Granddaughter of Col. Abraham Malone Johnson and Thankful Anderson (Whiteside) Johnson.
Daughter of James Whiteside "Jim" Johnson and Sue Coffin (Cleage) Johnson.
Sister of Thankful Anderson (Johnson) Davies, Raymond Hamilton Johnson, Helen Massengale (Johnson) Flower, Abraham Malone Johnson, Thomas Cleage Johnson, and Ephraim Foster Johnson.
Wife of Samuel Boyd Allen (1883 - 1932).
Mother of Penelope Van Dyke (Allen) Moore.
___________________________________________________________
Penelope Johnson Allen
1886 - 1985
Penelope Van Dyke Johnson, daughter of James Whiteside and Sue Cleage Johnson, was born October 27, 1886, at the residence of her Grandparents, Col. Abraham Malone and Thankful Whiteside Johnson, on the corner of Boyce & Hooke Streets in Chattanooga. The next year her parents moved to their St. Elmo residence at 4301 Alabama Avenue, where she lived off and on for the next 90 years.
She was educated in the public schools of Chattanooga where she received her grade school instruction at the old First District School and was graduated from Chattanooga High School in the class of 1904. In May 1904, she was crowned Queen of Love and Beauty in the Chattanooga Spring Festival. She did a year of preparatory work at Mrs. Starrett's School in Chicago and then attended for 3 years the Western College in Oxford, Ohio. She spent the summer of 1908 traveling in Europe. After her father's death on March 15,1908, she left college & became a teacher at the North St. Elmo Elementary School. On February 17, 1909, she married Samuel Boyd Allen of Knoxville. He was the son of John Mebane and Isabella Boyd Allen and was born in Knoxville on May 28, 1883. On July 31,1911 their daughter, Penelope Van Dyke Allen, was born in Knoxville, TN. Later they moved to Tate Springs, TN, and from 1912-1915, Mr. Allen managed the Tate Springs Hotel. In 1916 they moved to Williamsburg, VA., where during World War I, Mrs. Allen was the assistant supervisor of the large caliber area at the DuPont Shell Loading Plant in Penniman, VA. She returned to Chattanooga and was divorced in 1923. She worked at the Chattanooga News from 1919 to 1923 and became an early advocate of the women's suffrage movement in Tennessee. She was nominated as the 1922 Hamilton County Democratic candidate for the legislature. Although she lost a close election, some said she had actually received the most votes. In 1923 Mrs. Allen took a job as a traveling advertising salesperson with the St. Elmo based Chattanooga Medicine Company. This gave her an excellent opportunity to visit in her free time old book dealers throughout the South. It was at this time that she became acquainted with the descendants of Chief John Ross and other Cherokees in the Oklahoma area. She gradually put together an invaluable collection of books, manuscripts, Indian claims, letters from Indian Agents, and other Cherokee items. Part of this collection can be found in Nashville at the Tennessee State Library and Archives and part in Knoxville at The University of Tennessee, Special Collections. When the Medicine Company shut down it's operations in 1929 due to The Great Depression, Mrs. Allen was got a job as publicity agent for Chickamauga Park, then engaged in building of the park museum. In 1933 Mrs. Allen took a job with the Chattanooga Times, writing a weekly genealogical feature called "Leaves From the Family Tree." Each week she focused on a local pioneer family by tracing the family roots back to colonial times. In 1982, these articles were published in a book, Leaves From the Family Tree, by Southern Historical Press. While traveling to the various rural counties doing genealogy, Mrs. Allen noticed the deplorable conditions of most of the early county court documents. She recognized the need to save these documents and persuaded the DAR to join the project. She obtained government funding through the WPA and was named state supervisor. Mrs. Allen directed the project through 1945, and as a result there are over 1500 volumes of Tennessee history in the state library.
Mrs. Allen was a member of many civic and patriotic clubs. She was a life member of the DAR joining in 1913. She served as president of the Volunteer Chapter of the USD 1812 and as state president of the USD 1812. She was also a member of the Hamilton County Historical society, the Tennessee Historical Society, the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Chattanooga Area Historical Commission, the National Society of Colonial Dames in America in Tennessee, the Daughters of Colonial Wars, and the Junior League of Chattanooga. She was a member of Thankful Memorial Episcopal church, which her Grandfather built as a memorial to her Grandmother, Thankful Whiteside.
She also published the following books: Tennessee Soldiers in the Revolution, Historic Chattanooga, A Guide Book, and Tennessee Soldiers in the War of 1812. She also compiled a family history of her Johnson line which was published by her cousin, Mrs. Frank L. Miller.
Mrs. Allen received many honors for her dedication to historic causes in and around Tennessee. In 1970 a portrait of Mrs. Allen was commissioned by the Chattanooga Historical Association and now hangs in the state Library in Nashville.
In her later years Mrs. Allen concentrated her energies on the country of Tibet. It was said that she had one of the best collections of books on Tibet. This collection can be found at the University of Tennessee library at Memphis. She lived the last few years of her life at Life Care Center in East Ridge teaching genealogy and answering questions for all that called for help. She died January 9, 1985, and is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in St. Elmo.
___________________________________________________________
The following is an editorial that ran Thursday, January 10, 1985 in the Chattanooga News-Free Press
MRS. PENELOPE JOHNSON ALLEN
Mrs. Penelope Johnson Allen, born Oct. 27, 1886, saw a lot of history in her nearly 100 years of living. But more important, she was a major force in preserving what she saw and in retrieving and saving a tremendous volume of historical records for posterity.
A writer, genealogist and historian, she sought out and climbed the family trees of many of those who inhabited our area. She dug into abandoned warehouses and courthouse closets to save priceless records of the past that otherwise would have been lost. She wove much of it into a tapestry of history that was informative, interesting and of great value to our people. And with it all, she was a stimulating, delightful lady of wit and wisdom.
Mrs. Allen was an authority on the Cherokee Indians, tracing then throughout the Tennessee mountain and river country to new homes in Oklahoma. She was a noteworthy resident of her beloved St. Elmo for many years. Her forebears were greatly involved in developing the early services and institutions of our community.
