Wisconsin family.
Gideon Winant Allen was born in 1835 in New London, Ohio. His family were poor farmers, and he left home as soon as he was able to pursue an education, working farming and construction jobs during the summers to pay his way. He attended school first in Madison, Wisconsin (where he met Annie Cox), and transferred to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1862. He had strong political views, and was considered a Copperhead Democrat, who favored peace preserving the Union at any cost, even if it meant allowing slavery. After graduating with his law degree, he sought work in greater Wisconsin, traveling to Green Bay, and finally Sturgeon Bay where he secured a position as district attorney. In Sturgeon Bay he practiced law, and later became a member of the state legislature. After a three year engagement, as he was at last settled with a respectable position, he married Annie Cox in 1865. In 1872, Gideon Allen attempted to find work in a more amicable climate and traveled to southern Illinois and Georgia, but was unsuccessful and returned to Sturgeon Bay where he lived until his death of tuberculosis in 1912. Annie Cox was born Annie Poad in Mineral Point, Wisconsin in 1840. Her parents were Elizabeth Baker and Michael Poad, who had come to Mineral Point from Cornwall, England to work in the mines. Elizabeth Baker, originally from Boston, found it difficult to adapt to the hardscrabble life of a miner's wife, and left Michael Poad soon after the birth of their daughter, Annie. She was granted one of the first divorces in Wisconsin. She married Charles J. Cox, a carpenter, and relocated to Madison. Cox was often out of work, and struggled financially throughout their marriage. Annie Cox was a strong abolitionist and active in the temperance movement, which was often at odds with Gideon Allen, who enjoyed liquor and tobacco, and late in life declared himself an atheist. Annie Cox Allen died of tuberculosis in 1895. The Allens had five children, two of which died in infancy. A son Frank was born in 1869, but drowned in 1877. A second son, Arthur was born in 1873. Their daughter Ruth F. Allen was born on May 21, 1879. She attended schools in Sturgeon Bay, and excelled in math and science. She attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison where in 1905 she completed an A.B. degree in botany, followed by an M.A. in 1907, and Ph.D. in botany in 1909. Allen was the first woman, and seventh person to receive a Ph.D. from the department. She taught at Michigan Agricultural College, and then at Wellesley College where she may have begun her research into plant pathology. She resigned from Wellesley in 1918 and took a position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture where she worked for the next 16 years. Poor health and allergies caused her to request a transfer to U.C. Berkeley, where she conducted research for the Division of Cereal Crops and Diseases and became known for her work with rust fungi on agricultural crops. Throughout her career, she faced pay inequities and sexism, but still managed to earn renown for her work and publish several highly regarded articles. She retired from the State Department in 1936 due to recurring health problems. She died of a stroke in 1936.
From the description of Allen family papers, 1862-1964. (Newberry Library). WorldCat record id: 639021317
