What happened to John Lucas Allen?

I have a bunch of DNA matches on my Allen side of the family, but I don't know how all of the more distant matches are connected. I was working on one not long ago, and when I looked at my tree, I had fairly complete information about all of the siblings of my great-grandfather, Elam Ethan Allen, except for one. John Lucas Allen.

John was the only one of Elam's siblings, including several half-siblings, that I didn't have information about the end of his life and his children. I wanted a death record, an obituary specifically, because for genealogists doing descendant research, those are like pure gold. I wanted to know what happened to John Lucas Allen and I wanted to be sure I had all of his children documented.

To begin, I created a timeline. With some additional research I was able to fill in most of the blanks:

Birth of John L Allen
	16 Oct 1863 to James Miller Allen and Sarah Elizabeth (Lucas) Butler Allen	Oregon	1870-1930 census records and family history compiled in 1947
Christening
Residence	1 Aug 1870	Monmouth, Polk, Oregon	1870 census
Residence	14 Jun 1880	Fifteen-Mile, Wasco, Oregon	1880 census
Marriage 1	abt 1885 Belle R Barrett	Prob Oregon	1900 census
Birth of Child	9 Mar 1886, Dora Rachael	Boyd, Wasco, Oregon	Oregon birth record
Birth of Child	Apr 1889, Ira W	Idaho	1900 census
Birth of Child	Oct 1891, Charles L	Oregon	1900 census
Residence	8 Jun 1900	Hay Creek, Crook, Oregon	1900 census
Birth of Child	16 Nov 1901, Ellen Elizabeth	Hay Creek, Crook, Oregon	from her personal bio
Divorce ?
Marriage 2	Mar 1911, Maretta C Aplington	Washington	family history compliled in 1947
Birth of Child	30 Jul 1906, Stella May - if Stella was John's daughter she was born out of wedlock. I can't find anything to prove that she was his. Could be Retta's daughter from another man.	Oregon	1920-30-40 census, SSDI
Birth of Child	5 Dec 1908, Erma Irene - unknown if she is John's daughter, either. No birth record and birth is prior to their marriage	Montana	1920 census, SS Claim, FAG
Residence	1909	Sunnyside, Yakima, Washington	Yakima County Directory
Residence	20 Apr 1910	Outlook, Yakima, Washington	1910 census
Residence	1911	Outlook, Yakima, Washington	Yakima County Directory
Birth of Child	14 Dec 1911, Lawrence Alfred	College Place, Walla Walla, Washington	family history compiled in 1947, 1920 census, SSDI, FAG
Birth of Child	14 Dec 1911, Lois Affa	College Place, Walla Walla, Washington	family history compiled in 1947, 1920 census, SSDI, FAG
Divorce ?	Retta in 1920 listed as Divorced on census
Marriage 3	6 Jan 1912 to Josephine (Kripsal/Quipsell) Stewart	Tehama County, CA	Marriage record
Birth of Child	7 Nov 1912, Delta Alma	California	1920-30 census, CA death index, obit
Birth of Child	21 Jun 1914, Sylvester Stanley	Yakima County, Washington	WA birth index, 1920-30-40 census, SSDI, FAG
Birth of Child	23 May 1916, James Wilbur	Sunnyside, Yakima, Washington	1920-30-40 census, USArmy Enlistment, SSDI, FAG
Birth of Child	23 Oct 1918, Ethel Irene	Yakima County, Washington	WA birth index, 1920-30 census, SSDI
Residence	12 Jan 1920	Sunnyside, Yakima, Washington	1920 census, Yakima County Directory
Residence	1921	Sunnyside, Yakima, Washington	Yakima County Directory
Residence	1922	Sunnyside, Yakima, Washington	Yakima County Directory
Birth of child	19 May 1923, Bernice O		SSDI
Residence	23 Apr 1930	Yakima, Yakima, Washington	1930 census
Marriage of child	17 Jul 1930, Delta to William Jess	Yakima, Yakima, Washington	Washington Marriage Return, J L Allen signed as witness
Death of spouse	28 Feb 1932, Josephine	Yakima, Yakima, Washington	Washington Death Certificate
Death	abt 1941
Burial	?
Marriage of Child	1942, Ethel to Tony Curci	California	50th Anniversary article in newspaper
Marriage of Child	1948, Delta to Fred Stone	Alameda County, CA	CA divorce index
Marriage of Child	1950, Bernice to Billy Blair	San Francisco, CA	CA marriage index

Newspaper articles I found regarding Ethel, Delta and Bernice were key finds, as they helped me to link the daughters and led me to marriage/divorce records and helped me to add information for their families.