In the decades and centuries ahead, historians prowling the records from family Bibles and country cemeteries and governmental archives for a better understanding of our traditions will find rich lore because of what Mrs. Allen did.
She made history in her own way by saving it for us all.
Submitted by Helen Maroon
___________________________________________________________
Obituary
Penelope Johnson Allen
1985
Penelope Johnson Allen, Indian historian, genealogist and member of a pioneer Chattanooga family, died this morning at a local hospital.
She had been a resident of the Life Care Center of East Ridge for the past seven years.
Mrs. Allen, who celebrated her 98th birthday on October 27, was one of the first women in the state to run for the Legislature.
In the 1930s, she was the director of a statewide project to copy and preserve important Tennessee historical records.
For many years she wrote a newspaper column called "Leaves From the Family Tree" that gave the lineage of many local families. These columns are now in book form.
She was one of the foremost experts in the country on the Cherokee Indians, having made a number of trips to Oklahoma to purchase some of their historical documents.
Many such valuable historical papers now in the state library at Nashville, the Lawson-McGhee Library in Knoxville and other libraries in the state were collected by Mrs. Allen.
Mrs. Allen remained actively interested in history and genealogy until the last months of her life, and at age 96 she was teaching a genealogy class for fellow nursing home residents.
Her great-grandfather was Col. James A. Whiteside, a Chattanoogan who was a member of the Legislature and was a leader in the development of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. He was also active in developing Lookout Mountain.
Her Grandparents were Col. Abraham Malone Johnson and Thankful Whiteside Johnson. Col. Johnson was also active with railroads and in the development of the water system for Chattanooga.
He was the developer of St. Elmo, the longtime home of Penelope Johnson Allen.
Mrs. Allen was born Oct. 27, 1886, the daughter of James Johnson and Sue Cleage. Jim Johnson was an official at the county courthouse.
Mrs. Allen graduated from Chattanooga High School in 1904. That same year she represented St. Elmo in the Chattanooga Spring Festival, earning the title of "Queen of Love and Beauty."
She continued her schooling at Mrs. Starrett's School in Chicago, then she attended Western College at Oxford, Ohio, for three years.
She returned to St. Elmo and taught at North St. Elmo Elementary School.
She married Samuel Boyd Allen and moved to Knoxville, then Tate Springs, TN, then Williamsburg, VA.
During World War I, Mrs. Allen worked in the Du Pont shell loading plant in Penniman, VA, where she was an assistant to the supervisor in large caliber area.
She returned to Chattanooga in 1919 to take a job with the Chattanooga News. She was society editor, general assignment reporter, courthouse reporter, political writer, magazine editor, sports reporter, and advertising sales representative.
She was active in the movement to win voting rights for women, making a number of trips to Nashville in the effort.
In May of 1922, she was nominated by the Hamilton County Democratic executive committee as a candidate for the Legislature. She lost in a close election.
During this post World War I period, she was active in a variety of clubs, including the Kosmos Woman's Club and the Garden Club of Chattanooga. She was active in the Episcopal Church.
She was named state historian of the Tennessee Daughters of the American Revolution and state press chairman of the Tennessee Federation of Women's Clubs.
She toured historic spots across the country in a national position with the DAR.
In 1923, Mrs. Allen took a position as a traveling advertising agent for the Chattanooga Medicine Company (Chattem), following a route that took her throughout the South. During this time she visited every county seat in the Southeast.
In 1929, she became publicity agent for Chickamauga Park, then in 1933 she joined The Chattanooga Times, where she concentrated on the Leaves From The Family Tree articles.
Later she initiated and directed the program for copying county records across Tennessee, acting under a Works Progress Administration grant.
She stated, "We found the old documents dumped in closets, piled in halls, and in all sorts of situations. One county had piled its early records in an old barn."
The result of this project is over 1500 volumes of Tennessee county records in the state library, much of which would otherwise have been lost.
After World War II, Mrs. Allen was active in the Volunteer Chapter U.S. Daughters of 1812, state president of USD 1812, the Hamilton County Historical Society, the Tennessee Historical Society, the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Chattanooga Area Historical Association and the Junior League.
She was also active in the Chattanooga Business and Professional Women's Club and the National Society Colonial Dames of America and Daughters of Colonial Wars.
Mrs. Allen worked with the Society for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities in the restoration of the Cravens House on the side of Lookout Mountain.
She published a book about Tennessee Soldiers in the American Revolution and another volume about Tennessee soldiers in the War of 1812.
She also wrote "Historic Chattanooga: A Guide Book."
She compiled a book about the Johnson and Whiteside families and related families.
In all her history and genealogy dealings, Mrs. Allen insisted on strict accuracy.
Mrs. Allen was chairman of a project to design a flag for St. Elmo Elementary School.
In 1962, the Tennessee Society of the Daughters of 1812 voted an endowment fund in her honor.
An oil portrait of Mrs. Allen was unveiled in 1970 at a luncheon meeting of the Chattanooga Area Historical Association. The portrait, now in the state library at Nashville, will soon appear in a special exhibition of paintings of prominent Tennessee women.
Mrs. Allen was among a group of six distinguished authors honored in 1976 by the dedication of trees in Audubon Acres.
Survivors are one daughter, Penelope Allen Moore, Virginia Beach, VA; one brother, A. M. Johnson, Chattanooga; one sister, Helen J. Flower, Columbus, Ohio; four grandchildren, Peter F. Moore, Charlotte, NC, Penelope M. Blankenship, Florence, AL, Alexander B. Moore, Redding, Conn., and Helen M. Maroon, Virginia Beach, VA, and eight great-grandchildren.
Memorial Contributions may be made to the Thankful Memorial Episcopal Church and the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library.
The body was to be at the West Chapel of the Chattanooga Funeral Home.
Chattanooga News-Free Press Wednesday, January 9, 1985
___________________________________________________________
Sources include: Gary C. Jenkins, Johnson House of St. Elmo: The Study of a House, a Family, a Suburb (Chattanooga: Jenkins, 2009)
___________________________________________________________
Penelope Van Dyke (Johnson) Allen was my 6th cousin twice removed, as well as other relationships, through the Campbell family.
