. This census shows that Alvin’s neighbor was Albert Allen, possibly (probably?) his brother. This will definitely lead to more research.

As I was trying to research Asahel, I came across Civil War records for him and his brother, Amos, that list their parents as Abel Allen and Jane Cox. Since this was a transcribed record, I could not see the original to find out what it actually said. This threw me way off. Had I been wrong in all my previous research and connected my Abel and Jane Allen to a different family with the same first names? I did a lot of backtracking and didn’t find much that proved that my 3rd great aunt, Jane Holt, was actually the mother of the Allens I was researching.

Alvin’s 1900 census record for Lincoln, Wisconsin puts me back on track.

Alvin’s widowed uncle, Chester Bosworth, is living with the family. He is listed in Levi Holt’s probate records as the husband of Maria Holt, a sister to Jane (Holt) Allen and Mary  (Holt) Smith.

The 1904 marriage record for Leon Chester Allen, age 23 (so born about 1881), lists his parents as Alvin Allen and Sarah Allen. The Allen after Sarah is crossed out and Finney written above.

There aren’t a lot of mentions of Alvin in nyhistoricnewspapers.org but I did find a few.

Frank and his wife Lottie named their son for Uncle Alvin. He is mentioned many times in the Saint Lawrence County newspapers.

Perhaps the fire precipitated the family’s move to Wisconsin?

Alvin died at Sandpoint Idaho in 1908. Some records say Sarah died in 1953. The stone shown on Find a Grave is very difficult to read. To me, it looks like it says:

Father Alvin, 1847-1908
Mother Sarah 1856-1923(8?)
Sister Vera M 1881-190?

Looking at the 1900 census record again shows us that Alvin and Sarah were married for 30 years and had three children, all still living. None of them were named Vera. So who is she? Or does this stone not belong to this Allen family?

More research!