The Georgia roots of the Allen family began shortly after the Civil War when Daniel "Earnest" Allen (1847-1879) of Greene County, Tennessee moved to Dalton, Georgia to work in a dry goods business. In 1870 he married Susie Harris (1859-1936) of Dalton and in 1876 they had a son, Isaac. After Earnest's death, Susie renamed their son Ivan Earnest Allen. Ivan Allen (1876-1968) was a businessman and civic booster who moved to Atlanta in 1895 and co-founded his office supply company with entrepreneur James Fielder in 1900. The company changed owners in 1919 and became the Ivan Allen-Marshall Company, and later the Ivan Allen Company. He and his wife Irene Beaumont (1890-1972) gave birth to a son, Ivan in 1911. Ivan Allen, Jr. (1911-2003) served as president of the Ivan Allen Company and also as mayor of Atlanta from 1962-1970. Allen is credited with leading Atlanta through an era of significant economic growth while maintaining relative calm during the civil rights movement. Allen married Louise Richardson (1917- ), the granddaughter of Atlanta businessman Hugh T. Inman (1846-1910) in 1936. Hugh T. Inman married Margaret Josephine Van Dyke (1849-1920) in 1871 and together they bore five children: Annie (1872-1955), Josephine (1875-1963), Hugh, Jr. (1879-1881), Edward (1881-1931), and Louise (1883-1888). Annie Inman married John William Grant (1867-1938) in 1893, and Josephine married Hugh Richardson (1874-1951) in 1898. For more complete genealogies on the Allen, Inman, Grant, and Richardson families, please refer to Pomerantz and Galloway.
From the description of Allen family photographs : Family members and friends, 1840-1985, undated. (Atlanta History Center). WorldCat record id: 32216901
