Elihu Marcellus Allen

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(by wagon)

Name: Elihu Marcellus Allen

Born: 14 May 1791, Cambridge, Washington, New York

Died: 11 October 1850, Great Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

Pioneer Arrival: 2 October 1847,

Company: Jedediah M. Grant Company, Captain Hazen Kimball 3rd Ten

Parents: George Allen and Rebecca

Married 1st: Laura Foote, born 23 April 1792, Windsor, Broome, New York

1st Spouse’s Death: 17 October 1823, Dryden, Tompkins, New York

Children:

1. Lucinda Allen, born November 1812, Dryden, Tompkins, New York

2. George Allen, born 1815, Dryden, Tompkins, New York, md. Almira, died 19 June 1838, drowned Missouri River

3. Franklin Allen, born 15 April 1818, Dryden, Tompkins, New York, md. Rebecca Myers, died 16 December 1890

4. Caroline Matilda Allen, born 16 April 1823, Dryden, Tompkins, New York, md. 11 June 1839 William Weeks, died after 1890, California

Married 2nd: Lola Ann Clawson, born 12 January 1806, Dryden, Tompkins, New York

2nd Spouse’s Death: 17 February 1848, Great Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

Children:

1. Helen Rebecca Allen, born 23 June 1828, Dryden, Tompkins, New York, md. John Riser

2. Laura Albina Allen, born 19 September 1829, Greenwood, Steuben, New York, md. 11 June 1849 Cyrus Culver Canfield, died 2 June 1871, Santa Clara, California

3. Phebe Ann Allen, born 17 December 1830, Greenwood, Steuben, New York, md. Benjamin Blanchard Blackenbury, died 9 February 1902, Almo, Cassia, Idaho

4. Charles William Allen, born 18 October 1832, Greenwood, Steuben, New York, md. Charlotte Mulhall

5. Wyatt Allen, born 3 March 1834, Greenwood, Steuben, New York, died 14 March 1834, Greenwood, Steuben, New York

6. Elihu Moroni Allen, born 9 October 1835, Greenwood, Steuben, New York, md. 1854 Mary Elizabeth Graham, died 22 November 1912, Pocatello, Bannock, Idaho

7. Lola Elizabeth Allen, born 25 August 1837, Far West, Caldwell, Missouri, died March 1849, Great Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

8. Almira Gilbert Allen, born 18 February 1839, died 8 December 1845, Adams County, Illinois

9. Emma Melvina Allen, born 23 August 1840, Burton, Adams, Illinois, died 4 December 1845, Adams County, Illinois

10. George Warren Allen, born 23 April 1842, Burton, Adams, Illinois, died 17 December 1845, Adams County, Illinois

11. John Ferguson Allen, born 18 February 1844, Burton, Adams, Illinois, md. Bernetta Walters Hickman, died 16 April 1911, Hagerman, Gooding, Idaho

12. Joseph Brigham Allen, born 19 September 1845, Marquette, Illinois

Elihu Marcellus Allen was born 14 May 1791 in Cambridge, Washington, New York to George and Rebecca Allen.

His first wife was Laura Foote and they had four children, all born in Dryden, Tompkins, New York. Laura Foote Allen died 17 October 1823 in Dryden.

In 1827, most likely in New York, Elihu, now a young widower with four children, married his first wife's first cousin Lola Ann Clawson. Together Elihu and Lola had 12 children, at least 7 of whom lived to adulthood. Their first child was born in Dryden. The next five children were born in Greenwood, Steuben, New York, where their fifth child, Wyatt Allen, lived only 11 days, passing away on 14 March 1834.

Elihu Marcellus Allen and his wife Lola Ann Clawson were baptized into the LDS Church in 1834 or 1835. Following their baptism they experienced untold hardships as members of their new-found faith. Soon after their conversion to the LDS Church they moved to a spot four miles southeast of Far West, Caldwell, Missouri at Log Creek. Here their seventh child was born.

Elihu's oldest son, George Allen, was drowned in the Missouri River on 19 June 1838 while floating logs down river.

Elihu and his family experienced severe persecution while living in Missouri because of their religion. Elihu executed an affidavit on 18 May 1839 in Quincy, Adams, Illinois itemizing a bill of damages against the State of Missouri for $1,000 for property lost and expenses incurred during the expulsion.

A daughter from his first wife, Caroline Allen, was married 11 June 1839 to William Weeks, the architect of the Nauvoo Temple and later assistant to Truman Angel in designing the Salt Lake Temple. William left the LDS Church and he and Caroline moved to California.

Elihu moved his family four miles east of Burton, Adams, Illinois where his ninth, tenth, and eleventh children were born.

Within two weeks in December 1845 and just three months following the birth of their last child, they lost three of their youngest children–first Emma Melvina Allen on 4 December, then Almira Gilbert Allen on 8 December, then George Warren Allen on 17 December.

Elihu and his family traveled across Iowa in 1846 to the Missouri River. On 12 March 1847 his youngest child, Joseph Brigham Allen, was "adopted" by Brigham Young shortly before the first group of Saints pulled out under the leadership of Brigham Young headed for Utah. Later that same year Elihu and Lola Ann with six of their children crossed the plains to Utah in the Jedediah M. Grant Company, arriving in the Great Salt Lake Valley on 2 October 1847.

Elihu lost his second wife Lola Ann Clawson Allen after that first winter in the Valley. She died on 17 February 1848 at Great Salt Lake City, just four and one-half months after they arrived.

Elihu Marcellus Allen died of inflamation of the lungs on 11 October 1850 in Great Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.