The Palm Beach Post, 28 Apr 2009, pg B004
image from Newspapers.com

Santa Cruz Sentinel, 24 Jan 1993, pg 10
image from Newspapers.com

Santa Cruz Sentinel, 19 Apr 1992, pg 22
image from Newspapers.com

This 1940 census record for John's son James W Allen was another incredible discovery.

1940 Federal Census, Nevada, Nevada, California, enumeration district 29-16
Image #6 of 37 from Ancestry.com
James W Allen, age 23, born in Wapato, Washington,
working in a government camp in Northern California
(13th row down)

What I still didn't have was a death record, or anything at all, for John past 1932.

My hypothesis:

John's first wife remarried and the minor children all went with mom and step-dad to Canada. It doesn't appear that they maintained contact with John. His second wife took her children to Wallowa County, Oregon and again, it appears that there was no further contact with their father.

Four of the children he had with Josephine, though, ended up in the Northern California area, and in one of their obits it says "born in Yakima, Washington but resided in Northern California" so I think that sometime after 1930, maybe after Josie's death in 1932, he and the minor children went to California. That's where I needed to focus the search for John’s death record.

I narrowed my focus to California and then I found this:

San Francisco Coroner's Register - Record of Death for John L. Allen
image from Ancestry.com

This John L Allen, born in 1864 in Oregon, died in San Francisco on September 2, 1937 in his home. He was discovered by Delta Danielsen, of the same address, and the record notes that relatives were notified at the scene. This John Allen was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, San Mateo County, California. I believe it is John Lucas Allen, though at this point all the evidence is indirect. I cannot find a record of his daughter Delta either marrying or divorcing a man named Danielsen. Is this the correct record? I'm hoping that someday a record is found that will shed more light, but for now, I feel pretty certain that this is the man.

This record also states that John L Allen had suffered a stroke about 8 years earlier and had been practically an invalid ever since. While this is a sad ending to to his life, at least the ending is now known.

Erastus Caleb Aplington - Farmer, Public Servant, Miner - 1852-1897

A gentleman should be an honest, hard-working member of society, a faithful husband, and a good provider for his family. He should treat others with kindness and respect. He should educate his children and pass on to them his strong moral values. Erastus Caleb Aplington was a gentleman.

Erastus Caleb Aplington
Photo taken after 1873
Courtesy of Rene Rodgers

He was born on October 12, 1852, in Deposit, Broome County, New York to James Page Aplington and his wife, Sarah Jane Anthony. The youngest of 8 children, he joined five older sisters (Catharine 17, Charlotte 16, Murietta 13, Sarah Anne 11 and Helen 7) and two older brothers (Nathan  9 and Lewis A. 5). When Erastus was a toddler, his family moved west, settling for a time in Buffalo, Ogle, Illinois near his Uncle Zenas Aplington's family. It was here that his sister Charlotte met and married her husband, Cyrus Doty, and here she remained while the rest of the family traveled further west to Butler County, Iowa where James Aplington bought some land and began farming.

Erastus and his brothers helped their father with the farm work while the girls helped their mother with the housekeeping. Weddings seemed to always be on the horizon as his older siblings reached adulthood. Murietta was married in 1862, then both Catharine and Nathan in 1866, followed by Sarah in 1867. This left Helen, Lewis, and Erastus at home with their parents when, in the fall of 1867, tragedy struck the family. Father James died at the age of 53. Fifteen-year-old Erastus now had to work even harder to help his widowed mother. It would be several years before there was another wedding as the family struggled to survive without James' guidance. Sarah must have been quite savvy because the farm flourished with her at the helm. They weren't rich by any means, but they were much better off than some of their neighboring farmers. During these early years, Erastus was very close to his sisters and his mother who taught him to respect all women. He also learned the value of hard work as he worked alongside his family members to become a successful farmer.

In the early 1870's, Erastus met a young woman named Affa Harding Goodsell and the two fell in love. Soon, the Aplington family was planning another wedding. On November 13, 1873, the young couple was married in what would be one of the last things Erastus did in Iowa.

Soon after the wedding, Erastus, Affa, his sister Helen, brother Lewis A. and mother Sarah prepared to move. They sold the farm and packed up their belongings. Erastus's married siblings Catharine, Murietta, Sarah Anne, and Nathan went too, as did Affa's brother Ansel. All of these families made the 500-mile journey to Norton County, Kansas, a trip that probably took a few weeks or longer. They settled in an area close to the town of Almena along the county line between Norton County and Phillips County. Catharines's husband Isaac Hall was a minister, and the other families took up farming.

