William Lawton Allen was born. November 25, 1835 in Audrain County, Missouri. His parents, John and Polly Williams Allen, had twin boys before they moved from North Carolina and six younger brothers and sisters followed William on the Missouri farm.

January 17, 1856, William married Catherine Boyd Boyes. Her parents were William and Margaret "Peggy"Ann Barry Boyes.

In 1857, William, Catherine and her parents and siblings left for California and settled near Millville. Here, Lillian Mae was born April 14, 1859 and that same year William took his family back to Audrain County, Missouri, where son John William was born May 2, 1861. In the spring of 1862, William was captain of a wagon train guiding several related families and neighbors to California. Son James Grandison was born on this train in September, in Nevada. Williams family settled on Rose's farm on Old Cow Creek where their third son, Robert Green was born February 4, 1864.

On September 8, 1864, while William was, haying about two miles from the house, two renegade Indians attacked; they shot Catherine, beat the children and left them for dead. Newspaper reports said two of the children had been killed and Dr. Guptill of Millville was not sure any of them could live; he covered a hole in baby Robert's head with a silver fifty-cent piece and put a silver plate in Lillian's head, and all four survived.

Catherine was buried near the house where she was killed. Her stone is still there and readable -- B. ALLEN --Died September 8, 1864.

William tried to provide a mother for his children, but Julia Ann Kilgore Allen, his second wife, and their infant son, Benjamin F. Allen are buried beside Catherine. The children were raised in the Millville area. Later William with his mother and daughter, Lillian, moved to Upper Lake.

William took a third wife, Nancy Moore Hust. Though they had two children, there are no living descendants from this marriage. Nancy survived William by fourteen years; William died May 2, 1900 and both are buried in Upper Lake Cemetery.

Lillian married Robert M. Ullrey, December 26, 1875 and settled in Sutter County. They had seven children. She died in Yuba City, March 16, 1938.

John W. Allen married Leona J. Daniels in Idaho. They had five children and moved to Santa Rosa. Five years after their divorce in 1909, John married Amy Wilson; they had two children. About 1929 they moved to Fresh-water, near Eureka. John died there May 8, 1943.

James Allen married Mary Elizabeth Walker in 1883; they had five children before they were divorced in 1896. James had one daughter by his second wife, Mary E. Palmer who had children by a previous marriage. James died on February 26, 1922 and was buried at Silverton, Oregon.

Robert Green Allen is the only one of the. children who remained in Shasta County; he and his wife Minnie Mae Johnson had seven children, all born in the Millville area. She died in childbirth on July 6, 1914 and he died on July 16, 1933.

Only one, known, descendant still resides in the County, Robert's granddaughter, Frances Hash, daughter of Lucille and Franklin Leonard Allen.

Source: Shasta Historical Society