Jane Allen House

Jane Fleming Ferguson Shaw Allan 1840-1915

Jane was born in Kilsyth, Stirling, Scotland, on Nov 29, 1840. She joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a few months after her parents had joined in 1851. After her father died in an accident her family determined to save up what they could to make the move to Utah. She and her widowed mother and 4 siblings came to Utah in 1868. The following year she married John Allan on Nov 15, 1869. She was his plural wife. John had also come from Scotland in 1855 with the Charles A. Harper Company.

They moved south to Richfield, Sevier, Utah where their 3 oldest children were born (1871-75 Agnes Allan, Elizabeth Allan, Annie Jane Allan). They lived in Colorado according to the 1880 census where John was ranching and then moved to Fort Montezuma (now Montezuma Creek) on the San Juan River where their last two children were born. (Florence Allan and John Allan 1881-82). They lived there until a flood destroyed their home in 1884, after which they moved to Bluff, San Juan, Utah. In the fall of 1890 the two youngest children died of diphtheria, one being John, her only son.

The 1900 census lists John at age 74 as a gardener and Jane was 54. Their daughter Elizabeth Nix and her little 2-year-old daughter Lena were there too. Annie was working for the Cunningham family in a nearby community.

I found the photo at left on a site about the Jane Allan house. Jane is standing in front of her home that was built, in the early 1900's according to the article. “The foundation of the house was built of sandstone and the walls were made of Bluff sandstone blocks. This small two-room rock house was built by or for John Allan and his wife Jane Allan. Not much of the house remains. The remaining stone section of the house represents only one-third of the original house. That is what remains of the house after the flood in March of 1894. [There seems to be some discrepancy of dates or there were two separate floods.]

“There was a log cabin that was originally on the plot where the house was built. Presently, this house is a single structure with roughly squared masonry walls on the north, west, and south ends. The east wall of the house has been partially dismantled and is now covered with plywood. There are also remnants of a wooden foundation (made of horizontally-laid 3" boards) on the north side of the rock structure.”

“The house consists of two rectangular window openings with sills and a doorway (from west to east) across the south wall, one doorway in the center of the west wall, and a rectangular window opening and doorway on the north wall.”

“The window openings have been filled in with rock and concrete, and the doorway retains doors (which are now padlocked). The roof is a steeply pitched gable roof, presently overlain with corrugated galvanized steel. The building is presently unoccupied and used for storage.”

Another picture of the Allan home now used as a shed

John died on 27 Apr 1908 and was buried in Bluff. He was born 21 Sep1823 in Kirkintilloch, Dumbarton, Scotland according to a genealogical record on the FamilySearch site. He and his first wife Agnes immigrated with a group of saints in 1855. They were living in Coalville, Summit, Utah when Jane moved to that area in 1868.

The 1910 census stated that Jane was a 64 year-old widow who was a landlady at a boarding house.

Jane’s mortal life came to an end on 27 May 1915 in Bluff. She was in her 75th year if calculated by using the Scottish church records that give her birth as 29 Nov 1940. It looks as if she thought she was born about 1845 but one thing is certain, she had lived a long and productive life.

Sources:

1880 Conejos Valley, Conejos, Colorado; Family History Film: 1254089; Page: 170.2000;

Enumeration District: 28

Jno. ALLAN Self M 56 SCO Ranchman SCO SCO

Jane ALLAN Wife M 36 SCO Keeps House SCO SCO

Agnes ALLAN Dau S 9 UT At Home - Attended School SCO SCO

Lizzie ALLAN Dau S 6 UT At Home - Attended School SCO SCO

Annie J. ALLAN Dau S 4 UT At Home SCO SCO

1900 > UTAH > SAN JUAN > BLUFF PCT

John Allan head 74y Sep md.30y all scot immi 1855 gardner

Jane wife 54y Jun 1844 mom 5-3 all scot immi 1868

Elizabeth dau

Lena M.Nix grn dau 2y May 1898 Ut Ind Ut

1900 - LaSal prct San Juan Utah ED 118

Annie J. Allan servant 23y un Aug 1876 Ut sct sct housekeeper for Cunningham family

1910 > UTAH > SAN JUAN > BLUFF PCT

Allan, Jane 64y wid mom of 5-3 living all scot landlady at boarding house

www.sanjuan.k12.ut.us/sjsample/bluff/janeall2.htm The life of Jane Allan