Richard Allen's son found in Texas: How could it be???

The following short essay by Stephen E. Taylor is written on the life of Bishop Richard Allen's son, Peter Allen. Mr. Taylor sent me a copy of his findings and this is published on this blog by his permission. I'm looking forward to reading more from Mr. Taylor!

"A Biographical Essay on the Life of Peter Allen" by Stephen Taylor

Allen, Peter (ca. 1805-1836). Peter Allen, a free black who participated in the Texas Revolution, was among the troops under the command of Colonel James Walker Fannin, who surrendered at Goliad and were subsequently executed on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1805, Peter Allen was the son of Richard Allen (1760-1831), founder and first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and his wife, Sarah Bass (1764-1849). Richard Allen was born a slave into the household of Benjamin Chew, Attorney General of the State of Pennsylvania, but purchased his freedom on August 27, 1783, and went on to become one of the preeminent black leaders in Colonial America. An accomplished writer, Richard Allen published books, tracts, and sermons, while serving as a minister and educator up until the time of his death in Philadelphia on March 26, 1831. His wife, Sarah Bass, who was born into slavery in Isle of Wight, Virginia, in 1764, came to Philadelphia as a slave at the age of eight, obtained her freedom prior to marrying Richard Allen on March 11, 1801, and was active in reform activities up until the time of her death in Philadelphia on July 16, 1849.

In 1835 Peter Allen removed from the secure environs of Philadelphia, a city whose entire black population of approximately 15,000 was free, to Huntsville, Alabama, where only one percent of the state’s black population enjoyed freedom. The reasons for his emigration are unclear; however, it was an extraordinary move considering the threat of seizure and sale into slavery for any free black from the north venturing into the Deep South. That danger became more poignant with his marriage to an enslaved woman, Mary (ca. 1807-1885), shortly after his arrival in Huntsville. Despite the inherent danger, the events that unfolded in October 1835 suggest Peter Allen had, at the very least, gained tacit acceptance by the white community in Huntsville.

Beginning in late October 1835, appeals were published in several Alabama newspapers, including the Huntsville Southern Advocate, urging Alabamians to come to the aid of their “brothers in Texas.” On the night of October 31, 1835, an organizational meeting was held in Huntsville, and a volunteer company formed by Captain Peyton S. Wyatt. Although he was a free black who had only recently arrived in the city, Peter Allen, a flutist, was welcomed into the company as a musician as it departed Huntsville on Sunday, November 8, 1835.
A steamboat transported the twenty volunteers, including Peter Allen, down the Tennessee River and into the Ohio River before stopping at Paducah, Kentucky, for two days. There, Peter Allen and his small group of volunteers marched through the streets playing music, making speeches, and exhorting the local men to join them before continuing their journey down the Mississippi to Natchez and overland to Nacogdoches. Arriving in Texas in early December, Wyatt’s company was mustered into service on December 25, 1835. On January 12, 1836, they were dispatched to Goliad and then joined the volunteers at Refugio about January 22, 1836. With Wyatt on furlough, the Huntsville volunteers were commanded by Lieutenant B. T. Bradford and participated in the Battle of Coleto Creek under Fannin before their surrender on March 20, 1836, and imprisonment at Goliad.

The night before the massacre, Captain Jack Shackelford, commander of the Alabama Red Rovers, recalled that the musicians of the troop, which would have included Peter Allen, played the tune Home Sweet Home on their flutes as tears “rolled down many a manly cheek.” The next morning, Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, the men were awakened at dawn by their Mexican guards, split into four divisions and marched outside the fort, each group proceeding in a different direction. Some minutes later, Shackelford heard shots and the screams of men as they were being executed. Later that day, the mangled corpses of his comrades were burned by the Mexicans.

Peter Allen’s siblings in Philadelphia, John Allen, Sarah Wilkins, and Mary Adams, claiming to be his only heirs, obtained title to 4,036 acres of land in Texas as a result of Peter’s service. When Peter’s wife, Mary, proved her marriage and filed a claim as well, the Philadelphia heirs objected and a protracted court battle ensued that ended in the Texas Supreme Court. Mary Allen’s claim was confirmed by the Texas Supreme Court, and the suit to deny her claim by the Philadelphia heirs was dismissed.

Peter’s widow, Mary, lived the remainder of her life in Huntsville, Alabama, and died in that city on June 23, 1885. Her second husband, John Cook, preceded her in death. Mary’s obituary recounted Peter’s service in the Texas Revolution and his refusal to save his own life when offered his freedom in return for again playing Home Sweet Home, this time at the request of the Mexican commander. The Huntsville Independent recalled Peter Allen’s determination to remain with his comrades and share their fate when he replied to the Mexican commander, “No, I’ll not play, but I’ll just go along with the rest of the boys.”

Bibliography

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Allen, Richard, and Absalom Jones. The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labours of the Rt.
Rev. Richard Allen: To Which is Annexed The Rise and Progress of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America: Containing a Narrative of the Yellow Fever in the Year of our Lord, 1793: with an Address to the People of Colour in the United States. Philadelphia: Martin & Boden, Printers, 1833.

Berry, Craig. Hidden History of Kentucky Soldiers. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2011.

