Collection processed and finding aid created by Mary Parsons, November 2007, and Meg Hixon, October 2011 Manuscripts Division, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan
Title: Job and Betsey Allen letters Creator: DeCamp, Charles F. and Brown, Anson Inclusive dates: 1814-1835 Extent: 4 letters Abstract:
The Job and Betsey Allen papers consist of 4 letters the couple wrote to Job's brothers-in-law in Morris County, New Jersey, from their home in Fredericktown, Ohio. The couple described life on their farm.
Language: The material is in English Repository: William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan
909 S. University Ave. The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190 Phone: 734-764-2347 Web Site: www.clements.umich.edu
Cataloging funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). This collection has been processed according to minimal processing procedures and may be revised, expanded, or updated in the future.
Preferred Citation
Job and Betsey Allen Letters, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan
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).
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.
