MYRON D. ALLEN, teacher, newspaper publisher, and business man, was born in Enfield, Connecticut, on May 1, 1843, and died in Springfield, Massachusetts, on April 29, 1914.
His father was Elam Allen, Jr. (November 26, 1804 — December 20, 1849) and his mother was Miranda Olmsted, daughter of Simeon Olmsted, who was born on April 21, 1811, and died on June 30, 1900, her mother being Abigail Collins.
His father was an intelligent farmer, interested in politics, and fond of reading, and his mother was a woman who exerted a strong influence over her son’s intellectual and moral life. Both his parents were of English descent. The mother was directly descended from Governor William Bradford of Plymouth.
Another ancestor was Samuel Allen, who came from Braintree, Essex, England, in 1632, and settled at Windsor, Connecticut ; and in the same year, James Olmsted, an ancestor on the mother’s side, settled at Hartford, Connecticut.
A third ancestor, prominent in the history of the Colony, was Miles Morgan, who sailed with a party from Bristol, England, in 1636, and settled at Springfield, Massachusetts. Although the youngest person in the party, being only twenty years old, he soon became prominent in the affairs of the Colony, and was continually assigned to positions of trust. His statue in Court Square, Springfield, erected two hundred and ten years later, is a lasting tribute to his ability and virtues. It is related of him, that, soon after he had received his allotment of land in Springfield, he started back to Boston on foot, with an Indian guide, to meet and marry a young English girl, Prudence Gilbert, by name, with whom he had become acquainted on the voyage from England, and who, with her parents, had settled at Beverly, Massachusetts. Immediately after their marriage, he purchased in Beverly a horse, which was loaded with Mrs. Morgan’s household goods, and the party returned to Springfield, the Indian guide and the horse going on ahead, and Morgan and his bride following on foot. On October 4, 1675, Springfield was burned by the Indians, and their son, Pelatiah, then 25 years old, was killed. Mr. Morgan died on May 29, 1699.
Another noted ancestor was Deacon Edward Collins, who came from Essex County, England, in 1638, and settled in Cambridge. His two sons, John and Nathaniel, graduated at Harvard, the one in 1649 and the other in 1660, and both became distinguished ministers.
Still an other ancestor was John Abbe, who came from England in 1636, and settled in Salem, Massachusetts. A direct descendant from him, Captain Thomas Abbe, of Enfield, Connecticut, made himself distinguished on April 19, 1775, when a horseman came from Boston to Enfield, arriving on a Sunday morning, and called Captain Abbe from the church to tell him of the Battle of Lexington. The Captain went home at once, got his drum, and marched around the church, drumming until the people came out, and formed a company then and there, which started for Boston that night. In memory of Captain Abbe, a direct descendant living at East Orange, New Jersey, is to erect during the coming summer, in front of the Enfield Church, a marble monument costing $20,000, and the town of Enfield has recently voted to give, and prepare, the ground for the monument.
An ancestry such as this could not fail to have an inspiring influence upon the growing youth. Determined to be something more than an ordinary farmer, and to see more of the world than could be found in a simple country town, Myron D. Allen prepared for and entered the State Normal School at New Britain, Connecticut, from which he graduated, and commenced his work as a teacher in West Hartford, in that state.
Two years later, in September, 1862, the War of the Rebellion having broken out, he enlisted in the 22nd Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers as First Sergeant of Company F, for nine months’ service, but at the end of six months, owing to an accident to his hand, he was honorably discharged, and went to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he bought out a printing office which was subsequently consolidated with that of Taylor and Olmsted.
In 1867 he became a third owner and manager of the Springfield Union. In this position he continued for two years, when he sold out his interest and gave up the management of the paper, and formed a partnership with R. P. Miller, in the clothing business, under the firm name of Miller and Allen, on Main Street in Springfield, continuing in that business until the year 1880. He then became a traveling salesman for the firm of James Rothwell and Company, with whom he continued until 1895, when he engaged in the real estate business until his retirement from mercantile life in the year 1900. He made a trip around the world on the Hamburg-American Line in 1911, and a tour of Europe, including Norway and Sweden, in 1912. He also visited South America and Alaska and Porto Rico about 1908. Politically, Mr. Allen was originally a Lincoln Republican, but during the campaign for Tilden as President, he joined the Democratic party, with which he continued to be identified up to the time of his death, although he sometimes voted independently. He was very active in Masonic circles, and was a member of the Roswell Lee Lodge of Masons, Morning Star Chapter, and of the Springfield Commandery of Knights Templar. His church affiliations were with the Unitarian communion and he attended the Church of the Unity in Springfield.
On January 1, 1864, he married Emily, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary (King) Prior, who died on August 5, 1907. He had no children, but he leaves a sister, Mrs. Emily M. Abbe ; and a nephew, Asher Allen, who has one son ; he also leaves a niece, Mrs. Emily A. Patten, wife of Henry B. Patten ; they have two children.
