The Job and Betsey Allen letters consist of four letters written by the couple from their home near Fredericktown, Ohio, to two of Job's brothers-in-law in Morris County, New Jersey. The couple shared news about their farm life. Job wrote the first part of the first three letters, addressed to Charles F. DeCamp and Anson Brown, with Betsey often adding a shorter note addressed to her sisters back in New Jersey. Job described the area around Fredericktown and provided details on the population growth occurring in the area. Of an encounter with local Indians, he wrote: " … they came and Incamped in about one Hundred Rods of of us and Staid five or six Days … our Children soon got aquainted with them[.] Job he wass a traiding knives and getting broaches they ware verry Friendly … a Cheaf and his Family could talk tolerable good English[.] I went out to see him one morning and asked him a grate many Questions and he wuld anser verry correct" (1814). Additionally, the couple mentioned a local religious revival (1816) and gave updates on the Ohio branch of their combined families (1819). The final letter in the collection, written solely by Job Allen in 1835, concerns his financial affairs.
Job Allen was born near Dentville, New Jersey, on July 2, 1780, and Betsey Jackson in Rockaway, New Jersey, on February 14, 1782. The couple married in Rockaway, New Jersey, in 1800, and moved to Knox County, Ohio, in 1814, with their six children, ranging in age from 1 to 12 years, and a number of Bestey's relatives. In Knox County, Job bought a farm near Fredericktown, where the couple had two additional children. Job died on April 20, 1855, and Betsey on March 21, 1862. Their children included Job, Jr. (b. 1801), William (b. 1805), Emily (b. 1807), James (b. 1810), Isaac (b. 1814), Maria (b. 1817), Clarissa (b. 1819), and Lucy (b. 1821).
