George Allen, farmer and Civil War soldier, was born 25 February 1820 in Sturbridge, Worcester County, Massachusetts, the youngest son of Timothy and Theresa (Marsh) Allen. The family moved to Madison County, New York, where Theresa died, in 1826. Timothy Allen, accompanied by George, moved to Wisconsin in 1846, Timothy died the following year at the age of 66. George Allen bought land in Winnebago County, but he returned to Massachusetts in 1846. Married to Julia Ann Richmond in 1848, he returned to Winnebago County, Wisconsin. They remained there until 1855 when they settled in Dayton, Waupaca County. With the outbreak of the Civil War, George Allen enlisted in Company A, 8th Wisconsin Infantry on 13 September 1861. He served in Missouri before contracting scurvy in June 1862. The following spring he was to rejoin his regiment at Vicksburg, but he was detained by General Hurlburt in Memphis. Released with an honorable discharge on 16 September 1864 he returned to farming in Wisconsin. The Allens moved to the city of Waupaca in 1880 leaving the management of the farm to their son, Merrick Timothy Allen. George Allen joined the G.A.R. Post No. 21 in April 1882.
