And
then there was Uncle Jack!
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Descendants of Milton James "Jim" Allen 1. MILTON JAMES "JIM"2 ALLEN (SAMUEL R.1) was born 16 Oct 1859 in Hardin Co., TN, and died 09 Jul 1935 in Hooker's Bend, Hardin Co., TN. He married LAURA ADALINE STORY Abt. 1880, daughter of JESSE STORY and LOUISA. She was born 24 Oct 1854 in Tennessee, and died 24 Jun 1926 in Hardin Co., TN.Information provided by Eva Carman Allen in a history of the Allen Family she was working on when she died. Milton James Allen chose Adeline Story to be his wife and she was the mother of their seven children: Harry, Malcolm, Charlie, Vestie, Ira, Horace, and Ollie, the only girl. Grandma was the daughter of Jessie and Louisa Story. She was the third child o their seven children. Luanna (Aunt Ana) married Alex Copeland and they lived on the adjoining farm after 1905. Their children were Doskie Akin, Electa Garey, Mae Smith and Damus Copeland. The only other one of Grandma’s siblings I ever heard Daddy speak of was Uncle Perry. Uncle Perry was the father of Ernest Story and Ernest’s sons are Bobby and Billy. He, also, had a son who was killed in World War II. Grandpa Allen was a tall, rather lean man. The only one of the children to inherit his build as Uncle Ira. The others were of medium height and inclined to be heavy set. There is a history of high blood pressure, strokes, rheumatism, and arthritis in the family. Just about all the children had high blood pressure and suffered strokes before their deaths. Grandpa had a debilitating stroke about a year and a half before his death. He lived with us during this time. Dee Shelby was the male nurse who also lived with us and cared for Grandpa. Grandpa was an astute business man. He had interests in several things besides farming – in fact, since I have been old enough to remember, he was not physically involved . Even after his stoke, he sat on the front porch and told Daddy and Uncle Malcolm what to plant, where, and how. They listened respectfully and then did what they thought best. Grandpa was a well respected man in the community and showed great compassion for his fellowman. And he always had a little treat in his pocket for the grandchildren. Each year, some acres of sorghum cane were always raised. He was an expert at cooking the juice into molasses. In the fall, the fodder was stripped from the cane and the cane was cut down with a scythe. All of us who were old enough went in and cut the heads off in the field. Then the cane was hauled to the area around the spring back of our house. The mill was put on its frame, the fire pit was cleaned out and the big cooking pan was put in place. Then a week of “making molasses” was begun. It was an exciting time for me because we had picnics at noon and no dessert ever tasted as good as warm molasses and good country butter. Grandma Adeline was a petite lady. She loved her snuff and kept the snuff box on a shelf outside her bedroom door on the South porch. She would sit on the porch and dip her snuff. Clyde and I watched her and since she seemed to enjoy it so much, we decided to try it. We got us a “brush” off a black gum tree below the barn. We chose a time when no one was around and we really dipped our brushes into her snuff. Oh! I have never been so sick! That was my only encounter with tobacco. One afternoon in June of 1926, Mama and Aunt Kate sent Clyde and me up to Grandma’s to make a telephone call. I have never remembered what that call was about. Clyde kept saying he heard someone calling. We went out on the North porch and found Grandma lying out in the yard. She had been gathering the eggs and had them in her apron “basket” when she tried to climb the steps onto the porch. She told us the screen door had knocked her off the steps. We tried to get her up but I was only eight and Clyde was about seven and we could not help her. I stayed with her while he ran for our mothers. Then we had to run to the river bank where Daddy and Uncle Vestie were plowing. They got inside and into bed and she lived just over a week. Grandma died on June 26, 1926, and both her funeral and Granpa’s (he died on July 9, 1935) were held on the front porch of the home place. Both are buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Hookers Bend. Grandma suffered terribly from rheumatism the last several years of her life. I often wish I could remember the many “home remedies” that were tried in order to relieve her suffering: the wild things that were