Updated September 5, 2011.
Daughter of James Whiteside "Jim" Johnson and Sue Coffin (Cleage) Johnson.
Sister of Thankful Anderson (Johnson) Davies, Raymond Hamilton Johnson, Helen Massengale (Johnson) Flower, Abraham Malone Johnson, Thomas Cleage Johnson, and Ephraim Foster Johnson.
Wife of Samuel Boyd Allen (1883 - 1932).
Mother of Penelope Van Dyke (Allen) Moore.
___________________________________________________________
Penelope Johnson Allen
1886 - 1985
Penelope Van Dyke Johnson, daughter of James Whiteside and Sue Cleage Johnson, was born October 27, 1886, at the residence of her Grandparents, Col. Abraham Malone and Thankful Whiteside Johnson, on the corner of Boyce & Hooke Streets in Chattanooga. The next year her parents moved to their St. Elmo residence at 4301 Alabama Avenue, where she lived off and on for the next 90 years.
She was educated in the public schools of Chattanooga where she received her grade school instruction at the old First District School and was graduated from Chattanooga High School in the class of 1904. In May 1904, she was crowned Queen of Love and Beauty in the Chattanooga Spring Festival. She did a year of preparatory work at Mrs. Starrett's School in Chicago and then attended for 3 years the Western College in Oxford, Ohio. She spent the summer of 1908 traveling in Europe. After her father's death on March 15,1908, she left college & became a teacher at the North St. Elmo Elementary School. On February 17, 1909, she married Samuel Boyd Allen of Knoxville. He was the son of John Mebane and Isabella Boyd Allen and was born in Knoxville on May 28, 1883. On July 31,1911 their daughter, Penelope Van Dyke Allen, was born in Knoxville, TN. Later they moved to Tate Springs, TN, and from 1912-1915, Mr. Allen managed the Tate Springs Hotel. In 1916 they moved to Williamsburg, VA., where during World War I, Mrs. Allen was the assistant supervisor of the large caliber area at the DuPont Shell Loading Plant in Penniman, VA. She returned to Chattanooga and was divorced in 1923. She worked at the Chattanooga News from 1919 to 1923 and became an early advocate of the women's suffrage movement in Tennessee. She was nominated as the 1922 Hamilton County Democratic candidate for the legislature. Although she lost a close election, some said she had actually received the most votes. In 1923 Mrs. Allen took a job as a traveling advertising salesperson with the St. Elmo based Chattanooga Medicine Company. This gave her an excellent opportunity to visit in her free time old book dealers throughout the South. It was at this time that she became acquainted with the descendants of Chief John Ross and other Cherokees in the Oklahoma area. She gradually put together an invaluable collection of books, manuscripts, Indian claims, letters from Indian Agents, and other Cherokee items. Part of this collection can be found in Nashville at the Tennessee State Library and Archives and part in Knoxville at The University of Tennessee, Special Collections. When the Medicine Company shut down it's operations in 1929 due to The Great Depression, Mrs. Allen was got a job as publicity agent for Chickamauga Park, then engaged in building of the park museum. In 1933 Mrs. Allen took a job with the Chattanooga Times, writing a weekly genealogical feature called "Leaves From the Family Tree." Each week she focused on a local pioneer family by tracing the family roots back to colonial times. In 1982, these articles were published in a book, Leaves From the Family Tree, by Southern Historical Press. While traveling to the various rural counties doing genealogy, Mrs. Allen noticed the deplorable conditions of most of the early county court documents. She recognized the need to save these documents and persuaded the DAR to join the project. She obtained government funding through the WPA and was named state supervisor. Mrs. Allen directed the project through 1945, and as a result there are over 1500 volumes of Tennessee history in the state library.
Mrs. Allen was a member of many civic and patriotic clubs. She was a life member of the DAR joining in 1913. She served as president of the Volunteer Chapter of the USD 1812 and as state president of the USD 1812. She was also a member of the Hamilton County Historical society, the Tennessee Historical Society, the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Chattanooga Area Historical Commission, the National Society of Colonial Dames in America in Tennessee, the Daughters of Colonial Wars, and the Junior League of Chattanooga. She was a member of Thankful Memorial Episcopal church, which her Grandfather built as a memorial to her Grandmother, Thankful Whiteside.
She also published the following books: Tennessee Soldiers in the Revolution, Historic Chattanooga, A Guide Book, and Tennessee Soldiers in the War of 1812. She also compiled a family history of her Johnson line which was published by her cousin, Mrs. Frank L. Miller.
Mrs. Allen received many honors for her dedication to historic causes in and around Tennessee. In 1970 a portrait of Mrs. Allen was commissioned by the Chattanooga Historical Association and now hangs in the state Library in Nashville.
In her later years Mrs. Allen concentrated her energies on the country of Tibet. It was said that she had one of the best collections of books on Tibet. This collection can be found at the University of Tennessee library at Memphis. She lived the last few years of her life at Life Care Center in East Ridge teaching genealogy and answering questions for all that called for help. She died January 9, 1985, and is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in St. Elmo.
___________________________________________________________
The following is an editorial that ran Thursday, January 10, 1985 in the Chattanooga News-Free Press
MRS. PENELOPE JOHNSON ALLEN
Mrs. Penelope Johnson Allen, born Oct. 27, 1886, saw a lot of history in her nearly 100 years of living. But more important, she was a major force in preserving what she saw and in retrieving and saving a tremendous volume of historical records for posterity.
A writer, genealogist and historian, she sought out and climbed the family trees of many of those who inhabited our area. She dug into abandoned warehouses and courthouse closets to save priceless records of the past that otherwise would have been lost. She wove much of it into a tapestry of history that was informative, interesting and of great value to our people. And with it all, she was a stimulating, delightful lady of wit and wisdom.
Mrs. Allen was an authority on the Cherokee Indians, tracing then throughout the Tennessee mountain and river country to new homes in Oklahoma. She was a noteworthy resident of her beloved St. Elmo for many years. Her forebears were greatly involved in developing the early services and institutions of our community.
