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Edward
Forrest Allen was born in Maryland in July of 1844 to James and
Lucy Allen. His father was a shoemaker. Edwin Allen lived in
Baltimore through the enumeration of the 1860 Census. He enlisted
as a Private on June 19, 1863 in Company A, 9th Infantry Regiment
Maryland. The Ninth Maryland Infantry, under the command of
Colonel Benjamin L. Simpson was organized under the call of June
15, 1863, for emergency troops to repel the Confederate
forces then invading Maryland and Pennsylvania, and was
mustered into the United States service for a period of six
months. It consisted of nine companies, eight of which were
raised in the city of Baltimore and the other in Baltimore
county. On July 6, 1863, before the organization was completed,
the regiment left Baltimore and joined General French's
division, which drove the Confederates from Maryland heights,
after which it crossed the Potomac and occupied Loudoun
Heights. Companies A, B and C were later engaged in guarding
the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and in doing guard duty at
Harper's Ferry, and about the middle of August the remainder of
the regiment was ordered to occupy Charlestown, West Virginia,
where it was attacked on October 18 by the Confederates under
General Imboden. Although the Ninth made a gallant stand it was
overpowered by superior numbers and captured. Of the prisoners not
more than one-half ever returned to their homes, the others dying
in Southern prisons. Companies A, B and C remained on duty in
Virginia until the expiration of their term of
enlistment, and were mustered out at Baltimore on February
24, 1864. Private Allen was among these who mustered out of
Company A, 9th Infantry Regiment Maryland on February 24,
1864 at Baltimore. In
June of 1864 a call went out to raise troops in response to
Confederate moves towards Washington. Edwin F. Allen enlisted as a
Second Lieutenant on October 1, 1864 in Company B, 11th Infantry
Regiment Maryland. The Eleventh Infantry, commanded by Colonel
William T. Landstreet, was mustered in on June 16, 1864, to serve
for 100 days, and on July 1 left Baltimore for Monocacy,
where it fought under General Lew Wallace on the 9th, holding the
Confederates under General Early in check until reinforcements
could come to Washington to save the national capital, which was
threatened. After the battle of Monocacy the regiment was on
guard duty at Monrovia and Mount Airey until October 1, when
it was mustered out at the expiration of its term of
enlistment. A large number of the
men re-enlisted before the expiration of their 100 days' term, for
a period of one year, and these re-enlisted men formed three
companies - A, B and C - of a new 11th infantry. In
January of 1865, seven companies of the 1st Eastern Shore regiment
were added to the three already organized, and the new 11th was mustered
in with John G. Johannes as colonel; James C. Mullikin,
lieutenant-colonel; and Martin Suter, major. After the
reorganization Co. C was assigned to duty at the Relay House, near Baltimore,
on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad; Co. I was stationed in the
cite of Baltimore, and the remainder of the regiment was sent to
Fort Delaware where it was assigned to garrison duty. On June 15,
1865, all whose terms had expired were mustered out and those
whose terms did not expire until October 1, 1865, were transferred
to the 2nd Maryland infantry. Second Lieutenant Allen was mustered
out of Company B, 11th Infantry Regiment Maryland on June 14,
1865 at Baltimore, Maryland. After
completing his military service, Edwin F. Allen returned to his
parents in Baltimore. By the spring of 1870 he was working as a
tin can maker, according to the Census taken on June 29th of that
year. He may also have gained some experience there as a volunteer
fireman. Not long after the Census was taken, came to north to
Camden, New Jersey and Edwin F. Allen married Amanda Fetter. Edwin
F. Allen was living at or near North 5th and
Market
Streets, when,
as stated above, on October 9,
1872 he was appointed as an extra man with the
Hook and Ladder Company
(present-
day Ladder
Company 1) of the Camden
Fire Department as a replacement for
David B. Sparks, who had
resigned.
He served for almost nine
months, tendering his resignation on June 30, 1873. The
1878 Camden City Directory shows Edwin Allen at 235 Hartman
Street, which was renamed Clinton Street a few years later. He
was then working and for a good number of years thereafter as a
foreman at Abraham Anderson's canning factory. The Allen family
was still at 235 Clinton
Street in 1883. The City Directory for that year shows Edwin
Allen as a foreman at the Anderson & Knowles factory, Abraham
Anderson having by then taken on a partner. He was living at 412 Clinton
Street when the 1884-1885 and 1885 Directories were compiled.
The 1887 City
Directory indicates that the family had moved to 554 Pine
Street, and they were still there in 1888. The 1890 Veteran's
Census gives Edwin Allen's address as 415 Line
Street. The Allens moved to 426 North
7th Street around 1894 and were still at that address in 1900.
The 1906 City Directory states that the Allens were at 223 North
10th Street, and that Edwin F. Allen's occupation was
"superintendent". When the Census was taken in 1910,
Edwin and Amanda Allen were living at 708 Birch
Street in North
Camden. Four of their five children were living, although none
lived with their parents. The living children were James F. Allen,
Julia Goldy Allen, Lee Goldy Allen, and Mary A. Allen. The Allens
were still at 708 Birch
Street as late as 1912. Edwin
and Amanda Allen later moved to 726 Elm
Street. This was their home when Amanda Allen died on June 16,
1913, survived by her husband and four children. Edwin F. Allen
joined her on April 3, 1914. They both are buried at Evergreen
Cemetery.
Edwin
F. Allen was a member of the General
John A. Logan Post No. 102 of the Grand Army of the Republic,
which met in East Camden in the 1900s.
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