Jude Allen (1811-1900), his first wife (Mary Ann Nicholas), and seven children lived in Pottawatma, Ohio. After joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the family moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, to join the main body of the LDS Church. While living in Nauvoo, Allen was employed as one of Joseph Smith's bodyguards. In 1845 the family started west to the "Land of Zion." After several stops along the way, they reached Salt Lake City in September 1852 and settled in Brigham City, Utah, then moved to Calls Fort in 1861.
The Jude Allen papers (1836-1900, 1981) consist of a handwritten account book; a certificate of Allen's appointment to the rank of captain in the Ohio Militia; a three-page biography written by his granddaughter, Edna Dewey Pierson; and a children's short story written in 1981, by Avon Compton, another granddaughter. The donor's grandmother was Sarah Anglesey Allen, Jude Allen's third wife. Edna Dewey Pierson, the biographer, was from the marriage of Jude Allen and Mary Ann Nichols Allen, Jude Allen's first wife. Also included is a purchase receipt for a coffin made for Jude Allen.
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Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Gift of Avon Allen Compton in 1994. Box 1, folder 6 donated by Robert Kay Frasier in 2026.
Processed by Jane Chesley in 1995. Box 1 folder 6 processed by Betsey Welland in 2026.
Photograph transferred to the Multimedia Division (P0644) of Special Collections.
Photocopy of the original account book in folder 1.
The original commission and a photocopy.
Edna Dewey Pierson is Allen's granddaughter.
This children's book tells of Compton's grandmother, Sarah Anglesey Allen, traveling from England, crossing the plains, and settling in Utah.