Al and Childhood homes!

Is this the original Allen Mill?? Al's grandparents and earlier family founded various mills across Ohio, primarily in oats, including founding the company that eventually merged with another to create the Quaker Oatmeal Company. This mill was built in Ghent Bath Township, by "Allen and Bloom," in 1832 and still stands. It may be the oldest woolen mill in Ohio.

At some point Al's parents moved from the center of the oatmeal mill industry in Akron to nearby Lakewood, an emerging suburb of Cleveland. Al was born there in 1916.

Marcie Adds:
This is from one of the many photo albums Father put together for his kids. On the back he wrote: "13909(?) Lae Ave/, Lakewood. Ohio This house was built by my Father around 1912 when my brother was born. He was proud that he dug a well for water- found natural gas and that took care of the store and house heat. The electric car was one of three he had collected. Pop was an engineering graduate from Steven Tech. - meet mother in NJ , who was trying to get in the Metropolitan Opera- she was a soprano and beautiful- She was staying with Cotty, a German Actress just arrived in US and knew Wing family in Germany."

Eventually Al's father Pop moved the family to White Plains, NY when he took a position as Vice-President with Union Carbide Company.


Here's Al looking out the Balcony in 1936


At some point, 1946-1950, they lived in this house in Bronxville


And beginning shortly there after, Pop bought a house in Rockport, Ma, initiating a long wonderful tradition of enjoyable summers for Al, and eventually subsequent generations of Allens!

Larry Allen checks in with some history of the Rockport house/properties:


Dear editors,A factual error has crept in, one by which a considerable bit of history could be lost.Pop did not buy the house in Rockport; he and his sister Christina inherited both the house at 19 Pleasant Street ( currently owned by members of the Bloomingdale family) and the house at Old Garden Beach along with a lot of other property- stores house, land in the 1920's (?). Supposedly they were the largest taxpayers in the town after the Rockport Tool Works.This ocured in the following manner. Cora Allen was an Aunt ( maybe an older cousin, ask Jeff to clarify), who the "proper "Allens shuned as she had taken it upon herself to marry 1. A Hungarian, 2. A muscian (violin), 3. a Jew. All in one package named Spievakowski (spelling?).He was a character and drove about town in large town cars with little crystal vases with flowers in them. Made quite a a scene! Dad recalled that there were "lots of old cars" in the garage. This was in the 20's! so they would be real collectors items today.All that property was sold (or given) through outthe thirties, fourties and fifties. The last piece was the old First National store ( later the Madras Shop)which was sold for , I believe, $14,000 in the mid 50's. This was the largest building in town and backed right up on the beach ! The worth of all the properties would be at least in the high 7 figures today. Why could not Pop see the value in the town in loved? Well remember the Depression, each year values and rents went down with seemingly no end in sight. This was Pop's experience and Dad took it to heart also, so that when I approached him about buying the James Estate in Newport (28 acres overlooking the sea for $300,000) he couldn't see it. It was one of the few areas in which he held a closed mind. The house at 19 Pleasant Street was sold for $60,000 in the mid sixties.Yours for correctness ( mostly),Lala
August 23, 2008 2:32 PM
I forgot to mention t-though you may easily infer-that Pop and Christina were the only members of the family to be nice to Cora, hence she left them all, and our connection with Cape Ann began. La

For the Rockport House, Marcie adds that the house was built by the Hershey family, right down Pleasant St. Sam Hershey was Erma's mentor and teacher, dean at RISD when Lisa attended.