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.