University of Wyoming
Charlotte “Lottie” Elizabeth Jackson was born July 28, 1828 in Chesterfield Township, New York. Her husband, William Warren Allis, was born October 28, 1823 in Conway, Massachusetts. She and W.W. Allis were married September 11, 1849 in Beloit, Wisconsin. In 1853, W.W. Allis traveled overland to mine gold in California. In 1854, Charlotte followed him, leaving Beloit in April and arriving at Monte Cristo California in July. She maintained a diary during her journey that relates her trek by wagon and foot traveling with newlyweds George and Hannah Haskell and possibly with George’s sister-in-law Marie Haskell, as well as others who are not recorded in Allis' diary. W.W. and Charlotte Allis lived in the mining towns of Monte Cristo and Youngs Hill, California for the next few years. Charlotte found paid work by running a boarding house, cooking and doing laundry for gold miners, and acting as midwife to the Haskell families. Charlotte and her husband returned to Beloit in 1858, where W.W. became a successful businessman. The couple’s daughter, Bessie Maria, was born in 1859 and was adopted by them before 1870. In 1880, W.W. Allis traveled to Gunnison County (later Delta County), Colorado to mine silver. Charlotte and Bessie joined him. In 1905, Bessie married Ira McFadden, a real estate agent and attorney for the nearby town of Paonia, Colorado. Charlotte and W.W. joined them in Paonia, where they lived the remainder of their lives. W.W. Allis died in 1909 and Charlotte in 1910.
The collection contains the diary of Charlotte Allis that was kept from April to July 1854 as she traveled overland from Beloit, Wisconsin, to Monte Cristo, California. There is a transcription of the diary by Esther Gay, wife of the diary's donor Jim Gay. The bulk of the collection is the research files and transcription created by Tamara Linse, a freelance writer and American Heritage Center volunteer who researched and transcribed the diary from 2001 through 2003.
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
There are no known other archival collections created by Charlotte E. Allis at the date of processing.
The diary and a transcript by Esther Gay were received from Jim Gay in July 1980. Research on Charlotte Allis and a second transcript were received from Tamara Linse in January 2004.
The collection was processed by Leslie Waggener in January 2015.
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Digital reproductions of select material from this collection are available at