Hon. George Washington Allen
The Honorable George Washington Allen, late a prominent and remarkably successful business man of Grand Rapids, MI, was born in Enfield, Hartford Co., CT on 17 September 1813.
Moses Allen, great-grandfather of George W., bequeathed to his son, and he in turn to his son, the father of the subject of this sketch, who would also have been a Moses, but for the earnest protestations of his mother, who thought the name had been perpetuated too long in the family, and it was finally decided to name the future merchant, George Washington – a name he never dishonored. Moses, grandfather of George W., was proprietor of the tavern at Enfield, and there, Moses, father of subject, was reared, and died, comparatively young, 28 January 1816. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Nancy Kingsbury, was also a native of Enfield, and about four years after her husband’s death removed with her only child, George W., to Painesville, Ohio, remarried, and became the mother of five more children. Her death occurred in Grand Rapids, MI on 26 December 1879.
George W. Allen attended boarding-school at Painesville from the age of nine years to fourteen, after which he depended wholly upon himself for a living. For three years he was in partnership in general merchandizing with his cousins, Addison Hill and Solomon Kingsbury, later carried on the same business for some time on his own account solely, and in 1853 brought from Painesville a stock of miscellaneous goods to Grand Rapids, but shortly afterward engaged in the wholesale grocery trade exclusively, under the firm name of Allen and Haxton. But the firm was not a success and was dissolved, and Mr. Allen continued in the business alone, built up a lucrative trade and held it until 1867, when he was appointed United States pension agent for northwestern Michigan, and thereupon sold out his grocery business, and retrained his appointment for three years. In 1870 the Grand Rapids Savings bank was founded, and Mr. Allen was chosen its vice-president, which position he filled until retiring from active business in 1879.
In politics Mr. Allen was a republican and was elected to fill various offices of responsibility and trust. In 1856 he was an alderman from the Third ward of Grand Rapids (the city at that time contained five wards only), and in 1859 held the office of superintendent of the poor; he served tow terms, of two years each, as a member of the state legislature – in 1859 and 1865 – and was one of the incorporators of the Kent County Soldiers’ Monument association, which was organized 13 February 1864, while the soldiers were still in the midst of the struggle for the preservation of the Union, and in no instance was he ever known to be derelict in the performance of the responsible duties entrusted to him. He was a stockholder in the City and First National banks, and also owned shared in the Grand Rapids Manufacturing company, with which he had been connected from its organization, and was recognized as one of the most enterprising, energetic and sagacious business men of the Valley City, and his patriotism and public spirit were the admiration of the entire community. His business name stood without a blemish, and his walk through life was strictly in accordance with the teachings of the Episcopal church, of which he was a devout member, and in the faith of which he was called away, 12 January 1898.
The first marriage of George W. Allen took place in 1837 at Painesville, Ohio, to Miss Jeannette Noble, a native of New Milford, CT, who died in 1859, leaving four sons and two daughters. Of the sons, George R., Stanley N. and Arthur K. reside in Grand Rapids, and Henry G. lived in New York; of the daughters, Esther died in 1862, aged nineteen years, and Jeannette is now Mrs. David Keeler. In 1864, Mr. Allen married Mrs. Betsey Church, a native of Rhode Island, widow of Capt. Benjamin B. Church, and a daughters of Charles and Lydia (Bosworth) Fales, who passed their lives in their native state of Rhode Island, dying at the advanced ages of eighty-five and eighty years, respectively. Capt. Church was a gallant officer in the Eighth Michigan volunteer infantry, in which he enlisted in 1861, and was killed in the battle of James Island in 1862.
Mrs. G. W. Allen has been a resident of Grand Rapids for half a century, and consequently has been an eye-witness of its phenomenal growth, from village to city. She makes her residence at the old Allen home, No. 37 Park Street, and being a lady of refinement and of most amiable deportment, holds the unfeigned respect of a large circle of warm, friends as well as of the congregation of the Park Congregational church, of which she is a member.