Oley Allen Oley Allen, who with his
brother, Albert, a sketch of whose life appears in
another portion of this work, was born near McGregor,
Clayton county, November 28, 1865. He is a son of Hans
Allen and Anna (Olson) Allen. Hans Allen accompanied his
parents to America as a boy of sixteen years, the voyage
consuming over five months, which, in this day of six-day
steamers, helps us to realize the difficulties and
hardships they endured to make living easier for their
descendants. They came direct to Iowa via rail as far as
Galena, Illinois, the end of the railroad in the west,
thence up the Mississippi to McGregor's landing, where
his father took up a government claim of 160 acres about
six miles from what is now the town of McGregor. Hans
Allen assisted his father in reclaiming the land and
later he took up a claim on his own account near his
father's land and reclaimed it, and having improved it,
sold it at a considerable profit, afterward returning to
the home farm, which he continued to work until his
father's death, at which time he bought the other heirs'
interests and continued on the domain until his death, in
the year 1896. In 1864 occurred the marriage of Hans
Allen and Anna Olson, whose parents were also pioneers of
Clayton county, coming to Iowa in the early '60's. There
were born to them 12 children, Oley, Carrie, Anna,
Albert, Mary, Christine, Andrew, Lemuel, Helma, John,
Esther and Katherine. They are all living with the
exception of Anna, who passed to the other life in 1904.
Oley Allen had his early education in the Mendon district
school, walking over two miles in winter, often when the
thermometer was thirty degrees below zero. Later a new
school was built in Clayton township, nearer his home,
which he attended until he was nearly twenty years of
age. It is interesting to note that in the early days of
Clayton county the boys and girls could only attend the
winter term of school, being too busy helping their
parents during the summer season. After leaving school,
in conjunction with his brother, Albert, they entered
business life by operating a drilling outfit, and also
owned three threshing machines, which they ran during the
harvest season and they also owned and operated a sawmill
near McGregor. In 1903, the brothers disposed of their
interests in these outfits and Oley Allen came to
Elkader, Iowa, being preceded by his brother Albert, who
arrived in Elkader in 1902. They started a machine
repairing shop, making repairs on all kinds of machinery
and coming into contact with the majority of the farmers
in Clayton county. They gradually drifted into the
automobile business, beginning by making repairs on the
single cylinder machines, which were practically the only
ones on the market; later they took the agency of the
Oldsmobile car, and in 1907, accepted the agency of the
Reo car; also, in the spring of 1910, they secured the
agency for the Buick automobile. Their business grew so
rapidly that they were forced to build to meet its
requirements and erected a two-story structure with a
floor space of about 18,000 feet and in 1916 put in a
sprinkler system which was the first one installed in
Clayton county. They are the largest automobile dealers
in Clayton county and, on the Buick machines, do the
largest business of any county agency in the Chicago
territory. On Dec. 20th, 1895, Oley Allen was united in
marriage with Emma Hulverson, a daughter of Gustav and
Gertrude (Peterson) Hulverson, both of whom were pioneers
of Clayton county and to them were born two children,
William, age 18, and Ruth, 16 years of age. Mr. Allen is
a member of the Modern Woodmen and of the Odd Fellows
lodges, and both he and his wife are members of the
Lutheran church. source: History of Clayton
County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical Times Down to
the Present; by Realto E. Price, Vol. II; pg. 20-21 |