Allison, Benjamin E.

Benjamin E. Allison, was a farmer and a native of Owen County. He was born in Spencer August 5, 1837. His parents Noah and Mary (or Polly) T. (Boswell) Allison, natives of Maryland and Kentucky respectively, came to Indiana in 1817 and located in Monroe County where they lived on a farm for a few years, afterward engaging in the general merchandise business in Martinsville. Thence in a short time removing to Spencer, where in 1878 the father died, the mother having been dead many years. Benjamin was next to the youngest in a family of thirteen children and being reared in Spencer he received a good education in the town schools. In 1856 he began farming for himself. He was Road Supervisor for several years in Washington Township, School Director for fifteen years, and Township Assessor for at least two terms. In 1858 he was married to Mary J. Browning, daughter of David Browning, ex Clerk of Monroe County. By this union there were three children: Harriet C. (deceased), Mary J. and David B. His wife died in 1868, and in 1872 he married Helen C. Vanmeter of Franklin County, IN. They have two children: George E. and Lawrence. Mr Allison was a member of the K. of H., of the K. and L. of H., and assisted in organizing the Grand Lodge of Indiana. He was a member of the Methodist Church and farmed 359 acres of the best land in Owen County.

Source: Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, 1884. Edited by Charles Blanchard