Asenath Cecelia Allen

The above photo was found on Ancestry.com and Find A Grave.com and was originally added by April Dawn Lentz on October 22, 2014. The photo shows Isaac Allen & Family Reedville, Oregon. The caption on the photo reads: Allen's came west by wagon train to Oregon in 1854 from Ohio. The family farm house was located at about S.W. 219th and Baseline. It was the site of "Allen's Grove" and was a dance hall according to some. Modern Woodmen Lodge held picnics and dances there. Left to right, E.K., Scott, Emma Belle and Sarah are standing by mother Asenath and father Isaac Allen. EK was 2 years old when he came west. NOTE: I'm not sure who E.K. was, perhaps a brother of Isaac Allen.

There is an Asenith Swan, 20, listed in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census for Pottawattamie, Iowa, along with Mary Dustin, 60, (perhaps an aunt), Franklin Dustin, 16, Christopher Dustin, 11, and Aseneth, 2 years old, who probably the daughter of Asenath Dustin and her first husband Samuel Swan, who must have died by 1850. They were married June 20, 1847 in Adams County, Iowa. The Illinois Marriage record shows her name spelled as Acenath. Christoper was probably her brother, and the youngest son of her mother Asenath.

Asenath married Isaac Allen December 19, 1850, in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Acenath Allen, 22, was listed in the 1851 Iowa State Census for Pottawattamie, Iowa, along with her husband, Isaac, 20, and her daughter, Acenath, 2 years old. Also on the same census page were Isaac's parents and siblings, James Allen, 47, Sarah, 47, Lydia, 22, Mary A., 18, Sally, 15, James, 14, Joseph, 10, Eliza A., 7, and Dolly M., 6 years old. Obviously, the Allen family were living in Iowa not Ohio when they began their trek west, which was what was stated on the photo caption above. However, Isaac Allen was born in Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio, April 22, 1831, so they did start from Ohio after all. Exactly when they arrived in Iowa from Ohio is unknown.

Asenath and her husband were listed in the 1860 census in Hillsboro, Washington County, Oregon, as follows: Isaac Allen, 30, Asenath, 29, Anna, 10, Isaac, 8, Sara, 5, James, 4, George, 3, Emma, 8 months old, S. Duston, 62 (Asenath's mother also named Asenath, who may have perhaps had a middle name of Susannah instead of Cecilia), and Chris Duston, 19, probably Asenath's youngest son. She would have been 43 years old when he was born.

In 1870 they were listed in the census for Forest Grove, Washington County, Oregon, as follows: Isaac, 40, Asenath, 42, Isaac, 18, Sarah, 16, James, 16, George, 12, Emma, 10, Truman, 8, Alice, 6, and Eliza, 4 months old. Isaac was working as a farmer and his real estate was valued at $1,500 and his personal estate at $500. He was born in Ohio, Asenath in New York, Isaac in Iowa, Sarah, James, George, and Emma, in California, and Truman, Alice and Eliza in Oregon.

• Alternate DOB: 25 February 1829
• Alternate DOD: March 1899
• In the 1850 census in Iowa she is with Mary Dustin, Franklin Dustin, Christopher Dustin and her daughter Aseneth Swan

Sources

• Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1848. Name: Asaneth Cecilia Dustin; Relationship to Primary Person: Child; Birth Date: 25 Feb 1829; Birth Place: Genesee County, New York, USA; Household Members: Bechias Dustin, Self (Head); Aseneth Hurlbert, Spouse; David Dustin, Child; Fortunatus Dustin, Child; Bechias Dustin, Child; Seth Dustin, Child; Joseph Dustin, Child; Asaneth Cecilia Dustin, Child; Roxana Mahala Dustin, Child; Franklin Dustin, Child; Christopher Dustin, Child; Emily Phelps Merrill, Spouse. Source Information: Ancestry.com. Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1848 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Black, Susan Easton, compiler. Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1848. 50 vols. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center, 1989. Private Donor.
• Illinois Marriages to 1850. Name: Acenath Dustin; Spouse: Samuel Swann; Marriage Date: 20 Jan 1847; Marriage County: Adams. Source Information: Dodd, Jordan. Illinois Marriages to 1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997. Original data: Electronic transcription of marriage records held by the individual counties in Illinois.
• Pottawattamie County, Iowa marriage records "Allen, Isaac married Swan, Aseneth [Mrs] on 19 Dec 1850 in Pottawattamie County, Iowa"