“Cook, Mary, Died.” Huntsville Gazette, Hunstville, AL. Saturday, June 17, 1885, page
3, Vol. VI, issue 32. Readex: Archive of Americana, America’s Historical Newspapers, African American Newspapers, 1827-1898. Web. June 14, 2011.

Cook, Mary; stamped page 422, page 8 [handwritten], line 46, Enumeration District 234,
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December to 29th February 1836”. Tennessee Valley Genealogical Society. Valley Leaves 14, No. 1 (1979): 32-34.

Nash, Gary B. “New Light on Richard Allen: The Early Years of Freedom.” The
William and Mary Quarterly 46 (1989): 332-340.

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29 (1995): 147-150.

Schoen, Harold. “The Free Negro In The Republic of Texas.” The Southwestern
Historical Quarterly 40 (1937): 26-34.

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with Fannin. http://tslarc.tsl.state.tx.us/repclaims/133/13300191.pdf

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Finding Flora Allen: May She Finally Rest in Peace

I recall vividly one request Bishop Richard Franklin Norris made of me as he appointed me to Mother Bethel in 2008: “I want you to find out what happened to the remains of Flora Allen.” There has never been agreement on where Flora was buried after a 9 month illness took her life in March, 1801. Many believed that she was buried at the Potter’s Field in what is now the prestigious Washington Square just north of Mother Bethel.

Well, I was happy today to call Bishop Norris and share the good news that we now know what happened to the earthly remains of Bishop Richard Allen’s first wife. The Bible says that if you ask, you shall receive. That law of faith is certainly true in this instance.

On Monday, I was contacted by a local researcher by the name of Terry Buckalew. He is a layman who has done a considerable amount of genealogy work in and around Philadelphia. Terry reached out to me to talk about the old burial ground owned by Mother Bethel in the 1800s located at what is now Weccacoe Park (bounded by S. 4th and S. 5th Streets & Queen and Catherine Streets). This in and of itself was news to me and I was happy to find out about this part of our past (even though the story of the lack of upkeep of the cemetery was not so glorious—look forward to hearing about this with Terry’s help at a later date).

Since we were talking about gravesites, I took the opportunity to ask about Flora. Although he did not know right off hand, he agreed to go back over his notes for any clues. I was more than a little surprised to hear back from him before 24 hours had passed. Through accounts found in the Philadelphia Gazette (March 14, 1801) and the Philadelphia Inquirer (November 5, 1889), combined with a little sleuthing, here’s the story he put together.

In 1801, Mother Bethel still worshiped in the first building, the Blacksmith Shop. When Flora died, her body was buried in the basement of that building. Apparently, the church also buried others in that same location until securing the Bethel Burial Grounds referred to earlier. For reasons that are unexplained, people seem to have forgotten that Flora and the others were buried beneath the church. Although two more buildings were built in the same location (1805 and 1841), there is no mention of the small, silent graveyard beneath the worshipers. As generation after generation had come and gone, so did the story of the dead.

However, all of that changed in 1889 with the construction of the fourth and present edifice. While the ground was being excavated, the contractor discovered a mummified corpse and the skeletal remains of others who had been hidden out of view of the congregation. Even then, it is not clear that anyone made the connection that among the dead was Flora Allen. Those remains were exhumed and then re-interred at Lebanon Cemetery (also now a playground on the corner of S.9th and Passyunk Streets in South Philadelphia).

The move would prove only temporary. Less than 15 years later, Lebanon Cemetery was purchased by the new Eden Cemetery just outside the city limits of Philadelphia. All of the remains from Lebanon were kept in the same area at Eden, which suggests strong evidence that Flora (along with those other unnamed founders of our great Zion) is now buried at Eden Cemetery. How fitting that the first “1st Lady” of African Methodism is resting in Eden!

Eden Cemetery, a National Landmark, is “home” to some of Americas most famous Black citizens: Marian Anderson, William Still, Octavius Catto, Francis Ellen Watkins Harper, and a number of the direct descendants of Bishop Richard and Sarah Allen. In addition to the need to restore the monument of Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne in recognition of his 200th birthday this year (see my posting from last year here), we also need to commemorate the spot where Flora rests. She was a tireless co-laborer with our beloved founder and worked until her death in helping to secure a legacy to pass on to us.

Let us ensure that future generations will never again forget where this saint lies in quiet repose. We must put the funding together to place a proper monument at Eden Cemetery so that she will never be lost again. This is certainly something that our entire Connection should want to support.

As you do for your ancestors, your children will do for you. –African Proverb

(Again, words cannot express our deep appreciation for Terry Buckalew for this incredible discovery. For those who wish to contact him directly, his email address is tebuckalew@gmail.com)

New Bishop Richard Allen Documentary is just in time for Founder's Day!

Thanks to generous grants from the Lomax Family Foundation and the D'brickashaw Ferguson Foundation, Mother Bethel was able to complete a new documentary on the life and ministry of Bishop Richard Allen. DVDs will be available for sale in the near future, but the documentary will remain hosted on the Mother Bethel website for free for anyone who wishes to watch it (http://www.motherbethel.org/allen/version2/index.html). Others have signed on as sponsors to help keep the documentary posted online. To see the entire list, view the documentary landing page. To God be the glory for the great things God has done!!!