DAVID LEE "CAPTAIN" ALLEN
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BLOCK 1
LOT : 137
ROW : 10
COLUMN : 4
SUB. R/C : ?
GRAVE # 4
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David Lee Allen
b. March 14, 1806
Loudoun County, Virginia
d. November 13, 1884
Decatur, Macon County, Illinois
buried: November 16, 1884
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FATHER
James Allen
(1769-1845)
MOTHER
Elizabeth Lee
(1775-1820)
MARRIED
Julia Elizabeth Read
(1804-1887)
September 7, 1830
Rutherford County, Tennessee
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CHILDREN
with Julia
Harriet E. Allen
(1834-?)
Laura S. Allen
(1841-1910)
Mary Judson Allen
(1853-1915)
Infant Son
()
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David Lee Allen was of Scotch-Irish descent. In 1828, after he had sold the family plantation in Virginia, he purchased a team of horses and a carriage, and started for Illinois. He came with the idea of investing his money in land. He liked Decatur and he liked the surrounding country. He made a good impression when first arriving in Decatur. He drove the best looking carriage that had been seen in this neighborhood. He had $1600 in cash in his pockets. That was a lot of money then. If he had come without carriage or money, however, he would have made the same good impression, for he was a man of charming personality. People soon realized that when David Lee Allen came he brought with him all the charm and hospitality of old Virgina. "Captain" Allen entered an eighty acre tract of land, which is now the heart of Decatur. It was bounded on the west by Water street and extended about a quarter of a mile east. The northern line was about where the Wabash tracks are located, and the southern boundary was East Wood street. At the time he entered this tract of land an old log cabin stood on it, on North Water street, in what is now the 400 block. To this Mr. Allen made additions until he finally had one of the best homes in the city. The building of the main part of the house was done in 1837 by E. O. Smith, and this was Mr. Smith's first building job in Decatur. IT was in this house that the First Baptist church, of which "Captain" Allen was a charter and a life-long member, was organized in 1843. For years his home was the center of social, intellectual and religious life. The uplifting influence of that home, and also the home of his brother-in-law, Dr. Thomas H. Read, was recognized by every early resident of Decatur. From the time he came until the time he died he was a booster, and his boosting was in deeds, not words. "Captain" Allen built the second water mill in the county, in 1831-32, and made a dam across the river. The mill was at the foot of what is now Maffit street. It was sold later to Robert Maffit and for years was known as Maffit's mill. On the south side of the river he had a lime kiln, which he ran for a number of years. This lime kiln was really Decatur's first industry. "Captain" Allen's hospitality was not confined to human beings but extended to animals, as was shown during the winter of the deep snow. He had established a cattle feeding pen on East North street, and during that hard winter the deer came from all direction to that pen for food. "Captain" Allen saw to it that they were fed. The Macon house, Decatur's first hotel, was built by "Captain" Allen at the corner of East Prairie and Franklin streets, in 1839, the construction work being done by E. O. Smith. At the time the building was erected it stood in the midst of heavy timber. To provide such an estate for himself "Captain" Allen purchased over seventy acres of land south of the Sangamon river, land which he admired for its beauty. It was then, and has remained, probably the most beautiful tracts of land in Decatur. One of the only ways to get to his property was the bridge across the river. Natural springs, called by the Indians "sweet water springs"; hills and ravines, carpeted with wild flowers in the springtime; tall trees making their dense shade in the summer and furnishing a riot of color in the autumn; vines and shrubs and grassy open places - these were the beauties which "Captain" Allen saw in the land which he visioned as his own country home. On the bluff at the bend of the river, known for years as Allen's bend, "Captain" Allen erected an imposing structure which later became his home. He had intended to build a more pretentious home later, using the first structure then as a barn, but that plan he was never able to carry out. This building stood for many years as one of the landmarks of the country. Standing on the hilltop, with its eight-sided tower rearing itself to a height of three stories, it never failed to attract attention. The building stood west of the present site of Mueller lodge. There he raised fine strawberries and other fruits, and managed a dairy. In this house "Captain" Allen spent the later years of his life and there he continued to lavish the hospitality for which he was known. "There should be a place in the city where mothers and their children might rest out of the sun and where the children could play," said David Lee "Captain" Allen one day. He was thinking often of the children just then, for his thoughts had been on his own little baby boy - his only son - who had been snatched from him by death. And so, because "Captain" Allen was a man who believed in doing things rather than merely thinking them, Decatur has a place today where mothers may rest and children may play, the place we call Central Park, which was given to the city by "Captain" Allen. It was like him to be doing something for Decatur. At the time the Illinois Central and Northern Cross railroads first were proposed, and preliminary surveys made, he offered the tract now Central park as a site for a railroad station. The railroad project failing at that time, in 1855 "Captain" Allen donated the square to Decatur for use as a park. Again he made a gift to the city when he donated a lot at the corner of North Water and North Park streets, the present site of the Citizens bank, for school purposes. Once more his generosity was shown when he donated a lot to the Antioch Baptist church, on which to erect a church building. He also offered a lot to St. Peter's A. M. E. church. David Allen owned land just north of the Sangamon river that had for years been a burial ground for the earliest of pioneers. This land was adjacent to the private burial grounds of the Orlando Powers family. When David owned the burial ground it was open to the public. In 1857 the burial ground became GREENWOOD CEMETERY. The private lot of the Powers family also became part of Greenwood in the late 1800's. Had "Captain" Allen not been so generous, he might have died a rich man. Yet when his time came to go, he was almost poor. The easy going ways of the Virginian did not fit in well with pioneer times in Illinois in a business way. Carelessness in business affairs caused him to lose much of his material goods. Yet one forgets such a fault in remembering his geniality, his generosity, his friendliness, his bettering influence, his hospitality, and the large part he played in the upbuilding of Decatur. |
The Decatur Herald
(Decatur, Illinois)
15 NOV 1884 * page 3
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