In the decades and centuries ahead, historians prowling the records from family Bibles and country cemeteries and governmental archives for a better understanding of our traditions will find rich lore because of what Mrs. Allen did.
She made history in her own way by saving it for us all.
Submitted by Helen Maroon
___________________________________________________________
Obituary
Penelope Johnson Allen
1985
Penelope Johnson Allen, Indian historian, genealogist and member of a pioneer Chattanooga family, died this morning at a local hospital.
She had been a resident of the Life Care Center of East Ridge for the past seven years.
Mrs. Allen, who celebrated her 98th birthday on October 27, was one of the first women in the state to run for the Legislature.
In the 1930s, she was the director of a statewide project to copy and preserve important Tennessee historical records.
For many years she wrote a newspaper column called "Leaves From the Family Tree" that gave the lineage of many local families. These columns are now in book form.
She was one of the foremost experts in the country on the Cherokee Indians, having made a number of trips to Oklahoma to purchase some of their historical documents.
Many such valuable historical papers now in the state library at Nashville, the Lawson-McGhee Library in Knoxville and other libraries in the state were collected by Mrs. Allen.
Mrs. Allen remained actively interested in history and genealogy until the last months of her life, and at age 96 she was teaching a genealogy class for fellow nursing home residents.
Her great-grandfather was Col. James A. Whiteside, a Chattanoogan who was a member of the Legislature and was a leader in the development of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. He was also active in developing Lookout Mountain.
Her Grandparents were Col. Abraham Malone Johnson and Thankful Whiteside Johnson. Col. Johnson was also active with railroads and in the development of the water system for Chattanooga.
He was the developer of St. Elmo, the longtime home of Penelope Johnson Allen.
Mrs. Allen was born Oct. 27, 1886, the daughter of James Johnson and Sue Cleage. Jim Johnson was an official at the county courthouse.
Mrs. Allen graduated from Chattanooga High School in 1904. That same year she represented St. Elmo in the Chattanooga Spring Festival, earning the title of "Queen of Love and Beauty."
She continued her schooling at Mrs. Starrett's School in Chicago, then she attended Western College at Oxford, Ohio, for three years.
She returned to St. Elmo and taught at North St. Elmo Elementary School.
She married Samuel Boyd Allen and moved to Knoxville, then Tate Springs, TN, then Williamsburg, VA.
During World War I, Mrs. Allen worked in the Du Pont shell loading plant in Penniman, VA, where she was an assistant to the supervisor in large caliber area.
She returned to Chattanooga in 1919 to take a job with the Chattanooga News. She was society editor, general assignment reporter, courthouse reporter, political writer, magazine editor, sports reporter, and advertising sales representative.
She was active in the movement to win voting rights for women, making a number of trips to Nashville in the effort.
In May of 1922, she was nominated by the Hamilton County Democratic executive committee as a candidate for the Legislature. She lost in a close election.
During this post World War I period, she was active in a variety of clubs, including the Kosmos Woman's Club and the Garden Club of Chattanooga. She was active in the Episcopal Church.
She was named state historian of the Tennessee Daughters of the American Revolution and state press chairman of the Tennessee Federation of Women's Clubs.
She toured historic spots across the country in a national position with the DAR.
In 1923, Mrs. Allen took a position as a traveling advertising agent for the Chattanooga Medicine Company (Chattem), following a route that took her throughout the South. During this time she visited every county seat in the Southeast.
In 1929, she became publicity agent for Chickamauga Park, then in 1933 she joined The Chattanooga Times, where she concentrated on the Leaves From The Family Tree articles.
Later she initiated and directed the program for copying county records across Tennessee, acting under a Works Progress Administration grant.
She stated, "We found the old documents dumped in closets, piled in halls, and in all sorts of situations. One county had piled its early records in an old barn."
The result of this project is over 1500 volumes of Tennessee county records in the state library, much of which would otherwise have been lost.
After World War II, Mrs. Allen was active in the Volunteer Chapter U.S. Daughters of 1812, state president of USD 1812, the Hamilton County Historical Society, the Tennessee Historical Society, the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Chattanooga Area Historical Association and the Junior League.
She was also active in the Chattanooga Business and Professional Women's Club and the National Society Colonial Dames of America and Daughters of Colonial Wars.
Mrs. Allen worked with the Society for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities in the restoration of the Cravens House on the side of Lookout Mountain.
She published a book about Tennessee Soldiers in the American Revolution and another volume about Tennessee soldiers in the War of 1812.
She also wrote "Historic Chattanooga: A Guide Book."
She compiled a book about the Johnson and Whiteside families and related families.
In all her history and genealogy dealings, Mrs. Allen insisted on strict accuracy.
Mrs. Allen was chairman of a project to design a flag for St. Elmo Elementary School.
In 1962, the Tennessee Society of the Daughters of 1812 voted an endowment fund in her honor.
An oil portrait of Mrs. Allen was unveiled in 1970 at a luncheon meeting of the Chattanooga Area Historical Association. The portrait, now in the state library at Nashville, will soon appear in a special exhibition of paintings of prominent Tennessee women.
Mrs. Allen was among a group of six distinguished authors honored in 1976 by the dedication of trees in Audubon Acres.
Survivors are one daughter, Penelope Allen Moore, Virginia Beach, VA; one brother, A. M. Johnson, Chattanooga; one sister, Helen J. Flower, Columbus, Ohio; four grandchildren, Peter F. Moore, Charlotte, NC, Penelope M. Blankenship, Florence, AL, Alexander B. Moore, Redding, Conn., and Helen M. Maroon, Virginia Beach, VA, and eight great-grandchildren.
Memorial Contributions may be made to the Thankful Memorial Episcopal Church and the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library.
The body was to be at the West Chapel of the Chattanooga Funeral Home.
Chattanooga News-Free Press Wednesday, January 9, 1985
___________________________________________________________
Sources include: Gary C. Jenkins, Johnson House of St. Elmo: The Study of a House, a Family, a Suburb (Chattanooga: Jenkins, 2009)
___________________________________________________________
Penelope Van Dyke (Johnson) Allen was my 6th cousin twice removed, as well as other relationships, through the Campbell family.
Updated September 5, 2011.
