Jesse Allen and Tobitha (Hess) Allen are the grandparents of Betty Harness, Emmet Allen, Lillie Neal and Albert Allen.

Jesse Allen's home was near the old "Need More" school house on the Little Red River, about eight miles west of Heber Springs, Arkansas. At the time it was part of Van Buren County (now Cleburne County). The area is now covered by Greer's Ferry Lake.

Jesse Allen was born around 1808 and died in 1876. He owned a great deal of land in the Little Red River bottoms. He raised cattle and hogs and did some crop farming as well. He and Tobitha (Hess) Allen raised their family on this farm.

They had eleven children. Two died in infancy. Jesse Allen was one of the leaders in establishment of the Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church in 1864. He and his brother, Thomas, were deacons in the church. At the time the church's name was "Flat Woods." Jesse and Tobitha raised their family as members of this church. Jesse Allen was the second man to be buried in Mt. Olive Cemetery. He helped clean the cemetery regularly and picked his last resting place.

It is not known in what state and county Jesse Allen was born, but he had four or five brothers and a sister who lived nearby his home.

Jesse Allen fought in the Civil War as did three or four of his brothers. Three of his brothers names are known. They were James, Thomas and Will. His sister (married name) was Kizzie Blackwell.

The Allen's originated in Ireland and England. Thomas Allen, one of our forefathers, came to this country from Dublin, Ireland in 1634.

Tobitha (Hess) was born in Kentucky, near Columbus, Ohio. She was an orphan and came to Arkansas by covered wagon with her small brother about 1821. They were in the care of their uncle and his wife, who were raising the children. Tobitha was about 10 years old at the time.

It is not known exactly where they settled when they reached Arkansas. She was quite young when she married Jesse Allen.

Tobitha (Hess) Allen was born about 1811 and died in 1907 at the age of 96. She was buried in Atkins, Arkansas (in Faulkner County). Her daughter, Mahalia (Hallie) Guinn is also buried there.

Here were the children of Tobitha and Jesse Allen:

*Calvin Allen
Lewis Allen (unknown if ever married)
James H. Allen (married Olive Odum)
Jesse Allen Liza Allen (married Ezekiel Hardwick)
Margaret Allen (married Les Ridgeway)
Bettie Allen (married Dowell Finch)
Mahalia Allen (married James "Doc" Guinn)
Samuel Allen (married Nora Moody)
Mary Jane Allen (died in infancy)
Willie Allen (died in infancy)

*Calvin Allen:

Not a great deal is known about Calvin Allen's boyhood. He was a farmer in the Des Arc, Arkansas area when he met his second wife, Liddy Scarber, apparently while they were both picking cotton. They married when she was about 18 or 19.

Calvin had been married previously to Molly Greenlee. Molly and Calvin had one child, a son, Fred. Molly died shortly after Fred was born. Fred lived with his grandparents for a time, but at the age of 6 or 7, after Calvin had remarried, Fred moved in to live with his father and his new stepmother, Liddie.

By that time Calvin, his wife Liddy, and his son Fred lived on a farm at Atkins, Arkansas. It is not known how long they lived there, but in 1915 the family moved to Drasco, Arkansas, where Calvin and Liddy and their family had a farm, raising primarily cotton.