Elizabeth "Betsy" Allen

Elizabeth "Betsy" Allen

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My great grandmother was Elizabeth "Betsy" Allen. She was married to James "Ross" Stewart and lived in Iredell County. We trace our Allen ancestry back to New Kent County, Virginia, in 1773. In his will Robert Allen gave "only one shilling to my son Reynolds Allen." Family researchers have concluded that this Robert Allen of Bedford County, Virginia, was the father of Reynolds, Sr. of Johnston and Wake Counties, NC. Robert Allen of Bedford County, Virginia also had a brother named Reynolds Allen, who died intestate in 1778, Bedford County, Virginia. Robert Allen and his brother Reynolds Allen of Bedford County, Virginia, are believed to be the sons of Reynolds Allen who owned land in New Kent County, Virginia as early as 1689. This Reynolds Allen would be my sixth great grandfather.

At the present time we do not know who the first Allen immigrant to America was or where he came from, or whether Reynolds Allen (New Kent County, Virginia, landowner in 1689) was the first of our Allen name to come to this country. Since he was living and owned land in New Kent County in 1689, it seems to me that he could have been English or at least Irish or Scottish.

Robert Allen's son, Reynolds Allen, Sr. had two sons. Young Allen. the elder son, was born in Wake County bfore 1745 and died there in 1835. He married Phoebe Pullen. Reynolds Allen, Sr.'s second son, Reynolds Allen, Jr., was born about 1750, probably in what was then Johnston County and he died in Iredell County in 1812. The given name of his wife was Susana. Her surname is not known. Reynolds Allen, Sr. had one daughter and her name is not known, but she was the wife of Peter Eli Bruce. On October 11, 1780, in Wake County, Reynolds Allen gave a deed of gift to "My son, Peter Eli Bruce," to take effect at his death.

After living and owning land in Wake, Johnston and Granville Counties, Reynolds Allen, Sr. and his son Reynolds Allen, Jr. began buying land in Iredell County about 1796. Some of the land was located in the area between Snow Creek and the South Yadkin River, near the Alexander-lredell County line. By 1800 Reynolds Allen, Sr. and his son Reynolds Allen, Jr. are living in Iredell County as well as son-in-law Peter Eli Bruce, Jr. and his father Peter E. Bruce, Sr. By 1810 Reynolds Allen, Sr. was dead and his place of burial is not known. Peter Eli Bruce and his father had left Iredell County by then and were thought to be in Lincoln County, Tennessee.

Reynolds Allen, Jr., my great, great, great grandfather was born around 1750 in the Hillsborough District of Wake County, NC and died in 1812 in Iredell County. Reynolds Allen, Jr. and wife Susana Allen had nine children. They were 

1 Henry Allen, born about 1775 in Virginia, died after 1860. His wife's name was Catherine. 
2 William Moore Allen, born around 1784 in Wake County, married (1) Mary Barker and (2) Sarah Lambert, died in Iredell County 1851. 
3 John Haden Allen, born around 1770, died 1860 in Lincoln County, Tennessee. 
4 David Allen, born 1781 in Wake County, died 1828 in Haywood County, Tennessee. 
5 Darling Allen, born 1787 in Wake County. On April 1, 1809 Darling Allen married Susan Wallis in Wilkes County. Susan, born around 1793, was the daughter of John Wallis (Wallace) and Sarah Granger Wallis. John Wallis, born 1754, died November 17, 1845 a soldier of the Revolution as reported in the Raleigh Register on December 12, 1845. In a column reporting deaths in North Carolina, this notice was found: "in Iredell County, John Wallace, a soldier of the Revolution, age 91 years." A year later, his wife, Sarah died.

Darling Allen came to Iredell County as a lad with his parents, Reynolds and Susan Wallis Allen. Darling Allen died May 20, 1867 at the age of 80. His wife, Susan Wallis Allen, died January 22, 1870 at the age of 77. Darling and Susan Wallis Allen are buried at New Sterling ARP Church, Iredell County along with her parents, John and Sarah Wallis (Wallace). Darling and Susan Allen are my great, great grandparents.

The remaining four children of Reynolds Allen, Jr. and Susana Allen are: 

6 Susannah Allen married Abner Shoemaker; 
7 Nancy Allen married Joel Shoemaker; 
8 Aly Sharpe Allen married on January 5, 1813, in Wake County, Henry Allen born around 1788, died March 5, 1841. Henry, the son of Young Allen, and Aly Allen were first cousins. 
9 Clarissa Allen was named as one of the nine children of Reynolds Allen, Jr., in his estate settlement. Nothing more is known about this child.

Elizabeth "Betsy" Allen, my great grandmother, was the daughter of Darling Allen and Susan Wallis Allen.

--Carrie Stewart Beard, 9372 Black-Serry Road, Lenoir, NC 28645 

Sources: My Stewart and Other Kin by Jeannette Kelly; North Carolina Census Records; North Carolina Public Records (Land deeds, wills, etc.); New Sterling ARP Church Cemetery.

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