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.

John and Mary (Read) Cavanaugh, 1895 Family Portrait

Many years ago I received this photocopied 1895 family portrait from Lavera Cavanaugh, a granddaughter of John and Mary Cavanaugh. It shows John Houston Cavanaugh and his wife, Mary Calier (Read) Cavanaugh, with their first three sons. Lavera's father was their son Orvel, who was born about a year after the portrait was taken. It was the first time I had seen a picture of the couple and I was thrilled to receive it. 

John and Mary (Read) Cavanaugh with sons  Lexon Charlie, Elmer Diamond and Arthur Virgil.
Taken in late summer or early fall 1895, probably in Mountain Grove, Missouri.
Photocopy from original provided by Lavera Cavanaugh.

John Houston Cavanaugh was born 1 February 1870 near Grovespring in Wright County, Missouri to William S. and Nancy Charity (Moser) Cavanaugh, their second son. Nancy died when John was about 5 years old and he and his brother James were raised by their father and step-mother, Elizabeth (Latimer). At age 20, John married Mary Calier (or Colyer) Read, born 29 December 1871, the daughter of Benjamin Burgess and Sarah Jane (Gartin) Read. They were married in Douglas County, but made their home near Mountain Grove in Wright County.

In the portrait, they are shown with their first three children, sons Lexon Charlie, Elmer Diamond and Arthur Virgil. The photo was probably taken in Mountain Grove as son Arthur was born there in January of 1895 and the next child, son Orvel, would be born there in January of 1897. John and Mary had a total of six children. Following the four sons, two daughters were welcomed to the family. Zona Ruby in 1901 and Opal Edna Jane in 1906. The years surrounding the births of the girls were tumultuous ones for the family. The young couple and their four sons had moved to neighboring Texas County where they were found in Clinton Township by the 1900 census taker. A year later, Zona was born in Waterville, Douglas County, Washington. Soon they were back in Missouri where Opal was born in 1906. Within ten years, they were back up in Washington state, living first in Grant County and finally in Yakima County.  Mary died on 12 January 1949, followed by John on 26 August 1954. They are buried at Tahoma Cemetery, Yakima, WA.

Lexon Charlie Cavanaugh, John and Mary's first son, was born on 3 October 1891 in Mountain Grove. In the family portrait, he is the one standing behind his parents. Called Charlie, he found himself in California after 6 months in the Navy and settled there, working for many years in orchards near Redlands in San Bernardino County and later in Sacramento. Charlie never married and died tragically in May of 1949, just months after his mother's death. I don't know the whole story, but Charlie had been living in California. It may have been the death of his mother in January of 1949 that brought him back to Washington, but that part of the story isn't known. What is known is that he  was hit and killed by a freight train. A newspaper article says he was dozing on the tracks a few miles south of Kent. He is buried at Tahoma Cemetery in Yakima, Washington in the Veteran section.

Elmer Diamond Cavanaugh, the second son of John and Mary, was born on 11 January 1893 in Moutain Grove. He is seen leaning on his father's leg in the portrait. Elmer, a decorated WWI Army veteran, was called "Curly" by his friends and family. After his return from service, he married Ethel Juanita Bradley. They had three children; son Norman Wellington 1921-1925, daughter Bethelma Beatrice 1923-1929, and daughter Helen Darlene 1926-1994. Daughter Bethelma died as the result of injuries sustained in a house fire. Perhaps it was her death that caused the marriage to crumble. In 1930, it appears they were separated. Ethel and Darlene were living with Ethel's parents and Elmer had son Norman with him, though both listed their status as married. In 1931 Ethel was remarried. Elmer became a policeman in Grant County and died in 1957. He is also buried at Tahoma Cemetery in Yakima; his grave is located near those of his parents.

Arthur Virgil Cavanaugh, the baby seated on his mother's lap, was born on 31 January 1895 in Mountain Grove. He married Sarah Kate Erickson in Ephrata, Grant County, Washington on 12 July 1915. They had three children; son William Virgil 1916-1997, daughter Evelyn Winnifred 1918-1922, and son Melvin Roy "Deacon" 1921-1985. They, like Art's parents, moved around a bit before finally settling in Selah, Yakima County, WA. Art was a farmer and had orchards in Naches and in Selah Heights. He and his wife lived the rest of their lives in Selah. Art died in 1988 and is buried with Katie at West Hills Cemetery in Yakima. Evelyn and Deacon are buried in plots next to their parents.