HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

Biographical Appendix

NAPOLEON B. ALLEN

Napoleon B. Allen, judge of the probate court of Madison County, Mo., is a native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., born in 1822, his parents being John and Elizabeth (Harrison) Allen, who were born in Virginia and South Carolina, respectively. They both died the same year, 1834. The former was bon in 1797 and was taken to Tennessee in his youth. About 1832 he came to Missouri, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was a farmer and served as captain in the War of 1812, being at the battle of New Orleans. He was the father of seven children, four of who are living: Damascus T., Vermont, N. B. and Musedore E. (wife of R. L. Wood). Judge Allen's early education advantages were very limited, but he was persistent in his endeavors to secure and education and become a good scholar. At the age of fourteen he began learning the saddle and harness maker's trade, at which he worked as an apprentice for four years and then one year as a journeyman. In 1851, he established a shop of his own, but in 1864 his goods were all taken by Confederate soldiers and he never resumed the business. In 1856 he became one of the directors of a branch of the State Bank of Missouri, and in 1863 was appointed county assessor and was once re-elected to the same position. He took the census of Madison County and the State of Missouri in 1876. From 1870 to 1874 he was deputy circuit court clerk of Madison County, and in 1882 was elected probate judge and re-elected in 1886. He was married to Sarah Bollinger in 1841. She is a daughter of David Bollinger, and niece of Frederick Bollinger, in whose honor Bollinger County, Mo., was named. Fredericktown, Mo., was also named in his honor. Mrs. Allen was born in Missouri in 1828, and is the mother of eight children: Albert, Leven C., Robert H., Thomas B., Ninna (wife if D. B. Axtel), Laura (wife if Edward Frazier), Adelia (wife of B. W. Key), and Annie (wife of Thomas Holiday). Albert is at Jefferson City, Mo., and is swamp land commissioner of State; Levan C. is a graduate of West Point and is captain in the United States Army; Robert H. is in New Madrid and is superintendent of a large dry goods house; Thomas B. is a teacher and law student; Ninna's husband is a civil engineer in Waco, Tex.; Laura's is a railway conductor in St. Louis, Mo; Adelia's husband is a Southern Methodist minister, and is a son of Bishop Key, of Georgia; Anna's husband is in the Treasury Department at Washington, D. C, Mr. Allen is a Democrat and cast his first presidential vote for Henry Clay. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church South.

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