Granddaughter of Col. Abraham Malone Johnson and Thankful Anderson (Whiteside) Johnson.
Daughter of James Whiteside "Jim" Johnson and Sue Coffin (Cleage) Johnson.
Sister of Thankful Anderson (Johnson) Davies, Raymond Hamilton Johnson, Helen Massengale (Johnson) Flower, Abraham Malone Johnson, Thomas Cleage Johnson, and Ephraim Foster Johnson.
Wife of Samuel Boyd Allen (1883 - 1932).
Mother of Penelope Van Dyke (Allen) Moore.
___________________________________________________________
Penelope Johnson Allen
1886 - 1985
Penelope Van Dyke Johnson, daughter of James Whiteside and Sue Cleage Johnson, was born October 27, 1886, at the residence of her Grandparents, Col. Abraham Malone and Thankful Whiteside Johnson, on the corner of Boyce & Hooke Streets in Chattanooga. The next year her parents moved to their St. Elmo residence at 4301 Alabama Avenue, where she lived off and on for the next 90 years.
She was educated in the public schools of Chattanooga where she received her grade school instruction at the old First District School and was graduated from Chattanooga High School in the class of 1904. In May 1904, she was crowned Queen of Love and Beauty in the Chattanooga Spring Festival. She did a year of preparatory work at Mrs. Starrett's School in Chicago and then attended for 3 years the Western College in Oxford, Ohio. She spent the summer of 1908 traveling in Europe. After her father's death on March 15,1908, she left college & became a teacher at the North St. Elmo Elementary School. On February 17, 1909, she married Samuel Boyd Allen of Knoxville. He was the son of John Mebane and Isabella Boyd Allen and was born in Knoxville on May 28, 1883. On July 31,1911 their daughter, Penelope Van Dyke Allen, was born in Knoxville, TN. Later they moved to Tate Springs, TN, and from 1912-1915, Mr. Allen managed the Tate Springs Hotel. In 1916 they moved to Williamsburg, VA., where during World War I, Mrs. Allen was the assistant supervisor of the large caliber area at the DuPont Shell Loading Plant in Penniman, VA. She returned to Chattanooga and was divorced in 1923. She worked at the Chattanooga News from 1919 to 1923 and became an early advocate of the women's suffrage movement in Tennessee. She was nominated as the 1922 Hamilton County Democratic candidate for the legislature. Although she lost a close election, some said she had actually received the most votes. In 1923 Mrs. Allen took a job as a traveling advertising salesperson with the St. Elmo based Chattanooga Medicine Company. This gave her an excellent opportunity to visit in her free time old book dealers throughout the South. It was at this time that she became acquainted with the descendants of Chief John Ross and other Cherokees in the Oklahoma area. She gradually put together an invaluable collection of books, manuscripts, Indian claims, letters from Indian Agents, and other Cherokee items. Part of this collection can be found in Nashville at the Tennessee State Library and Archives and part in Knoxville at The University of Tennessee, Special Collections. When the Medicine Company shut down it's operations in 1929 due to The Great Depression, Mrs. Allen was got a job as publicity agent for Chickamauga Park, then engaged in building of the park museum. In 1933 Mrs. Allen took a job with the Chattanooga Times, writing a weekly genealogical feature called "Leaves From the Family Tree." Each week she focused on a local pioneer family by tracing the family roots back to colonial times. In 1982, these articles were published in a book, Leaves From the Family Tree, by Southern Historical Press. While traveling to the various rural counties doing genealogy, Mrs. Allen noticed the deplorable conditions of most of the early county court documents. She recognized the need to save these documents and persuaded the DAR to join the project. She obtained government funding through the WPA and was named state supervisor. Mrs. Allen directed the project through 1945, and as a result there are over 1500 volumes of Tennessee history in the state library.
Mrs. Allen was a member of many civic and patriotic clubs. She was a life member of the DAR joining in 1913. She served as president of the Volunteer Chapter of the USD 1812 and as state president of the USD 1812. She was also a member of the Hamilton County Historical society, the Tennessee Historical Society, the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Chattanooga Area Historical Commission, the National Society of Colonial Dames in America in Tennessee, the Daughters of Colonial Wars, and the Junior League of Chattanooga. She was a member of Thankful Memorial Episcopal church, which her Grandfather built as a memorial to her Grandmother, Thankful Whiteside.
She also published the following books: Tennessee Soldiers in the Revolution, Historic Chattanooga, A Guide Book, and Tennessee Soldiers in the War of 1812. She also compiled a family history of her Johnson line which was published by her cousin, Mrs. Frank L. Miller.
Mrs. Allen received many honors for her dedication to historic causes in and around Tennessee. In 1970 a portrait of Mrs. Allen was commissioned by the Chattanooga Historical Association and now hangs in the state Library in Nashville.
In her later years Mrs. Allen concentrated her energies on the country of Tibet. It was said that she had one of the best collections of books on Tibet. This collection can be found at the University of Tennessee library at Memphis. She lived the last few years of her life at Life Care Center in East Ridge teaching genealogy and answering questions for all that called for help. She died January 9, 1985, and is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in St. Elmo.
___________________________________________________________
The following is an editorial that ran Thursday, January 10, 1985 in the Chattanooga News-Free Press
MRS. PENELOPE JOHNSON ALLEN
Mrs. Penelope Johnson Allen, born Oct. 27, 1886, saw a lot of history in her nearly 100 years of living. But more important, she was a major force in preserving what she saw and in retrieving and saving a tremendous volume of historical records for posterity.
A writer, genealogist and historian, she sought out and climbed the family trees of many of those who inhabited our area. She dug into abandoned warehouses and courthouse closets to save priceless records of the past that otherwise would have been lost. She wove much of it into a tapestry of history that was informative, interesting and of great value to our people. And with it all, she was a stimulating, delightful lady of wit and wisdom.
Mrs. Allen was an authority on the Cherokee Indians, tracing then throughout the Tennessee mountain and river country to new homes in Oklahoma. She was a noteworthy resident of her beloved St. Elmo for many years. Her forebears were greatly involved in developing the early services and institutions of our community.