Sarah (Anthony) Aplington homestead in Northeast Norton County, Kansas, circa 1890.
Photo shared 24 Nov 2008 on Ancestry.com by user Richard_Pittaway_1954 

Near Almena, in August of 1874, Erastus and Affa had their first child, a daughter they named Anna Claire. Two weeks later, Erastus's sister, 33-year-old Sarah Anne Stevens died, leaving a husband and small children. For the next several years, Erastus and Affa were very busy caring for a farm and a growing family. Daughters Maretta (1876), Ella May (1878), and Katherine Irene (1880) and son Guy (1881) joined their big sister Anna. Once again, though, a life ended too soon. This time it was little Guy, dead in 1883 at barely 18 months old. It is so difficult to lose a parent. Then a siblings death brings one's own mortality front and center. Guy's death, however, would surely have left a big gaping hole in Erastus's heart. Parents are expected to die before their children. Thankfully, there was some joy to be found when another daughter, Mary Edna, was born later that year. Followed by more sorrow when his mother Sarah passed in 1884. And then joy again when two more sons, James William and Erastus Clifford, were born in 1886 and 1888, respectively.

29 Oct 1885, Norton Courier, Page 4
clipping from Newspapers.com

These joys and sorrows, a roller-coaster ride of emotions, were surely all felt deeply by Erastus and the impact of these events would have a profound impact on him. He was a very busy man. He became more civic-minded, joined clubs and ran for public office. Twice (1885 & 1886) he was paid for assessing Almena township at census time. He was elected a County Commissioner on the Democratic ticket in 1886 and opened a restaurant in Almena. He ran for County Treasurer in 1887 on the Union Labor ticket.

26 April 1888, Almena County Plaindealer, Page 3
clipping from Newspapers.com

He was a member of the GAR (though I'm unaware of any military service)  and the Knights of Pythias, where he held the second highest position in the local lodge, the Keeper of Records and Seal. To become a member of the Pythagorean Brotherhood, Erastus's character had been rigorously tested and he was found to be of the highest moral character. He was appointed to a committee on credentials for the Phillips County Farmers Alliance in 1890.

But Erastus was also a risk-taker. Perhaps to put money away for his family in case he should die young like his father. Or maybe there was a bit of gambler in his personality. He invested in a very expensive Percheron horse which the local paper wrote about. A show horse, or a stud horse, the nature of the animal is unknown. They were very large, tough animals often used in farming.

2 April 1886, The Alma Enterprise, Page 1
clipping from Newspapers.com

A few years later, in 1892, Erastus was named in a lawsuit - a foreclosure action brought against him, Affa, and his sister Catharine Hall for almost $1600.00. He and Affa had transferred a parcel of land to Catharine previous to this, and it may be that parcel in question. The outcome of the lawsuit is not known.

10 March 1892, Norton Courier, Page 4
Clipping from Newspapers.com

Did he lose money on the horse and/or the lawsuit? Did he lose credibility as an honorable man because of these or other events? While his financial and social positions at the time are unknown, something persuaded him to take his family to Park County Colorado by 1895 and try his luck at mining. Erastus signed his daughter Rena's (Katherine Irene) autograph book in Alma, CO.

Oh may your life like a beautiful day
Be ever one bright morn
May you pluck lifes blossoms with gentle hands
And avoid its bitter thorns
Is one of the dearest wishes of your Father
EC Aplington
Alma Colo Feb 3. 1895
Courtesy of Rene Rodgers

In September of that year, his daughter Ella May married Joseph Warden in London Junction, near Alma. During the next two years, the family lived in the bustling mining community situated at the highest elevation of any town in the country. I imagine hard winters, some lawlessness they must have encountered, and the fear that Affa surely felt each day as her husband headed out to do dangerous work. Her fears were realized with the devastating news on November 22nd, 1897 that Erastus had perished in a mine accident. His loss was an enormous blow to the family. He was adored by his children and his wife, and he was their provider. The community also felt the loss. Though the family had been there for just a short time, Erastus had made many friends among the miners and their families. He worked hard, doing whatever was necessary, even in the face of extreme danger, and by doing so he had earned the respect of the mining community.

Shared on Ancestry.com by user plantdude3441 on 31 Mar 2013.

Affa was able to call on the Woodmen of the World to pay the funeral and burial expenses for her husband, thanks to his forethought in purchasing insurance through the fraternal organization. Erastus was buried in Buckskin Joe Cemetery in Alma, with a stately headstone, courtesy of the Woodmen.

Like many mining communities of the period, Alma is now virtually a ghost town. The cemetery remains, though, and Erastus's stone stands tall and proud, as he did in life.

Gravesite of Erastus Aplington.
Photo courtesy of Rene Rodgers.