Born somewhere in Texas, James Harold Allen was in Gatesville in 1873.
He is  mentioned in
"A History of Coryell County, Texas." On p. 72, J.H.Allen is listed as a floor manager
for a soiree at the Courthouse at 8 pm, January 8, 1873. His first wife Jeffersonia
Crittenden Allen, died that year. They had a son, Jesse, 9 at the time of the 1880 census.
On December 24, 1874, James married Martha Jane "Mattie" Hammack, also of Gatesville.
They had one child, a daughter, Ocelalu Juanita Allen, born February 6, 1880, and her
father died in September of that same year, she was only 7 months old when he died.
He is buried in the Oddfellows Cemetery in Gatesville. According to the 1880 census,
he was a saloon keeper, and both parents were born in TN. He was a member of the
IOOF, Gatesville Lodge #111, and fought as a sergeant in Co. E. 1st MS Cavalry
(Pinson's). When James died, Mattie remarried to William Holmes Lovejoy. Since
both the boy's parents were now dead, Jesse's grandfather William Crittenden applied for,
and was granted, guardianship. Juanita, the daughter of James and Mattie, stayed
with her mother. She attended the Female Department of Baylor University. On December
27, 1900, Juanita married James Ashby Boyd (b. May 27, 1854 in Ralls Co. Missouri,
d: November 20, 1947 in Sapulpa, OK) in Wynnewood, I.T., and in 1901 she and
J.A. moved to Sapulpa. They built a house at 116 W Bryan in 1905 and added to it
as the family increased. Juanita and J. A. had five children,
1. Powell Boyd born November 30, 1902 Sapulpa, IT; d: October 01, 1987, Albuquerque, NM
2. Jack Allen Boyd born January 6, 1904, sapulpa, IT; d: November 6, 1911, Sapulpa, OK
3. James Stuart Boyd born November 6, 1906, Sapulpa, IT; d: April 26, 1976, Tulsa, Oklahoma
4. Virginia Juanita Boyd born June 22, 1914, Sapulpa, OK; d: February 02, 1935, Sand Springs, OK
5. William Deeds Boyd born October 30, 1917, Sapulpa, OK.
Of these, the Rev. William Deeds Boyd alone survives although there are many other
descendants. Juanita Allen Boyd herself died May 26, 1953 in Sapulpa, Oklahoma.
By Donna & James Harold Allen Boyd