Genealogy Wanderings - Allen

Phebe Allen with grandchildren (Gilbert Gage Jr,'s children).

I have way too many Allen's in my family tree.  Even one is too many.  I have found it to be one of the more difficult lines to research - similar to Johnson, Smith and Jones (which I have all three).  My 3rd great grandmother was Phoebe Allen married to Gilbert Gage.  I am fairly sure that my great grandfather knew his grandmother as she died in 1910 and he left 1908 with his siblings to Nebraska after their parents died.  So, other than a picture of her, a gravestone, and a few records - I knew very little about her and her family.

I learned fairly early on that she was the daughter of John Peter Allen and Elizabeth Zen and was part of his second family.  John Peter Allen was born 24 Sept 1783 in NY and d. 2 Apr 1868 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.  He was first married to Anna Eva Weidman (b. 1786 d. 1821) and they were the parents of:

• Asa Allen b. 1806
• Hannah Maria Allen b. 11 Jun 1808 d. aft 1880 m. John Grassfield
• William Allen b. 11 Oct 1810 d. 7 Oct 1892 m. Elizabeth Ann Engle
• John P. Allen Jr. b. 19 Jun 1812 d. 28 Dec 1883 m. Catherine Margaret Beller and Melinda Haverly
• James Ira Allen b. 8 May 1817 d. 7 Oct 1866 m. Eva P. Ball
• Sylvester Allen b. 7 Jan 1818 d. 20 Sep 1898 m. Sarah A Bunzey
• Susanna Allen b. 7 Jul 1821 d. 29 May 1889 m. Jacob Henry Haverly

Since I don't have a definite death date for Anna Eva Weidman, I assume that she likely died in childbirth or shortly after with her last child.  John Peter Allen then remarried in abt 1825 to Elizabeth Zeh, my 4th great grandmother.  She was b. 24 Sept 1793 and d. 14 Oct 1851 to Peter Jost Zeh and Annatje Truax. Elizabeth and John Peter Allen had the following children:

• Ann Eliza Allen b. 27 July 1827
• Emma Elizabeth Allen b. 28 Aug 1828
• Phoebe Ann Allen b. 7 Jan 1830 d. 30 Dec 1912 m. Gilbert Gage (my 3rd great grandparents)
• Peter Zeh Allen b 14 Dec 1830 d. aft 1910 m. Harriet Charlotte Schoonmaker m. Sarah E m. Phoebe A Schermehorn
• Elizabeth Allen b.  27 Mar 1833 d. 22 Jan 1918 m. George Haverly

I have been lucky to have gotten some copies of records on Elizabeth Zeh's family and was able to trace it back several generations on multiple lines.  However, the Allen line hasn't been as easy. Sometime along the last 20 years, I started a correspondence with a descendant of James Ira Allen that has been more beneficial to me than to him...I am sure.  He had wonderful information on his ancestor including the fact that he had served in the Civil War.  This cousin did the research that opened a whole new group of Allen's to explore.

According to what my cousin found...John Peter Allen was the son of Samuel Allen and Sarah Shephard Hammond.  Sarah Hammond's line goes back and meets up with the line of Francis Cooke...which gives me another Mayflower ancestors. She also connects with my Wilbore line. Samuel Allen's line meets up with my Allen ancestors Nehemiah Allen and Sarah Woodford as well as Judah Wright and Mercy Burt.

I have already found some interesting tidbits on these families and there is so much more to look at.  I have a feeling that my grandparents were cousins of some sort.  Might take me a bit more time to find out.  I helped my cousin a bit with bits and pieces and he has more than paid me back with all this new information.  Now, I just have to find the time to explore!