Allen Allensworth

He married Josephine Leavell in 1877 whom he had met at Roger Williams University. His wife was a musician and teacher. The couple was blessed with two children

He died in 1914 at the age of 72 in a motorcycle accident.

Allen was born as the youngest of thirteen children of Phyllis and Levi Allensworth in Kentucky. His mother was a slave held by A.P. and Bett Starbird, and by default Allen and his siblings too became their property.

His mistress assigned young Allen to her son Thomas. The mistress’ son taught Allen to read and write though it was illegal at that time to teach a slave to read. His mistress sent him to another couple when she learned of what her son was doing.

Fortunately for Allen, his new mistress, Mrs. Talbot, a Quaker, was a kind woman who encouraged him to study and sent him to the Sunday school for slaves. When his previous mistress came to know of this, she took Allen away from Mrs. Talbot.

In 1854 he was again sold to a new owner. His new mistress was a cruel woman who did not let him study. He was whipped and treated very badly. However, young Allen became friends with a white orphan boy and they helped each other.

He tried to run away in 1855 when he was 13 years old. However, he was caught and punished. He was now sold to a man called Fred Scruggs who was glad to know that the boy could read and trained him as a jockey. Fred made Allen race his best horse.

In 1861 Scruggs took Allen and the horses to Louisville for a race. There Allen met the soldiers from the 44th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment and told them of his desire to escape. The soldiers helped him to disguise as one of them and thus he marched away along with them.

He joined the Hospital Corps and served as a civilian nurse aid for sometime. One of the surgeons, Dr. A. J. Gordon invited him home and gave him his own room to stay. Allen was beginning to enjoy the joy of being free.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1863 and earned his first pay as a free man. It was so exhilarating! He worked hard and was promoted to Captain’s steward and clerk and served on the gunboats Queen City and Tawah for two years.

He returned to Kentucky in 1868 and joined his brother William. The two men operated restaurants to earn their living and then sold them for a profit.

Now that he was free and had some money, Allen decided to pursue his education. He joined the Ely Normal School which had been established by the American Missionary Association. He also used to teach at a school for the children of freed slaves.

An escaped slave who carved out a respectable life for himself, Allensworth wanted to create a community exclusively for the African-Americans and thus the town of Allensworth was born. It was a self-sufficient community where everyone contributed towards community building and could live a life free of racial discrimination.