gathered, the bark that was scraped, the boiling and the mixing. Some helped for a time and others did no good. I was only eight and a half years old when Grandma died. I have no idea about why we were chosen to move in with Grandpa and Uncle Horace (he was still at home then) except that Daddy seemed to be the natural born farmer. He and Uncle Malcolm went to Bowling Green Business School, but Daddy lasted only one term. He returned home to the farm and never left the rest of his life. Everyone else either owned or worked in a store. That never appealed to Daddy. When the weather was bad, Mama would dress me and Uncle Horace would take me to the store with him. When school time came, I would go over to the school building which was located behind the store on the lot where the John Robinson home now is. He got some of the store merchandise by steamboat. It would be put off at Craven’s Landing and brought to the store by wagon. The boxes would be 4’X4’X5’ wooden boxes. We often went with Uncle Horace after supper to open the box and to sort out the merchandise. It was such fun! I remember a toboggan I got from one box. It was white and had a gold overlay of rayon. It was so very pretty. There would be such a lot of “goodies” in each box. Grandma and Grandpa lived in the upper part of Hookers Bend when the children were little. The house is still there. Someone in the last several years built an attractive house just West of the former Allen house. The new house has a rock exterior. The small house East of the new house is where our parents lived as children. In 1905 Grandpa bought the Dick Smith place in the lower part of Hookers Bend between the White Oak Creek and the Tennessee River. The Deed Book has it recorded on September 20, 1905. He paid $3000.00 for four tracks: one for 196 acres, one for 182 acres, one for 4 acres, and one for 21 acres. This transaction is in Deed Book FF, page 102. The owners are listed as G.W. Smith and wife Minnie R. Smith. Most houses at that time were in an “L” shape, but Mr. Smith chose to build his house in a “T” shape. There were two rooms and a hall in the front part and a bedroom and kitchen in the back part. Children of MILTON ALLEN and LAURA STORY are: i. HARRY H.3 ALLEN, b. 06 Aug 1885, Hardin Co., TN; d. 21 Apr 1920, Hardin Co., TN; m. ARDELIA ANNIE FISHER; b. 24 Nov 1885, Hardin Co., TN; d. 12 Dec 1968, Hardin Co., TN. ii. JAMES MALCOMB ALLEN, b. 08 Feb 1887, Right, Hardin Co., TN; d. 09 Feb 1967, Pinson, Madison Co., Tennessee; m. MATTIE ETHEL SWIFT, 04 Dec 1910, Wilson, Arkansas; b. 19 Nov 1885, Scotts Hill, Tennessee; d. 09 Dec 1952, Pinson, Madison Co., Tennessee. iii. CHARLIE CLYDE ALLEN, b. 25 Nov 1888, Hardin Co., Tennessee; d. 29 Jul 1959, Hardin Co., TN; m. L. ZORA PONDS; b. 02 Feb 1894; d. 09 Oct 1995, Savannah, Hardin Co., TN. iv. VESTIE C. ALLEN, b. 07 Mar 1889, Hardin Co., Tennessee; d. 05 Oct 1961, Trenton, Gibson Co., Tennessee; m. WILLYMAUDE KATHERN"KATE" WATSON, 18 Jul 1916; b. 09 Feb 1896; d. 07 Aug 1983. v. IRA FRANKLIN ALLEN, b. 05 Feb 1892, Hardin Co., TN; d. 13 Oct 1959; m. RUTH LANE; b. 06 Sep 1896; d. Jul 1985, Savannah, Hardin Co., TN. vi. HORACE MANLEY ALLEN, b. 18 Oct 1894, Hardin Co., Tennessee; d. Jul 1974, Hardin Co., Tennessee; m. SARAH ICILENE "ICIE" KERR; b. Abt. 1900, Savannah, Hardin Co., TN; d. 28 Oct 1990, Hardin Co., Tennessee. Information give to Eva Allen Carmen by Carolyn Allen Bradley. Horace Allen, born in Hookers Bend, married Icie Kerr, born in Savannah/ They lived in Hookers Bend until their only child, Nancy Carolyn, was 5 years old. They then moved to Savannah, TN where they lived until they died. There, Horace was the owner of a tractor and farm equipment dealership until he retired. After that he was tax accessor for Hardin County for one term. He fought in WWI in France. During WWII, he worked for a time for E.I DuPont in Memphis. Icie Kerr Allen, his wife, taught elementary school for many years. They were active members of Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Savannah. He enjoyed hunting and fishing, she enjoyed cooking, handwork and her flowers and gardening. vii. OLLIE ALLEN, b. 24 Nov 1895; d. 28 Dec 1975, Hardin Co., TN; m. CHARLIE MILTON WHITE, 30 Dec 1919, Oakland Methodist Church, Hardin Co., TN; b. 07 Feb 1892; d. 20 Sep 1957, Hardin Co., Tennessee. Family history information furnished by Patty Wyatt to Eva Allen Carmen: Ollie Allen was the youngest child and only girl of the J. M. & Adline Allen. She was born in 1895, Nov. 