KENTUCKY: A History of the State, Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin, 4th ed., 
1887, Nelson Co.

THE ALLEN FAMILY.  James Allen, Sr., the progenitor of the Kentucky
branch of that distinguished family, was of Scotch descent; he 
immigrated to America, and the colony of Pennsylvania, from Ireland, 
some time anterior to the Revolutionary war; after spending some time 
in Pennsylvania he went to the West Indies, but shortly after returned 
to America and settled in Rockbridge County, Va.  He immigrated to 
Kentucky in 1780, and located near Danville in the present county of 
Boyle, where he with another pioneer, Mr. Daviess, father of the 
distinguished Col. Joseph Hamilton Daviess, made a settlement a few 
miles from the station, leaving the fort on account of the profanity of 
the garrison and others, as he was a strict Presbyterian.  He lived 
there three years, then went to what is now Nelson County, and made a
settlement near where the village of Bloomfield now stands.  He put up a
small cabin and returned for his family, but upon taking them to their
new home he found the Indians had burned his cabin during his absence.  
Winter was at hand, but endowed with the energy of the frontiersman, he 
went to work, and with the aid of his wife soon constructed another 
cabin.  Here he lived until his death at the beginning of the century.  
His farm, known as "Allendale," is still in the possession of the 
descendants; his wife, Mary (Kelsey) Allen, was a native Virginian, but 
died in Nelson County, Ky., in May, 1808.  They had five children, three
sons and two daughters; the sons were John, Joseph and James; the first,
Col. John Allen, was one of the ablest lawyers of his day, the rival of 
Henry Clay in the court of appeals.  He was a colonel in the war of 
1812, and fell at the battle of the River Raisin.  His name, as well as 
that of the family, is perpetuated in that of a county (see historical 
sketch of Allen County).  Joseph Allen, the second eldest son, was a 
small boy when his parents came to Kentucky.  He removed to Breckinridge
County about the time it was created.  In the organization of its legal 
machinery he was chosen county and circuit clerk of the new county.  No 
other evidence of his official integrity is required than the fact that 
he held the office for a period of fifty-eight years.  He served in the 
war of 1812, and was the father of Hon. Alfred Allen, a distinguished 
lawyer and politician.  The two daughters of James Allen, Sr., were 
Sallie (who married Andrew Rowan, brother of the celebrated John 
Rowan), and Margaret (who married Joseph Huston) and became the mother
of the well known Judge Eli and Maj. Huston, of Natchez, Miss.  James 
Allen, the only other child of James Allen, Sr., was born March 26, 
1779; one year later his family immigrated to Kentucky; he was reared 
in and has always remained a resident of Nelson County; in early life 
received a limited amount of schooling at Bardstown and vicinity, but 
acquired most of his education by reading and association with men of 
culture in the transaction of business.  He served in a number of 
official capacities in his county-high sheriff, representative in the 
Legislature, and other minor offices; in the settlement of neighborhood 
difficulties he was almost invariably called upon to act as arbitrator. 
During the latter part of his life he devoted his entire attention to 
the propagation of small fruits and flowers.  A Whig in politics, he 
was a warm personal friend of Henry Clay.  He died May 13, 1852, at the 
age of seventy-three years.  In his last hours he made a request that a 
copy of the word of God should be made a pillow for his head, in his 
tomb.  While not identified with any church yet he lived an upright, 
true and consistent Christian.  March 25, 1802, Mary Read became his 
wife.  To their union seven children were born: Joseph, Oliver, Eliza, 
Mary, Nancy, John and Amanda, of whom Oliver, Mary and Amanda are the 
surviving ones.  Mary is the widow of Henry Rowland, and Amanda is the
widow of Charles Q. Armstrong.  To the union of the latter were born
seven children, of whom five are now living: Kate, wife of Capt. John H.
Leathers of Louisville, Anna E., wife of Rev. E.H. Pearce; Lillie, 
consort of Frank Offutt; John A., who married Jennie Moore, and Mattie, 
wife of S.F. Wilkinson.

Allen Daviess Kelsey Clay Rowan Huston Read Rowland Armstrong Leathers
Pearce Offutt Moore Wilkinson
=
Nelson-KY Boyle-KY Breckinridge-KY Rockbridge-VA PA MS Ireland
West_Indies

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/nelson/allen.txt