Richard and Mary Allen were born in England and immigrated to the United States in the 1840s, first living in Fall River, Massachusetts, where their son Joseph's first two children, Sophia and Samuel, were born. They moved to western Iowa just in time to be captured on the 1850 federal census with their children Jas (James?) 21, Samuel 17, Ann 15, and Catherine 14. Their son Joseph and his wife Eliza were living next door with their young children. Their eldest daughter Elizabeth and her husband John Booth would arrive a decade later and settle in Council Bluffs. Daughter (granddaughter?) Martha was born in Iowa in October of 1852 when the Allens were about ages 52 and 49.

When the Civil War came in 1861, their son Samuel enlisted. By that time, daughters Catherine and Ann had married to William Points and James P. Smith, respectively. In August 1867, Mary Allen published a notice in the local newspaper that all the personal property in their home belonged to her and could not be sold or transferred without her approval. Was Richard in debt? Or was the marriage in trouble?

In April 1868 Richard and Mary's son Samuel died of injury and exposure following an accident with his wagon while returning home from Council Bluffs. In August 1877 their son Joseph died, and his mother Mary followed him to her grave a month later. In Mary's obituary, Richard Allen is described as a "hale and hearty man."

In November 1878, Richard Allen filed a last will and testament with the Pottawattamie County circuit court leaving all his property to his children "Elizabeth Booth, Ann Smith, Kate Points, and Martha Bay." His son James never appeared again after the 1850 census, and it is a fair presumption that he died young. On the census in 1880, 80-year-old Richard was living in the home of his son-in-law Humphrey Bay and his youngest daughter, Martha, and their three children, Rosa (Angeline) Bay, 10, James Bay, 7, and Edward Bay, 3. Young Master Edward would later become my great-grandfather.

Richard Allen died 30 December 1881 and was very likely buried in Allen Cemetery where many family members were already buried, including his son Joseph and his infant granddaughter Sabedella Points. No grave marker has been found, but there are several in Allen Cemetery that are no longer legible, and one of those may mark his final resting place. Because the cemetery seems to have been thoroughly investigated and transcribed, I deleted my request for a volunteer to photograph the grave.

--Kelley Howells, revised in February 2024