Leroy Wright Allen (1882-1968) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Leroy Wright (Roy) Allen

Born 30 Sep 1882 in Frankfort, Will, Illinois, United States

Ancestors

Son of Lorenzo B Allen and Ellen Lydia (Davis) Allen

Brother of Georgia Anstress (Allen) Wiltsey, Irving Wesley Allen and Olive May (Allen) Neel

Husband of Luella Alice (Rose) Allen — married about 1909 [location unknown]

[children unknown]

Died 26 Mar 1968 at age 85 in Orange County, California, United States of America

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Profile last modified 23 May 2023 | Created 24 May 2019

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1 Biography
2 Sources
3 Research Notes

Biography

Roy Allen is Notable.

American entrepreneur who is best known for being a founder and namesake for A&W Root Beer and A&W Restaurants.

Leroy "Roy" Wright Allen was born in Frankfort, Will, Illinois on September 30, 1882.^[1]^[2]^[3] He was a son of Lorenzo Allen and Ellen Lydia Davis.^[1]

Marriage

Around 1909, Roy married Louise Alice Rose. Together they had two adopted children: Roy W. and Luella Alice.^[4]

A&W Root Beer

When Roy was young he went west and worked as a hotelier. While on business in Arizona he met a chemist/pharmacist who claimed to have perfected a mix for root beer. Intrigued, Roy bought the recipe and opened a root beer stand in Lodi, California on June 20, 1919^[5]. That stand grew into a chain of drive-in restaurants.

In 1922, one of Allen's employees, Frank Wright joined Allen in a partnership and the drink gained the name "A&W Root Beer".

By the 1930's the Allen family was living in Sacramento, California.^[4] However by the 1940s, the family had moved to Los Angeles, Los Angles, California.^[6]

Death

Leroy "Roy" Wright Allen died in Orange County, California on March 26, 1968^[7]

Sources

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965 Ancestry.com [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
↑ United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [online database] FamilySearch. Wright Lee Roy Allen, 1917-1918. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.
↑ World War II Draft Cards (4th Registration) for the State of California; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group Number: 147. The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 United States Census, 1930 [online database] FamilySearch. Roy W Allen, Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 59, sheet 3B, line 77, family 75.
↑ A&W Restaurants, Inc.It All Started with a Roadside Stand: the 'Roots' of A&W Restaurants
↑ United States Census, 1940 [online database] FamilySearch. Roy W Allen, Councilmanic District 3, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Township, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 60-216, sheet 61A, line 37, family 54, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940.
↑ California Death Index, 1940-1997 [online database] FamilySearch. Roy W Allen, 26 Mar 1968; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.

Research Notes

Form of name on 1918 draft registration card ("Wright Lee Roy Allen") (see Images) varies greatly from the one which is used on this profile.

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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Roy by comparing test results with other carriers of his ancestors' Y-chromosome or mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Roy: