Albern

Albern Allen


1802-1862


Husband to Marcia Allen


How we relate:

Father of Alanson David Allen

who was the father of Emeline Clarissa Allen Bingham

Who was the mother of Leonard Bingham

who was the father of Ella Mae Bingham McKinnon

who is the mother of Don McKinnon

♥

             Albern Allen was  born in Cornwall, Connecticut on 22 May, 1802 to Daniel Allen and Clarissa Dewey. By the time he was four years old, Albern and his family had moved to Hartwick,  New York, where his younger brother Daniel was born.  His mother Clarissa died around that same time in 1806.

            Albern's father, Daniel was one of the first medical doctors in New York. They lived there until about 1811 when the family moved to Chataqua County. His father also fought in the War of 1812 while living there.  

             Sometime in 1826, Albern met a girl named Marcia Allen.  Though her last name was Allen, records going back 8 generations show that their individual Allen lines go in different directions.  The same year of 1826, Marcia and Albern got married.  They lived in Ostego and Delaware counties of New York for the first years of married life. Here they had their first three children: Rufus in 1827,  Alanson in 1829 and Clarissa in 1831.

             In 1833, the family had moved to Mansfield, New York. Mansfield was a new  community established in 1830. Here they lived the life of the frontie. It is where Albern and Marcia's fourth child, Marshall was born.  It is also the community where they would meet missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and change the direction of their lives and the lives of their posterity. In 1835 the Allen family was baptized and moved to Missouri to be with people with the same faith. 


         They settled in Caldwell County, Missouri, in 1836. In July 1838 Albern was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Seventy for the church. Just a few months later, the terrible persecutions of the Missouri saints reached their peak, beginning with the slaughter at Haun’s Mill.

A little background info: (from Albern's life story submitted to the Sons of Utah Pioneers foundation)    The saints eventually left and settled in Nauvoo, Ilinois. After settling in Nauvoo for a time,  Albern left to serve a short mission to the southern states. When he returned to Nauvoo, he was able to go into the temple and be sealed to his wife Marcia.  He also served as a lieutenant in the Nauvoo Legion. The Nauvoo Legion was an organization of a Militia unit consisting of members of the church.  The state of Illinois had granted Nauvoo to be a very liberal city that gave the Nauvoo Legion extraordinary independence which Joseph Smith led.

History tells that Haun’s Mill could have been only the appetizer to the slaughter that almost happened in Farr West as told in the following account: “The mob grew bolder and bolder, and committed depredations upon the settlements in Caldwell and Davies Counties, so that our people had to flee into Far West from all quarters to save themselves. Many could not get into houses, and had to take shelter in wagons, tents, and under bedclothes, and while in this situation we had a severe snow storm, which rendered their sufferings intense.

On the morning of November 1st, Hinkle [a leader of the militia that was to exterminate the saints] took another step to carry out his nefarious designs. The bugle sounded for the brethren to assemble, armed and equipped. Every man went out well armed and was paraded and delivered over to the enemy. The brethren were surrounded and required to surrender their arms, and were then guarded all day while the rapacious soldiery went from house to house, plundering, pillaging, and destroying, and even driving many helpless women and children from their homes, and committing deeds even worse than these in some instances.

A court-martial was held by the officers and priests, and without being heard in their own defense, the brethren were sentenced to be shot on Friday morning on the public square in Far West, in the presence of their wives and families. At this unprecedented action General Doniphan objected, saying he would have nothing to do with such cold-blooded actions, and he would draw off his brigade from the army. This probably saved the lives of the prisoners, as the sentence was changed and the prisoners were taken to Independence, Jackson County.”

Though they were not slaughtered, they were forced to leave their homes and belongings and move on in the middle of winter. So, in the winter of 1838-39 he and his family fled from religious persecution to Adams County, Illinois. In doing so, they were forced to sign over their Missouri property of 80 acres to the mob. Several sources show that Albern filed a petition on 7 January, 1840 before justice William Laughlin of Adams County, IL, seeking $1320 in redress for his suffering in Missouri. The petition included $150 to leave the state, $600 for land, $100 in stock, $50 in beef and pork, $20 for farming utensils, $400 moving because of extermination order.

General Joseph Smith's Last Address, by John Hafen 1888



Depiction of Joseph Smith at head of the Nauvoo Legion. Notice Nauvoo Temple in the background



         Albern was called to be the senior president of the Thirty-third Quorum of the Seventy in 1846. Life in Nauvoo was happy for a while. Albern worked as a skilled ox bow maker. He was know for his long days of  hard work. The family prospered along with the growing and thriving city of Nauvoo. 

Ox Bows

Ox Bows in a Ox Yoke

    The saints lived in Nauvoo for about six years when the persecution and the mobs drove them from that city. The left Nauvoo in April of 1846 and went to Kanesville - later known as  Council Bluffs,  Missouri where they made camp. After the camp was made, Mormon leaders were immediately concerned over two major problems: sending an advance company to the Rocky Mountains, and locating a place for the rest of the people in camp to build winter quarters until they, too, could go west in the spring. This place became known as Winter Quarters.


      The saints began to run out of supplies, resources, and had little hope of any source of income by this time. Mexico and the United States were having issues and the US ultimately declared war on Mexico. This war gave the saints opportunities to join the war and earn money to provide for their families.


       After arriving in Council Bluffs, Albern and his oldest son, Rufus Chester, enlisted in the Mormon Battalion in Company “A”.   Marcia, his wife, was ill and had been staying in the wagon most of the time which left another son Alanson in charge of the family while Albern and oldest son Rufus were gone.  Albern and Rufus left Council Bluffs on July 20, 1846. Since a military uniform was not mandatory, many of the soldiers sent their clothing allowances to their families in the Mormon refugee encampments in Iowa.

      Albern marched with the Battalion from Tucson to Ciudad de los Angeles where he was discharged on 16 July,1847. Two of the battalion leaders were described as the "heaviest burdens" of the trek. The soldiers suffered from excessive heat, lack of sufficient food, improper medical treatment, and forced long-distance marches under their leadership. The Battalion split towards the end of 1846, the sick stayed behind, but Albern stayed in the division that continued on. They marched to California when the battalion was disbanded.


       Along with many of the soldiers, Albern and his son Rufus migrated to the Salt Lake City Valley in 1847. His family was somewhere enroute to Salt Lake from Council Bluffs. Albern and Rufus stayed in Salt Lake helping to settle the valley and built buildings when in 1848, they met their family about 100 miles east of Fort Laramie in Wyoming. When they met up with them, they learned that two of Albern's young children , Rachel -10 and Sarah -3, had died in Winter Quarters. 
       A year later in 1849, the family moved to Ogden in Utah.  By 1850 Albern was considered Ogden's most notable farmer, even though his real wealth was only $50 (Utah Federal Census, 1850). He produced 450 bushels of wheat, 40 bushels of Indian corn, 50 bushels of corn, 100 bushels of potatoes, 25 bushels of buckwheat, 100 pounds of butter, and 250 pounds of cheese on a twenty-acre farm valued at fifty dollars.

        Albern served as a president of the Thirty-third Quorum of the Seventy. He represented Weber County in the Utah Legislature for two terms. He was also a member of the Weber Stake High Council.  


       During these years, he entered into plural marriage and married Mary Ann Hoops Yearsley, Mary Jane Morris, and Jane Elizabeth Hill.

        The following is quoted from an article from the Nauvoo Visitor Center:

 

“On 19 April,1857 Albern was given his patriarchal blessing by James Lake (patriarchal Blessing Index, 701: 19). Later that spring he accepted a mission call to Canada. He crossed the plains pushing his possessions in a handcart. In Genoa, Nance County, Nebraska, he was asked by Apostles John Taylor and Erastus Snow to remain in Genoa and preside over a small branch of the Church (Carter, Treasures, 2:430). He presided in Genoa until 1858 when he returned to Ogden having never served his mission in Canada. Albern was selected as a counselor to Bishop Edward Bunker of the Ogden Third Ward. He became known as a liberal, broad-minded man who was willing to render both financial and spiritual aid. "

Albern Allen died on 3 June, 1862, in Ogden, Weber, Utah. Marcia later moved to Iron County where she died and is buried.

Sources:

1. Sons of Utah Pioneers Collection, story submitted by LaRon Taylor 
2. Ancestry.com 
3. Journal of Thomas Bullock…,BYU Studies, Bol 31, Number 1- Winter 1991
4. http://obrays.com/allen.html 
5. L.D.S. Bigographical Encyclopaedia, Vol.3, by Andrew Jenson
6. Church Chronology by Andrew Jenson
7. The Mormon Battalion, 1846 & 7, by Kate B. Carter
8. http://www.onlineutah.com/historybattalion.shtml
9. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/mopi/hrs4.htm
10. http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Nauvoo_Legion
11. http://www.farwesthistory.com/haunbro.asp