In the decades and centuries ahead, historians prowling the records from family Bibles and country cemeteries and governmental archives for a better understanding of our traditions will find rich lore because of what Mrs. Allen did.
She made history in her own way by saving it for us all.
Submitted by Helen Maroon
___________________________________________________________
Obituary
Penelope Johnson Allen
1985
Penelope Johnson Allen, Indian historian, genealogist and member of a pioneer Chattanooga family, died this morning at a local hospital.
She had been a resident of the Life Care Center of East Ridge for the past seven years.
Mrs. Allen, who celebrated her 98th birthday on October 27, was one of the first women in the state to run for the Legislature.
In the 1930s, she was the director of a statewide project to copy and preserve important Tennessee historical records.
For many years she wrote a newspaper column called "Leaves From the Family Tree" that gave the lineage of many local families. These columns are now in book form.
She was one of the foremost experts in the country on the Cherokee Indians, having made a number of trips to Oklahoma to purchase some of their historical documents.
Many such valuable historical papers now in the state library at Nashville, the Lawson-McGhee Library in Knoxville and other libraries in the state were collected by Mrs. Allen.
Mrs. Allen remained actively interested in history and genealogy until the last months of her life, and at age 96 she was teaching a genealogy class for fellow nursing home residents.
Her great-grandfather was Col. James A. Whiteside, a Chattanoogan who was a member of the Legislature and was a leader in the development of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. He was also active in developing Lookout Mountain.
Her Grandparents were Col. Abraham Malone Johnson and Thankful Whiteside Johnson. Col. Johnson was also active with railroads and in the development of the water system for Chattanooga.
He was the developer of St. Elmo, the longtime home of Penelope Johnson Allen.
Mrs. Allen was born Oct. 27, 1886, the daughter of James Johnson and Sue Cleage. Jim Johnson was an official at the county courthouse.
Mrs. Allen graduated from Chattanooga High School in 1904. That same year she represented St. Elmo in the Chattanooga Spring Festival, earning the title of "Queen of Love and Beauty."
She continued her schooling at Mrs. Starrett's School in Chicago, then she attended Western College at Oxford, Ohio, for three years.
She returned to St. Elmo and taught at North St. Elmo Elementary School.
She married Samuel Boyd Allen and moved to Knoxville, then Tate Springs, TN, then Williamsburg, VA.
During World War I, Mrs. Allen worked in the Du Pont shell loading plant in Penniman, VA, where she was an assistant to the supervisor in large caliber area.
She returned to Chattanooga in 1919 to take a job with the Chattanooga News. She was society editor, general assignment reporter, courthouse reporter, political writer, magazine editor, sports reporter, and advertising sales representative.
She was active in the movement to win voting rights for women, making a number of trips to Nashville in the effort.
In May of 1922, she was nominated by the Hamilton County Democratic executive committee as a candidate for the Legislature. She lost in a close election.
During this post World War I period, she was active in a variety of clubs, including the Kosmos Woman's Club and the Garden Club of Chattanooga. She was active in the Episcopal Church.
She was named state historian of the Tennessee Daughters of the American Revolution and state press chairman of the Tennessee Federation of Women's Clubs.
She toured historic spots across the country in a national position with the DAR.
In 1923, Mrs. Allen took a position as a traveling advertising agent for the Chattanooga Medicine Company (Chattem), following a route that took her throughout the South. During this time she visited every county seat in the Southeast.
In 1929, she became publicity agent for Chickamauga Park, then in 1933 she joined The Chattanooga Times, where she concentrated on the Leaves From The Family Tree articles.
Later she initiated and directed the program for copying county records across Tennessee, acting under a Works Progress Administration grant.
She stated, "We found the old documents dumped in closets, piled in halls, and in all sorts of situations. One county had piled its early records in an old barn."
The result of this project is over 1500 volumes of Tennessee county records in the state library, much of which would otherwise have been lost.
After World War II, Mrs. Allen was active in the Volunteer Chapter U.S. Daughters of 1812, state president of USD 1812, the Hamilton County Historical Society, the Tennessee Historical Society, the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Chattanooga Area Historical Association and the Junior League.
She was also active in the Chattanooga Business and Professional Women's Club and the National Society Colonial Dames of America and Daughters of Colonial Wars.
Mrs. Allen worked with the Society for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities in the restoration of the Cravens House on the side of Lookout Mountain.
She published a book about Tennessee Soldiers in the American Revolution and another volume about Tennessee soldiers in the War of 1812.
She also wrote "Historic Chattanooga: A Guide Book."
She compiled a book about the Johnson and Whiteside families and related families.
In all her history and genealogy dealings, Mrs. Allen insisted on strict accuracy.
Mrs. Allen was chairman of a project to design a flag for St. Elmo Elementary School.
In 1962, the Tennessee Society of the Daughters of 1812 voted an endowment fund in her honor.
An oil portrait of Mrs. Allen was unveiled in 1970 at a luncheon meeting of the Chattanooga Area Historical Association. The portrait, now in the state library at Nashville, will soon appear in a special exhibition of paintings of prominent Tennessee women.
Mrs. Allen was among a group of six distinguished authors honored in 1976 by the dedication of trees in Audubon Acres.
Survivors are one daughter, Penelope Allen Moore, Virginia Beach, VA; one brother, A. M. Johnson, Chattanooga; one sister, Helen J. Flower, Columbus, Ohio; four grandchildren, Peter F. Moore, Charlotte, NC, Penelope M. Blankenship, Florence, AL, Alexander B. Moore, Redding, Conn., and Helen M. Maroon, Virginia Beach, VA, and eight great-grandchildren.
Memorial Contributions may be made to the Thankful Memorial Episcopal Church and the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library.
The body was to be at the West Chapel of the Chattanooga Funeral Home.
Chattanooga News-Free Press Wednesday, January 9, 1985
___________________________________________________________
Sources include: Gary C. Jenkins, Johnson House of St. Elmo: The Study of a House, a Family, a Suburb (Chattanooga: Jenkins, 2009)
___________________________________________________________
Penelope Van Dyke (Johnson) Allen was my 6th cousin twice removed, as well as other relationships, through the Campbell family.
