James Allen

biography

ALLEN, James, mason, P. O. Espyville, was born in North Shenango township, this county, June 6, 1825; son of Stephen and Jane (Gilliland) Allen. His father, who was a native of New Jersey, settled in South Shenango Township, this county, in 1802, where he lived with his father, Moses Whittaker Allen, until after his marriage; about 1814 he moved to Mead Township, this county, where he worked at farming until 1824, in which year he moved to North Shenango Township, where he built a saw and grist-mill and a carding and clothing mill. His wife was a daughter of Hugh Gilliland, who came from Fayette County, Penn., and was an early settler of Summerhill Township, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Allen had ten children: Moses, Simpson (deceased), Hugh (deceased), William (deceased), Eliphalet (deceased), Sarah, now Mrs. Thomas Stockton; Nancy, now Mrs. Neal A. McKay; James; Elizabeth (deceased) and Eliza J., now Mrs. Aaron Chapman. Stephen died in 1874 at the age of eighty-six, and his widow in 1875, also at the age of eighty-six. The subject of this sketch was reared in North Shenango Township; he is a wool-carder and cloth-dresser by trade. He was twice married, his first wife being Mary E. Johnson; his present wife is Mary E., daughter of Lyman and Olive (Gillett) Waring, of Conneaut Township, this county, to whom he was married October 7, 1869. By this union there were three children: Olive J., Sarah R. and Burke (latter deceased). Mr. Allen was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, having enlisted September 14, 1861, in Company I, Eighty-third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry; he was at the siege of Yorktown, Va., in the seven days' fight before Richmond; was wounded at Malvern Hill; was in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Mine Run, Chancellorsville, in the Wilderness campaign, was present at the siege of Petersburg, and in many other engagements; he was honorably discharged September 20, 1864. He was engaged in farming in Conneaut Township, this county, from 1866 to 1875, when he returned to North Shenango, where he still resides. He is a member of the United Presbyterian Church, his wife of the Methodist Church. He is a member of Capt. A. J. Mason Post, No. 322, G. A. R., Department of Pennsylvania; in politics he is a Republican.