103. My mother's Allen Ancestors, pioneers in Kirtland, Nauvoo, and Utah
In blog # 96 I told about the grandmothers of my mother, and her mother Levinah Emeline Wilson -- who married John Butler Allen. Today I'll mention John Butler Allen's faithful parents and grandparents, to give important history leading up to their lives. The first Allen ancestor to join the Church in 1835 was Gideon Allen, my gg grandfather, and his wife Rachel Hand. We don't know much of their history, but they lived in Litchfield, Litchfield County, Connecticut, where they heard the Gospel, and several of their living children were baptized with them in 1836 . They gathered with the Saints first in Kirtland, then Nauvoo, and then stayed with the body of the Saints, coming to Utah in 1849 with the George A. Smith/Dan Jones Company. They experienced all the challenges and persecution which occurred during those momentous times. Their youngest child, Philo, my great grandfather. married Lucy Alford Hawks as his first wife in the original Nauvoo Tem