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Note: James Allen, was known as "River Jim". While it has been reported that James was the son of Samuel Allen and Susan Sizemore, there is some doubt that he actually was. He was born around 1824, but Samuel and Susan were not married until 1827. Furthermore, the 1830 Federal census of Perry Co. Kentucky shows that Samuel Allen had no male children living with him at that time.
James may be the product of a previously unknown marriage or may be illegitimate. Possibly, James is unrelated and Samuel took him into his home and raised him as his own son sometime after 1830. The only reference to the father of James Allen is found in the book "Behold He Cometh in the Clouds" by George Washington Noble who had known the Allen family before the Civil War.
James was a Confederate soldier with the Kentucky Infantry's 10th Regiment, who along with a number of his brothers and sons, including Granville, Stephen and John participated in raids on Union sympathizing neighbors in their corner of eastern Kentucky. A neighbor, Richard Sanford Shackleford, was killed on his farm in February of 1864 during one of these raids. Later that year, according to the story, River Jim was taking some corn to a nearby mill for grinding when he was recognized by some of Shackleford's kin as one of the raiders. Jim was captured and killed in revenge.
When his wife, Nancy, went to retrieve his body, it was gone. It is thought to have been weighted down with rocks and thrown in the river or buried in the nearby woods. Either way, his body was never recovered. Three of Jim's brothers, John, Irwin and Emery met a similar fate when they were ambushed by Union soldiers at the mouth of Drowning Creek in Estill Co., Kentucky in 1865 while walking home at the close of the war.
ÙCuÙD<http://members.aol.com/BellwareD/allen.html>ÙC/uÙD Daniel A. Bellware, bellwared@aol.com
Birth dates of James, Nancy and children are from Daniel A. Bellware at:
ÙCuÙD<http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=dbellware&id=I0230>ÙC/uÙD
Following is a clip from George Washington Noble's book "Behold He Cometh From The Clouds"
"and we went that evening to James Allen's, on Bear Branch, in Wolfe county, and stayed all night. His sons Samuel, Gramville and Dump, were all in the Southern army, and be was glad to see us, as he used to live neighbor to Wiley. He was Peney's second when he and Banger fought the pitched battle. He told us about the Yankees killing Capt. Swango, near Campton. Next morning we started out again."
Above quote is from: ÙCuÙD<http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=pennyallen&id=I340695>ÙC/uÙD
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