Frank E Alexander


Calvin Allen
Eld. Calvin Allen
One of the Greatest Preachers of Southern Ill. Passes Away

Calvin Allen was born April 16, 1835 in Franklin county, Illinois, and
on March 20, 1906 ___ at the age of 70 years, 11 months and five days he
passed to his reward.

On May 20, 1853, he was married to Margaret Sarilda Scrivner, and to
this union were born eleven children, seven of whom, together with the
mother, sixteen grandchildren and one great grandchild are left to mourn
his loss.

He was converted in his seventeenth year at the Sugar Creek Camp Baptist
church in Jefferson county under the preaching of Elds. S M Webb and
Joshua Brooks, immediately after, he was baptized into the fellowship of
said church by Eld. S M Webb.  On the eleventh of January 1863 in Long
Prairie church he was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry.  The
ordination counsel was made up of Elds. E W Overstreet, Wm Palmer, and
John Linwell.

Thus for over forty years has this man traveled throughout Illinois
preaching with great power, the glad tidings of salvation through the
blood of Jesus Christ.  During the time he served two terms in the State
Legislature where he did not forget that he was an ambassador of the
King of Kings. He was a natural born orator and nearly the whole of
southern Illinois has felt the power of his preaching.  Thirty churches
have come under his pastoral care and among the number are some of the
leading churches of Southern Illinois.  They are as follows:
Little Prairie, Long Prairie, Mt Vernon, Alto Pass, Salem, Middle Creek,
Blooming Grove, Ten Mile, Spring Garden, Whittingtons ?, Prairie,,
Eldorado, Raleigh, Creal Springs, Belle Rive, Ewing, Liberty,  ? Grove,
Sugar Camp, Walpole, ? Grove, and Los Animas.  (Paper torn) ��.short
time before he passed �.he said he had kept no record of his work, but
that he�.baptized over 1500 people.  �.a great man in Israel has�.

Th funeral services were held �.Baptist church at Ewing,��In accordance
with�.expressed wish of Eld. Allen�.he passed away, Rev. W Throgmorton,
pastor of the ��..Baptist church, was pres�� and preached the
funeral��.  Using the text II Timothy�.Others taking part in the �..
were Elds. Edmonds of��..do (Eldorado ?), Marion Teague of Du��
(DuQuoin?), Jos E Sharp, T J Tennyson, (several other names that are
illegible)  All spoke �..est praise of him who had  ��ssed to his
reward.  After �..vices were ended the ��were laid to rest in the ��
cemetery there to await ��..rics of the resurrection.