Excerpted from the February 8, 1889 issue of the Hornellsville Weekly Tribune:
Railroad men are always acknowledged to be large, kind and generous hearted men, esteeming the interest and welfare of one to be the interest and welfare of all. But among all the roads there cannot be a more warm hearted and loving lot of men than the ones on the Western Division, and especially the engineers and firemen. With them Mr. Hawthorne (the outgoing Master Mechanic - ed.) has labored hard for the past four years and has done all in his power for their safety and welfare. That they fully appreciate these efforts of his was shown by the large gathering of those bodies that assembled in the hall over Nicholson and Williams' store. The body was a jolly lot and could ably entertain one another with their recitals of the past and their trials with the "cold water" engines and other things most common to men of the road. At about quarter of nine, Mr. J.K. Chapman called the meeting to order and Mr. W.R. Martin was chosen Chairman, and upon taking the chair he briefly stated the cause of the meeting and why they had assembled together (to present a diamond stud to Mr. Hawthorne).

Mr. Hawthorne arose and accepted the gift with feeble words ... after he had finished and sat down every eye was fixed upon him, and all were thinking too deeply to speak of the esteem in which he had been held. They, however, soon recovered themselves and freely expressed their personal regret that he was obliged to leave. Appropriate remarks were made by J.K. Chapman, Charles Allen, Thomas Clark, W.E. Smith, W.H. Van Dusen, W.C. Galbraith, C.A. Bird, Dr. T.C. Green, and T.B. Welsh, after which the form of the meeting was changed to a social gathering and Mr. Hawthorne was kindly taken by the hand and old times were once more talked over.

CHARLES A. ALLEN, Hornellsville, New York.
Charles A. Allen, a well known and highly competent engineer of the Erie, was born in Sullivan County, New York, on September 1, 1859, and is the son of S. R. Allen, a lawyer now residing at Ridgeland, Indiana. Mr. Allen secured a fine education, having studied in the public schools until he was 19 years of age. He began his railroad career on October 29, 1881, as a fireman on the Susquehanna Division of the Erie, and after six years of efficient service was promoted to engineer on December 1, 1887. After running a short time he was assigned by the Erie to haul coal trains on the Lehigh Valley Railroad between Wilkesbarre and Waverly, and after three years of this service returned to running on the Erie, and has continued on freight since with occasional extra passenger duty.

On September 26, 1883, Mr. Allen was married to Miss Lizzie M. Harper, daughter of a prominent cattle drover of Binghamton. They have two charming daughters, Pearl, aged 16, attending High School, and Hazel, aged 12, a pupil in the public schools.

Excerpted from: "American Locomotive Engineers, Erie Railway Edition," H.R. Romans Editor; Crawford-Adsit Company Publishers, Chicago, IL 1899.

From the September, 1926 issue of Erie Railroad Magazine:
CHARLES A. ALLEN -- The Hornell Tribune-Times announces the death on July 11 at Houston, Tex., of Charles A. Allen, formerly of Hornell. He was 66 years old. For a period he was a locomotive engineer on the Susquehanna division of the Erie Railroad. He is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Pearl Allen Louce, of Buffalo, and Mrs. Hazel Bickford, of Detroit. The body was brought to Hornell for burial.