24th. She married Charlie Milton White on Dec. 30, 1919. Charlie, the son of John and Lucy White, was born 2/7/1892. They were sweethearts when World War I broke out. He was drafted early on, and was inducted into the 30th Infantry, U.S.Army. After a brief training period, he was sent to Europe, via Great Britian. His unity landed in France and fought in France, Belgium and Germany. Some battles were Argonne Forrest, and the Hindenburg Line. After the armistice was signed, his unit was sent back to the states, where he was discharged. After their marriage they made their home in Hookers Bend, near what is called the “Watson Branch”. It was here that their first child, a daughter, Annie Marie, was born. They made their home there until 1928 (about) when they moved to the Allen farm, near White Oak Creek. It was here that daughter Patty Adline was born. All this time they farmed for their livelihood, as well as a way of life. About 1933, they brought a farm a few miles away and lived there. Economic times were difficult but were so for everyone, and I did not have any sense of “poverty”. As most country people did, we raised what we ate and ate what we raised. We were rich in love and in a sense of “community caring” that is seldom now. Neighbors took care of each other. We received our religious training at home, where my parents lived what they believed, and just across the road in the Methodist Church. Mr. Sam Watson was a long time leader in the church and Mrs. Mary Bain taught us the basics of the Methodist Church belief. Both Marie and I graduated high school in Saltillo. She went to Nashville and attended Draughn's business school after which she worked in an office at Montgomery Ward until she married Alexander Bortnick and moved to Detroit. I found the love of my life early on, and married Parker just a month out of high school on June 17, 1947. We lived on his family farm in Decatur County, where three children were born. Joan Marie, Parker Ross Jr., and Patricia Anne. Following my fathers sudden death, we moved back into the house with mom as she was not physically able to care for herself. Daddy died from a massive heart attack. Mom suffered from Parkinsons disease and a series of small strokes. They also had built and operated a general store in 1946, and still had it at the time of his death. After an adjustment period of 3 years we built a house back in Decatur County and went back there to live, taking mom with us, where we raised our children and cared for her until her death in December 1975. Info given to Eva Allen Carmen by Marie White Bortnick. Alexander Bortnick was born in Detroit, Mich. His father was Lazar and his mother was Stella and their background was Russian. They came to the United States in 1912 and 1916 respectively and met and married soon after she came over to the states. It was love at first sight. They moved from New York to Detroit where baby Al was born, all of three pounds. Their little family expanded with the birth of a girl Helene, and another boy who grew to a handsome young man of about 6’. However, this little boy, Bruno, developed a heart condition and died in 1939. Alexander grew up to be healthy and almost completed high school, but it was necessary for him to drop out of school and go to work to help support his family during the depression in the 1930s. In 1941 he was called to serve in the army which he did until after WWII was over and he was discharged Nov. 1945. In those intervening war years Al and Marie met in Nashville, fell in love and married April 7, 1944. Al’s hobby and favorite thing to do was reading, especially civil war history, or any kind of history. He would have made a wonderful history teacher as he loved to talk about history and had an excellent memory. His favorite people and place to visit was Mama and Daddy’s in Hookers Bend. He loved them and Patty and Parker just as dearly as he did his own mother and father. Marie went to Business School in Nashville and worked 1941-1945 in the office at Montgomery Ward there. In 1969 she decided to take some college courses and kept at it for an associates degree. She took some further courses toward a full degree, but got bored with statistics in Library Science and stopped after about a year. She went to work at Holy Cross Hospital in Detroit and loved hospital work. It also provided a stability financially and mentally when Al died in 1979. Marie retired in 1984 and died 06 Aug 1997.
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