Thomas Franklin Allen was born in 1872 in Illinois. At the South Kansas Conference in 1888, he was listed as “local preacher elected deacon” on the recommendation of the Chetopa Circuit Quarterly Conference of the Independence district. In that same year he is listed as a supply minister on the Oswego circuit. He married Martha E. Yeoman, the daughter of Robert and Caroline (Parker) Yeoman. He was received on trial at the 1898 South Kansas Conference and appointed to Longton, in the Independence district. He was appointed to Liberty in 1899. The 1900 South Conference minutes list him as being admitted to full membership. He was appointed to Mulberry in 1901. In September 1901, during their time in Mulberry, Rev. Allen and his family experienced the tragedy of the death of their son, Claude Wesley Allen, who was five years old and is referred to in the Conference Minutes as their oldest child. He was elected and ordained Elder in 1902. In 1903 he transferred to the Columbia River Conference (Oregon). Rev. Allen died on October 31, 1958, and is buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, California. His wife Martha died in 1961 and was buried at his side. His memoir can be found in the Southern California-Arizona Conference Journal for 1959, page 325.

Note written by Sarah St. John