Martin Allen

Martin Allen assisted his father, Benjamin, in surveying roads in Kentucky as a young man. He married Elizabeth Vice in 1804, and by 1810 they and their three children were living in Louisiana. In 1812-1813, Martin joined the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition's effort to rid Texas of Spanish rule. His father and nephew were killed at the Battle of Medina, while Martin, away on a recruiting mission at the time, survived. After a brief stay in Arkansas territory, the Allens moved back to northwest Louisiana about 1818 and settled in a community that was soon named Allen's Settlement in his honor. In 1821 Martin went to nearby Wharton County as one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists and was among the first settlers on the Colorado River. About 1834, the Allens bought land at Eight Mile Point from their son, Miles N., and lived there for the rest of their lives. Allen family members operated a Public House about 1/4 mile east that was often visited by William B. Travis, and Martin, a veteran of the Texas War for Independence, was buried near it in the Allen family cemetery.

Texas · United States