Francis Harold Allen

Francis Harold Allen

Age 27

Born 2 November 1889 in Gunnislake, Cornwall, England

Immigrated to the United States in 1912

Married with 2 children

Resided at 945 rear N. Main, Butte

Buried in the plot for the Unidentified Dead at Mountain View Cemetery in Butte

Francis Harold Allen was born in Gunnislake, Cornwall, England, on November 2, 1889.1

Although Gunnislake was considered one of the richest mining areas in Europe at one time, most mining activity came to a halt in the late 19th century – which might explain Francis’s emigration from England to the United States in 1912. According to the New York Passenger List, he left a wife behind in England but was joining a brother in Butte, listed as “Mr. M. Allen”.2

On June 5, 1917, Francis filled out a World War I Draft Registration Card which states he was of medium height and build and his eyes and hair were brown, although the New York Passenger List states his eyes were blue and his hair was light. He had two years prior volunteer military service in England and claimed a draft exemption. His stated reason for the claim: his mother, wife and two children were dependent on him for support.3

Three days after he registered, Francis died in the Granite Mountain Fire.

The Butte daily post. (Butte, Mont.), 11 June 1917

The Butte daily post. (Butte, Mont.), 11 June 1917

On June 11, 1917, Francis was still unaccounted for, as stated in a news article from The Butte Daily Post.4

He was finally listed as one of the “unidentified dead” in the “Official List” published in the Anaconda Standard on June 28th.5

In Memory of the Unidentified Dead of the Granite Mountain Fire | June 8, 1917

In Memory of the Unidentified Dead of the Granite Mountain Fire | June 8, 1917

Francis is buried in the plot for the “unidentified dead” in Mountain View Cemetery, located at 3910 Harrison Avenue in Butte, Montana.6

Copyright (c) 2016, Lark M. Dalin Robart

Photo credits

  1. United Kingdom flag: canstockphoto.com
  2. Mountain View Cemetery memorial: author

SOURCES

  1. “United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8QV-ZCF : accessed 14 June 2016), card for Francis Harold Allen, 1917-1918; citing Silver Bow County, Montana, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,711,443. ↩
  2. “New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957,” images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed 14 June 2016), manifest, S. S. Oceanic, October 2, 1912, stamped p. 1, line 19, Francis Harold Allen, age 21 (or 26?). ↩
  3. “United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” database with images, FamilySearch, card for Francis Harold Allen, 1917-1918, Silver Bow County, Montana. The Butte daily post. (Butte, Mont.), 11 June 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85053058/1917-06-11/ed-1/seq-10/> ↩
  4. “Official List of the Dead in the North Butte Fire Determined by Coroner,” Anaconda Standard (Anaconda, Montana), 28 June 1917, p. 11; image copy, Genealogybank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 14 June 2016), Newspaper Archives. ↩
  5. “Web: RootsWeb Cemetery Index, 1800-2010,”  database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search/ : accessed 14 June 2016), entry for Francis H. Allen, June 1917, Silver Bow, Montana, USA; citing Cemetery Records. RootsWeb. ↩
  6.  Also, see FindAGrave Memorial #129641059. ↩

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