Updated September 5, 2011.
Daughter of James Whiteside "Jim" Johnson and Sue Coffin (Cleage) Johnson.
Sister of Thankful Anderson (Johnson) Davies, Raymond Hamilton Johnson, Helen Massengale (Johnson) Flower, Abraham Malone Johnson, Thomas Cleage Johnson, and Ephraim Foster Johnson.
Wife of Samuel Boyd Allen (1883 - 1932).
Mother of Penelope Van Dyke (Allen) Moore.
___________________________________________________________
Penelope Johnson Allen
1886 - 1985
Penelope Van Dyke Johnson, daughter of James Whiteside and Sue Cleage Johnson, was born October 27, 1886, at the residence of her Grandparents, Col. Abraham Malone and Thankful Whiteside Johnson, on the corner of Boyce & Hooke Streets in Chattanooga. The next year her parents moved to their St. Elmo residence at 4301 Alabama Avenue, where she lived off and on for the next 90 years.
She was educated in the public schools of Chattanooga where she received her grade school instruction at the old First District School and was graduated from Chattanooga High School in the class of 1904. In May 1904, she was crowned Queen of Love and Beauty in the Chattanooga Spring Festival. She did a year of preparatory work at Mrs. Starrett's School in Chicago and then attended for 3 years the Western College in Oxford, Ohio. She spent the summer of 1908 traveling in Europe. After her father's death on March 15,1908, she left college & became a teacher at the North St. Elmo Elementary School. On February 17, 1909, she married Samuel Boyd Allen of Knoxville. He was the son of John Mebane and Isabella Boyd Allen and was born in Knoxville on May 28, 1883. On July 31,1911 their daughter, Penelope Van Dyke Allen, was born in Knoxville, TN. Later they moved to Tate Springs, TN, and from 1912-1915, Mr. Allen managed the Tate Springs Hotel. In 1916 they moved to Williamsburg, VA., where during World War I, Mrs. Allen was the assistant supervisor of the large caliber area at the DuPont Shell Loading Plant in Penniman, VA. She returned to Chattanooga and was divorced in 1923. She worked at the Chattanooga News from 1919 to 1923 and became an early advocate of the women's suffrage movement in Tennessee. She was nominated as the 1922 Hamilton County Democratic candidate for the legislature. Although she lost a close election, some said she had actually received the most votes. In 1923 Mrs. Allen took a job as a traveling advertising salesperson with the St. Elmo based Chattanooga Medicine Company. This gave her an excellent opportunity to visit in her free time old book dealers throughout the South. It was at this time that she became acquainted with the descendants of Chief John Ross and other Cherokees in the Oklahoma area. She gradually put together an invaluable collection of books, manuscripts, Indian claims, letters from Indian Agents, and other Cherokee items. Part of this collection can be found in Nashville at the Tennessee State Library and Archives and part in Knoxville at The University of Tennessee, Special Collections. When the Medicine Company shut down it's operations in 1929 due to The Great Depression, Mrs. Allen was got a job as publicity agent for Chickamauga Park, then engaged in building of the park museum. In 1933 Mrs. Allen took a job with the Chattanooga Times, writing a weekly genealogical feature called "Leaves From the Family Tree." Each week she focused on a local pioneer family by tracing the family roots back to colonial times. In 1982, these articles were published in a book, Leaves From the Family Tree, by Southern Historical Press. While traveling to the various rural counties doing genealogy, Mrs. Allen noticed the deplorable conditions of most of the early county court documents. She recognized the need to save these documents and persuaded the DAR to join the project. She obtained government funding through the WPA and was named state supervisor. Mrs. Allen directed the project through 1945, and as a result there are over 1500 volumes of Tennessee history in the state library.
Mrs. Allen was a member of many civic and patriotic clubs. She was a life member of the DAR joining in 1913. She served as president of the Volunteer Chapter of the USD 1812 and as state president of the USD 1812. She was also a member of the Hamilton County Historical society, the Tennessee Historical Society, the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Chattanooga Area Historical Commission, the National Society of Colonial Dames in America in Tennessee, the Daughters of Colonial Wars, and the Junior League of Chattanooga. She was a member of Thankful Memorial Episcopal church, which her Grandfather built as a memorial to her Grandmother, Thankful Whiteside.
She also published the following books: Tennessee Soldiers in the Revolution, Historic Chattanooga, A Guide Book, and Tennessee Soldiers in the War of 1812. She also compiled a family history of her Johnson line which was published by her cousin, Mrs. Frank L. Miller.
Mrs. Allen received many honors for her dedication to historic causes in and around Tennessee. In 1970 a portrait of Mrs. Allen was commissioned by the Chattanooga Historical Association and now hangs in the state Library in Nashville.
In her later years Mrs. Allen concentrated her energies on the country of Tibet. It was said that she had one of the best collections of books on Tibet. This collection can be found at the University of Tennessee library at Memphis. She lived the last few years of her life at Life Care Center in East Ridge teaching genealogy and answering questions for all that called for help. She died January 9, 1985, and is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in St. Elmo.
___________________________________________________________
The following is an editorial that ran Thursday, January 10, 1985 in the Chattanooga News-Free Press
MRS. PENELOPE JOHNSON ALLEN
Mrs. Penelope Johnson Allen, born Oct. 27, 1886, saw a lot of history in her nearly 100 years of living. But more important, she was a major force in preserving what she saw and in retrieving and saving a tremendous volume of historical records for posterity.
A writer, genealogist and historian, she sought out and climbed the family trees of many of those who inhabited our area. She dug into abandoned warehouses and courthouse closets to save priceless records of the past that otherwise would have been lost. She wove much of it into a tapestry of history that was informative, interesting and of great value to our people. And with it all, she was a stimulating, delightful lady of wit and wisdom.
Mrs. Allen was an authority on the Cherokee Indians, tracing then throughout the Tennessee mountain and river country to new homes in Oklahoma. She was a noteworthy resident of her beloved St. Elmo for many years. Her forebears were greatly involved in developing the early services and institutions of our community.
