The progenitor of this family, James Allen, was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1754. The NSDAR files show a birth date of 31 AUG 1750, but proof of this date has not been found by me personally, and it does not match up with the information provided in James's obituary.
No information has been found about James's immigration, but he was in Georgia before the American Revolution. James Allen served as a Private in the Georgia Militia during the war, and as mentioned, has been accepted by the NSDAR for membership (Application #369452.)
James received land in and around Washington, Wilkes and Burke Counties, GA. He married Frances SIMMONS (bc 1775 d 5 APR 1857).
James and Frances Allen had at least ten children:
James Allen reported in the 1840 Federal Census that he was 84 years old and a Revolutionary War veteran.
James Allen died on 2 MAR 1841 in Burke County, GA. This date of death is incorrectly reported on most NSDAR documents as 1835. However, The Macon, Georgia Telegraph newspaper printed an obituary on 23 MAR 1841. The obituary is brief, but leaves little doubt that it was written for this same James Allen:
DIED: At his residence in Burke County, on the 2d inst., JAMES ALLEN, in the 85th year of his age.
There is disagreement about the burial site of James Allen. Some information lists the Old Church Cemetery on GA Hwy 24, 6 miles from Waynesboro. Others list the Old Sapp Place on GA Hwy 22 near Waynesboro. I have not been able to travel to either location to make any determination of my own. The NSSAR lists the Sapp Place.
Francis (Simmons) Allen died 5 APR 1857 in Burke County, GA. Her obituary was published in The Christian Index on 29 APR 1857:
In Burke County, on the 5th inst., Mrs. FRANCES ALLEN, in the 82d year of her age. She emigrated from Virginia in early life to this county, was married to Mr. James Allen, deceased; was the mother of a large family of children. For about thirty years she has been an orderly and consistent member of the Baptist Church at Sardis, and lived to see all her children, and several grand-children hopeful converts. In the death of this estimable lady, her children have lost a kind mother, the cause of Christ an efficient help, and the poor around her best know what they have lost.
In rather better health than usual, for three weeks, she was preparing for her departure, making all the arrangements for her burial, selecting the subject from which her funeral was to be preached, sickened and died in three days, and her spirit took its flight to God who gave it.
The will of Frances Allen, called "Fanny", is recorded in Burke County, GA Will Book A Pages 80-81. It is posted on the Internet in the GA GENWEB Archives for Burke County.
Sources: NSDAR Application #369452 and #103587; 1798 Burke County Tax List; 1820 Census Burke County Pg 23; 1830 Census Burke County, Pg 132, 1840 Census Burke County, Pg 142; "Index to Headright and Bounty Land Grants of Georgia" by Lucas; Burke County, GA Will Book A.
Last Revised: 13 FEB 2004