Allen Allensworth (1842 - 1914)

Born 7 Apr 1842 in Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky, United States

Husband of Josephine (Leavell) Allensworth — married 11 Sep 1877 in Todd, Kentucky, United States

Descendants

Died 14 Sep 1914 at age 72 in Monrovia, Los Angeles, California, United States

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Biography

Allen Allensworth is Notable.

Allen Allensworth is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Chaplain, U.S. Army, 24th Infantry

Allen Allensworth, born enslaved, was the first African American to reach the rank of lieutenant colonel in the United States Army; he founded an all African-American town in California.^[1]

Born a slave in Kentucky in 1842, Allen Allensworth was the youngest of thirteen children of Levi Allensworth and his wife, Phyllis Starbird.^[2] His father died when he was young, and the family was scattered, some to freedom, but most to various owners. Allen and his mother were slaves of A.P. Starbird in Louisville, Kentucky. Allen was sold to Pat Smith, who owned a farm in Henderson, Kentucky, and later to Fred Scruggs in Jefferson, Louisiana. Scruggs had Allen work as a jockey and exercise boy with his horses.^[2]

Allen escaped slavery when the 44th Illinois Volunteers camped at Louisville, Kentucky in September of 1862. He was in the Louisville area at the time for a horse meet. Allen disguised himself with the Volunteers and marched out with them when they left Louisville.^[2] He served for a time with the the 44th, after which he joined the U.S. Navy, and served as the Captain's steward on the U.S.S. Tawah. ^[3]

After the war, Allen was a teacher in Kentucky,^[4] and he was ordained as a Baptist minister by the Fifth Street Baptist Church on 9 April 1871. He was an inspiring preacher and public speaker.^[1]

He married musician and activist Josephine Leavell in Kentucky in 1877.^[5] Their two daughters, Eva Belle^[6] and Nella Kersey, were both born in Kentucky.^[7] A son, Alfie, had died in infancy.

On April 1, 1886, President Grover Cleveland appointed Rev. Allensworth as chaplain of the 24th Infantry at the rank of Captain, with the responsibility for the spiritual health and educational well-being of the Buffalo Soldiers in the regiment. In 1900, he was enumerated at the Presidio in San Francisco, California, while serving in the US Army. ^[8] His wife and daughters were enumerated in their home.

In 1908, Lieutenant Colonel Allen Allensworth, with Professor William Payne, formed the township of Allensworth, the first all-black California township. It was built with the intention of establishing a self-sufficient city where African Americans could live their lives free of racial prejudice.^[9] It exists today as the Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park.

He died in 1914 after being struck by a motorcycle while visiting the town of Monrovia, California. He was seventy-two.^[10] He was buried in Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.^[11][12]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Wikipedia contributors, "Allen Allensworth," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Allen_Allensworth&oldid=1153920300 (accessed June 9, 2023).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Charles Alexander, Battles and Victories of Allen Allensworth: Lieutenant-Colonel, Retired, U. S. Army, (Boston, MA: Sherman, French & Co, 1914) Free Online Copy.
3. ↑ S. Hill, "Allen Allensworth, 1842-1914," (January 14, 2007), retrieved from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/allensworth-allen-1842-1914.
4. ↑ "United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Superintendent of Education and of the Division of Education, 1865-1872," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TH-GSMT-P?cc=2427894&wc=3139-BZS%3A1556061802%2C1556062701 : 1 August 2016), Education Division > Roll 20, Kentucky, monthly reports, June 1866-Jan 1869 > image 333 of 360; citing multiple NARA microfilm publications (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1969-1978).
5. ↑ "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954," database with images, (FamilySearch Record: Q2DF-4894 : accessed 9 October 2022) FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-C91S-R9FM-9 Image number 00011, Allen Allensworth marriage to Josephine Leavell on 11 Sep 1877 in Todd, Kentucky, United States; citing Marriage, Todd, Kentucky, United States, various county clerks and county courts, Kentucky; FHL microfilm 1,914,979.
6. ↑ "California Marriages, 1850-1945", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:H9HX-Y72M : 24 March 2020), Allen Allensworth in entry for Harrie B. Skanks, 1909.
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC8M-CKX : 15 August 2017), Allen Allensworth, Bowling Green, Warren, Kentucky, United States; citing enumeration district ED 226, sheet 22D, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL 1,254,444.
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M31V-2W9 : accessed 8 February 2021), Allen Allensworth, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 240, sheet 9B, family , NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,106.
9. ↑ "Black History Facts," Web, biography.com, accessed 8 Feb 2021.
10. ↑ "Leader of Colored Colony Meets Tragic Death in South," Visalia Times-Delta, Visalia, California, Wed, Sep 16, 1914; [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104530844/allen01/ Free View of Clipping
11. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 08 February 2021), memorial page for Allen Allensworth (7 Apr 1842–14 Sep 1914), Find A Grave: Memorial #21364, citing Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave.
12. ↑ "California, Los Angeles, Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery/Crematory Records, 1884-2002", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DTHC-V3W2 : 5 December 2020), Allen Allensworth, 1914.

See also:

• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M31V-2W9 : accessed 8 February 2021), Allen Allensworth, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 240, sheet 9B, family , NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,106.
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MV2B-QH7 : accessed 8 February 2021), Allen Allenworth, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 202, sheet 17A, family 393, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 82; FHL microfilm 1,374,095.
• Allen Allensworth
• Wikidata: Item Q4731504