Allen family scrapbook, 1883-1929.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

Housed with George B. Powell Writings.

Handle with care. Pages are very brittle.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Small scrapbook containing news clippings (some with illustrations), calling cards, snapshots, poetry clippings, and color illustrations of fruit, flowers, or trees. The bulk of the materials, including most of the news clippings, concern the Allen family of Davidson County, Tenn. or their near relatives. An inscription on the inside front cover reads: "This book is for James A. Allen from his aunt Martha Allen Sept. 12, 1910." The precise relationships among the family members has not been discerned, and it is unclear who compiled the scrapbook. It may be that the book belonged to Martha Allen, and was given to her nephew later in her life. The cover reads: "Nurserymen's Colored Fruit & Flowers" with "J.G. Street" stamped on the cover; apparently the book was a type of catalog or similar item, which was converted for use as a scrapbook. In some cases, the colored illustrations remain visible, in whole or in part.

News clippings primarily include obituaries, wedding announcements, and poetry. Other clippings include a long letter from Nashvillian E.B. Allen, a sailor aboard the steamship Villalobos in 1908, detailing his trip from New York to China via the Suez Canal; and a letter from Rev. J.G. Allen of Muskogee, Oklahoma to S.F. Morrow in Nashville. Several items in the scrapbook reference the Green Street Church of Christ in Nashville, and a small snapshot of the building is also included, with a note that the building was destroyed in 1930. A few items concern prominent leaders of the Churches of Christ, including David Lipscomb, faculty of the Nashville Bible School in 1906-07, M.C. Kurfees, and several members of the Sewell family.

Cite as: Allen Family Scrapbook, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

Copyright status is undetermined.

Inquire with staff before photocopying.

Source of acquisition unknown;,Acc. RT-100.

The Allen family was very involved in the Christian Church.

Members of the Allen family mentioned include: E.B. (probably Edmund B.) Allen; James L. "Fate" Allen, a Nashville traffic police officer; Martha Allen; snapshots of Ruth Allen, David Allen, and "Mother" Allen; J.G. Allen; Houston F. Allen; Hettie Madge Allen, wife of William Edgar Dillard; Fayette Allen; James A. Allen and his wife, Anna Louise Grimes; Harvey H. Allen and his wife, Parthenia; and Robert Hatton Allen. Almost all of these individuals are from the Nashville, Tenn. area. Also included are hand-written lists of the children of: the Eli and Betsy (Laseter) Allen family; the Jacob and Levinia (Mcmin) Laseter family; and the John Macklin and Felice Ann (Laseter) Allen family, all of Wilson County, Tenn.

In English

Unknown provenance.

Catalog;,2015;,Linda Barnickel.

No further accruals are expected.