The collection consists of correspondence and financial documents between Rodman Palmer, surveyor and land agent, and Hosea Allen concerning land in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, granted to Ann Meech Williams (1776-1857), Hosea Allen's mother-in-law, as a land bounty which was part of her widow's pension granted on the basis of husband, David William's (1748-1835), Revolutionary War military service. Allen was Williams' executor who handled both of her military pension claims--the other was based on the service of her first husband, Timothy Meech (1741-1825).
The first two documents (an 1857 receipt for the land in Hosea Allen's name and a record of an 1860 sale of land and costs associated) are addressed to Spencer Allen (1824-1862), Hosea Allen's brother, in Chicago, Illinois. Other documents discuss taxes owed and payments made.
The Clements Library holds the Ann Meech Williams Collection, which is comprised of additional documentation related to Ann Williams's pension claims and Hosea Allen's efforts on her behalf. Finding aid: Ann Meech Williams Collection.
Hosea Allen was born February 1, 1814, to Hosea Allen (1787-1858) and Julia (Shepard) Allen (1793-1854) in Worthington, Massachusetts. He married Lydia C. Meech (1834-1883) in Richmond, Massachusetts, on April 8, 1834. They had three children: Mary H. Allen (1835-1908), David Williams Allen (1836-1906), and Julia Shepard Allen (1839-1915). After moving to Vineland, New Jersey, in 1863, he worked in fruit shipping, served as a justice of the peace, and was an active spiritualist. He died on August 7, 1883, in Vineland and is buried in Siloam Cemetery in Vineland.
Rodman Palmer was a Wisconsin surveyor and land agent who also served as a member of the assembly in Madison. He was born on September 27, 1820, in Catskill, New York, to Annatje (Overbaugh) Palmer (1786-1848) and Jonathan Palmer (1786-1838). Palmer married Harriet Corcelia Calkins (1825-1895) on June 20, 1848, in Lisbon, Wisconsin. They had three children: George (1851-1921), Mary (1853-1918), and Harriet (1864-1909). He served as Chippewa County Treasurer, representative of Chippewa Falls, and owned the Eau Claire Press. He died on October 9, 1872, in Merton, Wisconsin, and is buried in Prairie Home Cemetery in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
