William Allmon

WILLIAM ALLMON, a prosperous and well known farmer living in Mound Valley township, Labette county, Kansas, is a native of Stark county, Ohio, and was born March 8, 1845, and is a son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Ellison) Allmon.

Isaac Allmon was a native of Ohio, and was descended from an old Pennsylvania family. He followed the trades of carpenter and machinist, and died at the age of sixty-five years, in 1872. Elizabeth Ellison Allmon, the mother of William, was descended from a well known Virginia family, and died in Ohio in 1885. Mr. and Mrs. Allmon reared five children, namely: Mary A. (James), of North Lewisburg, Ohio; Samuel E., of Toledo, Ohio, a canal superintendent, who, in the Civil war, was a member of Company C, 45th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., served as adjutant of the regiment, and was commissioned captain; Hiram W., who was; a member of Company K, 42d Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., and died in the army; Ezra J., who was also a member of that regiment, and who was accidentally shot and killed while cleaning a gun, in the fall of 1900; and William, the subject of this sketch.

William Allmon was reared and schooled in his native state, and at the age of eighteen years, in the spring of 1864, enlisted as a 100-day man in Company B, 132d Reg., Ohio, Vol. Inf., in the 10th Army Corps, under General Butler. He was with the Army of the Potomac, was under fire, and did guard duty on the James River and at Petersburg. He was mustered out at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, in the fall of 1864.

When a boy, Mr. Allmon was handy with tools, and this fact led him to become a machinist and carpenter on the Bellefontaine & Indiana Railroad, which is now the "Big 4." He followed this occupation until the fall of 1872, and was then engaged in the lumber business until the fall of 1885. He had charge of the stair, machinery, scroll work, and molding departments of a large lumber and planing mill, at Bellefontaine, Ohio. When this factory burned, Mr. Allmon was a very heavy loser. In 1885 he decided to try his luck in the West, and accordingly set out for Kansas, and located in Mound Valley township, Labette county. He bought his present farm in section 22, township 32, range 18, from A. McGinnis, for $4,000, paying $2,500 down and assuming a mortgage of $1,500. Mr. Allmon has always been a conscientious and thrifty worker, and his success has been due entirely to his own ability and industry. He has built a substantial barn, set out a new orchard, and made many other minor improvements. He cleared, the farm of debt, and in addition bought 80 acres of land near Altamont, and 80 acres in Mound Valley township. He has a fine well, which, though but 14 feet deep, never fails to give a goodly supply of water. He also has a 240-barrel cistern on the farm, and a good spring running through the northern part of it. Mr. Allmon has one of the finest farms in the county, and has just cause to be proud of his well earned success in agricultural pursuits.

Mr. Allmon was wedded to Dulcie McColley, who is a native of Ohio. They have three children, - Emma (Morain), who lives on a farm in Osage township; Edwin M., who married Eva Daniels, and owns a farm near his father's; and Carrie (Tedstrom), of Mound Valley township, who also bought a farm near her father's place. Mr. Allmon is a member of the Republican party. Fraternally, he belongs to the I. 0. 0. F., which order he joined in Ohio. His wife is a member of the Rebekahs. Mr. Allmon was raised a Quaker, and his wife is a member of the Christian church.