ALLEE - Family - Putnam

Many persons have traced their ancestry through several generations, but few can boast of their forefathers as far back as Ted Allee, Parnell.

Allee, 88, a retired Isadora postmaster is a direct descendant of Nicholas Allee, I, a French Huguenot who resided in Duvois and Rochelle, France in the early 1700s. (The Hugenots were French Protestants who fought against the Catholics and suffered the loss of thousands in the Massacre at St. Bartholomew).

Due to the intense persecution, Nicholas Allee, great, great, great grandfather of Ted Allee, fled to the United States and landed in Virginia in 1738. He served as a soldier under George Washington during the French and Indian War in 1754.  The date of his birth is not known but his dead occurred in 1808.  Our Parnell Allee obtained some of his information from records in the state of Virginia.

He traced not only his own branch of the family, John Allee, I who died in Putnam County, Indiana in 1842 but also the family of William Allee, I and the Rev. David Allee, I. Information concerning other branches of the family was received from Enos Allee, Indiana and Dr. W.L. Allee, Eldon.

Life is never dull for Allee, as his many hobbies and interests keep him quite busy. He has a most interesting collection of rocks and fossils. One box contains agates from all over the United States, including such prize pieces as flame agate, lace banded, ribbon and one with a perfect bird shape in it.  Other unusual rocks in his collection are thunder eggs, asbestos, onyx, jasper and petrified fossils, including a dinosaur bone. Allee  stats that many of these fossils were found along Honey Creek.  A great number of the rocks have been polished and cut and are now ready for jewelry settings.

Another interesting hobby for Allee has been his Pre-Cancel Stamp Club, which at one time had over 400 members. The club was organized in 1930 by Allee, Henry Nouss, St. Louis, and Walt Black, Kansas City. Allee was elected treasurer of the club and held that position until he resigned from it many years later. He has a collection of 573 different Missouri towns that issue pre-cancelled stamps. He also has a stamp collection of more than 1,100 different varieties of US stamps.

Buttons, another hobby of Allee’s proved to be quite fascinating. Perhaps the most famous button in his collection is one that came from a duster worn by Carrie Nation. The story is that the button pulled loose as Miss Nation stepped from a platform after she had made a speech. She handed the coin-like piece to a by-stander who happened to be the father of a friend of Allee. The friend later gave the button to him.

Another price button, called a lighthouse button, belongs to Mrs. Allee. When she was a very small child, a neighbor who was moving away cut two buttons from her coat, giving one each to Mrs. Allee and her brother as keepsakes.

Other items in Allee’s collections include a butterfly breastpin, which belonged to Mrs. Allee’s mother, a miniature gold-plated automobile, a cross made from an agate, a tiny gold slipper, an initialed gold breast pin, a topaz set breastpin, an ivory heart made from an elephant tusk, a collection of sales tax tokens, a Confederate $10 bill, and an old handbill advertising a concert given May 1, 1875 on the four floor of his granfather’s (R Brown) old mill in Isadora.

Allee, the son of EW & Marietta Brown Allee was born at Isadora, Sept 19, 1877.  He received his education in Worth County and at Stanberry Normal and for a time taught school. For several years he was in partnership with his father in a general merchandise store in Isadora, and he also operated a produce store there. He was married to Cora Belle Huff in 1918.

About 1900 Mr. Allee became postmaster of Isadora, holding this post for 46 ½ years until his retirement at the age of 70.

In 1940 the Isadora community bought the school house for headquarters and formed a community club. Allee was elected sec-treas and continued in that position until 1960 when he and Mrs. Alee moved to Parnell.

Since moving to Parnell, Allee has been elected treasurer of the 60 Plus club which was organized about three years ago. He belongs to the Parnell Methodist Church where he teaches a class and is also a member of the official board. He is the institutional representative for the Boy Scouts. For many years he has been a correspondent for the Grant City Times Tribune.

Allee has one son, Wayne, a minister who is an instructor in psychology at Stephens College, Columbia.