My Genealogy Hound

CHARLES S. ALLEN, a prosperous miller of Cortland County, operating the Little York Mills, was born December 2, 1854, in Cayuga County, this state, and is a son of Ethan and Marietta (Schenck) Allen. The Allens are of English descent and settled in New England during the early colonial times. Gideon Allen, the great-grandfather of our subject, born October 30, 1746, and died March 12, 1841, was a relative and contemporary of Col. Ethan Allen of Revolutionary fame. He was a native of Connecticut, moving to Cayuga County in 1792, where he took up a farm, upon which he passed the remainder of his life. Upon this homestead, which has never been owned by any but the Allen family, four generations of Allens have lived. From unbroken timber land it has been transformed into a farm of finest quality, and has passed from father to son until the present time it is in possession of Ethan Allen, the father of our subject, who still resides there.

Zimri Allen, born February 17, 1787, grandfather of our subject, was a soldier of the War of 1812 and spent his life on the farm, dying in 1869 at the age of eighty-two years. He was a Democrat, the only one of the family of that political faith. He married Abigail St. John, and had a family of two daughters, both now deceased, and four sons who survive him.

Ethan Allen was born on the homestead, May 21, 1828, and has spent the greater part of his life there. He learned the carpenter trade and worked at it four years, when he again turned his attention to farming. He married Marietta Schenck, a daughter of Jacob Schenck, of German origin and a resident of Springport, Cayuga County. They became the parents of three children: Charles S.; Emily, the wife of Edward Chase of Auburn, N. Y.; and Mary, the wife of George King, who lives on the old homestead. He is a strong Republican, and in his religion is a Universalist, of which church he is a trustee.

Charles S. Allen was educated in the district schools of his native place, and reared to manhood upon the farm. When he reached the age of twenty-three he worked as a farm-hand for a year. He then married and engaged in farming for himself for a period of five years. The maiden name of his wife was Laura A. Grover of Fleming, Cayuga County. This wedding was celebrated in 1879. Their children are: Lena, Georgia, Grover, Florence, Roy, Eva, and an infant not named. In 1884 Mr. Allen went to Auburn, N. Y., and learned the trade of a miller. He staid at that place until 1890, when he came to Little York, bought and operated the mills since known as the “Little York Mills.” He also deals in feed, and has built up a large, lucrative business. He is a strong Republican.