In the decades and centuries ahead, historians prowling the records from family Bibles and country cemeteries and governmental archives for a better understanding of our traditions will find rich lore because of what Mrs. Allen did.
She made history in her own way by saving it for us all.
Submitted by Helen Maroon
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Obituary
Penelope Johnson Allen
1985
Penelope Johnson Allen, Indian historian, genealogist and member of a pioneer Chattanooga family, died this morning at a local hospital.
She had been a resident of the Life Care Center of East Ridge for the past seven years.
Mrs. Allen, who celebrated her 98th birthday on October 27, was one of the first women in the state to run for the Legislature.
In the 1930s, she was the director of a statewide project to copy and preserve important Tennessee historical records.
For many years she wrote a newspaper column called "Leaves From the Family Tree" that gave the lineage of many local families. These columns are now in book form.
She was one of the foremost experts in the country on the Cherokee Indians, having made a number of trips to Oklahoma to purchase some of their historical documents.
Many such valuable historical papers now in the state library at Nashville, the Lawson-McGhee Library in Knoxville and other libraries in the state were collected by Mrs. Allen.
Mrs. Allen remained actively interested in history and genealogy until the last months of her life, and at age 96 she was teaching a genealogy class for fellow nursing home residents.
Her great-grandfather was Col. James A. Whiteside, a Chattanoogan who was a member of the Legislature and was a leader in the development of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. He was also active in developing Lookout Mountain.
Her Grandparents were Col. Abraham Malone Johnson and Thankful Whiteside Johnson. Col. Johnson was also active with railroads and in the development of the water system for Chattanooga.
He was the developer of St. Elmo, the longtime home of Penelope Johnson Allen.
Mrs. Allen was born Oct. 27, 1886, the daughter of James Johnson and Sue Cleage. Jim Johnson was an official at the county courthouse.
Mrs. Allen graduated from Chattanooga High School in 1904. That same year she represented St. Elmo in the Chattanooga Spring Festival, earning the title of "Queen of Love and Beauty."
She continued her schooling at Mrs. Starrett's School in Chicago, then she attended Western College at Oxford, Ohio, for three years.
She returned to St. Elmo and taught at North St. Elmo Elementary School.
She married Samuel Boyd Allen and moved to Knoxville, then Tate Springs, TN, then Williamsburg, VA.
During World War I, Mrs. Allen worked in the Du Pont shell loading plant in Penniman, VA, where she was an assistant to the supervisor in large caliber area.
She returned to Chattanooga in 1919 to take a job with the Chattanooga News. She was society editor, general assignment reporter, courthouse reporter, political writer, magazine editor, sports reporter, and advertising sales representative.
She was active in the movement to win voting rights for women, making a number of trips to Nashville in the effort.
In May of 1922, she was nominated by the Hamilton County Democratic executive committee as a candidate for the Legislature. She lost in a close election.
During this post World War I period, she was active in a variety of clubs, including the Kosmos Woman's Club and the Garden Club of Chattanooga. She was active in the Episcopal Church.
She was named state historian of the Tennessee Daughters of the American Revolution and state press chairman of the Tennessee Federation of Women's Clubs.
She toured historic spots across the country in a national position with the DAR.
In 1923, Mrs. Allen took a position as a traveling advertising agent for the Chattanooga Medicine Company (Chattem), following a route that took her throughout the South. During this time she visited every county seat in the Southeast.
In 1929, she became publicity agent for Chickamauga Park, then in 1933 she joined The Chattanooga Times, where she concentrated on the Leaves From The Family Tree articles.
Later she initiated and directed the program for copying county records across Tennessee, acting under a Works Progress Administration grant.
She stated, "We found the old documents dumped in closets, piled in halls, and in all sorts of situations. One county had piled its early records in an old barn."
The result of this project is over 1500 volumes of Tennessee county records in the state library, much of which would otherwise have been lost.
After World War II, Mrs. Allen was active in the Volunteer Chapter U.S. Daughters of 1812, state president of USD 1812, the Hamilton County Historical Society, the Tennessee Historical Society, the Tennessee Historical Commission, the Chattanooga Area Historical Association and the Junior League.
She was also active in the Chattanooga Business and Professional Women's Club and the National Society Colonial Dames of America and Daughters of Colonial Wars.
Mrs. Allen worked with the Society for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities in the restoration of the Cravens House on the side of Lookout Mountain.
She published a book about Tennessee Soldiers in the American Revolution and another volume about Tennessee soldiers in the War of 1812.
She also wrote "Historic Chattanooga: A Guide Book."
She compiled a book about the Johnson and Whiteside families and related families.
In all her history and genealogy dealings, Mrs. Allen insisted on strict accuracy.
Mrs. Allen was chairman of a project to design a flag for St. Elmo Elementary School.
In 1962, the Tennessee Society of the Daughters of 1812 voted an endowment fund in her honor.
An oil portrait of Mrs. Allen was unveiled in 1970 at a luncheon meeting of the Chattanooga Area Historical Association. The portrait, now in the state library at Nashville, will soon appear in a special exhibition of paintings of prominent Tennessee women.
Mrs. Allen was among a group of six distinguished authors honored in 1976 by the dedication of trees in Audubon Acres.
Survivors are one daughter, Penelope Allen Moore, Virginia Beach, VA; one brother, A. M. Johnson, Chattanooga; one sister, Helen J. Flower, Columbus, Ohio; four grandchildren, Peter F. Moore, Charlotte, NC, Penelope M. Blankenship, Florence, AL, Alexander B. Moore, Redding, Conn., and Helen M. Maroon, Virginia Beach, VA, and eight great-grandchildren.
Memorial Contributions may be made to the Thankful Memorial Episcopal Church and the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library.
The body was to be at the West Chapel of the Chattanooga Funeral Home.
Chattanooga News-Free Press Wednesday, January 9, 1985
___________________________________________________________
Sources include: Gary C. Jenkins, Johnson House of St. Elmo: The Study of a House, a Family, a Suburb (Chattanooga: Jenkins, 2009)
___________________________________________________________
Penelope Van Dyke (Johnson) Allen was my 6th cousin twice removed, as well as other relationships, through the Campbell family.
Updated September 5, 2011.
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