An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, by Rev. H.K. Hines, D.D., The
Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, IL. 1893

WATSON ALLEN, resident of Seattle, and actively connected with her original
water-front improvements, was born in Sussex county. New Jersey, August 26,
1842, and was the only son of Samuel and Mahala (McKain) Allen, who were natives
of the same county and descended from pioneer settlers of the State. Watson
Allen was educated in the schools of Sussex county and in the Methodist
Conference Seminary at Charlotteville, New York. At the age of seventeen years
he gave his attention to learning the carpenter's trade, and served a three
years' apprenticeship at Lynn, Pennsylvania. He then returned to his home, and,
with the call for nine months' troops in 1862, he enlisted in Company K,
Twenty-seventh New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was then attached to
the Ninth Corps, Army of the Potomac, under General Burnside, and they took an
active part in the battle of Fredericksburg, and closed their service in
Kentucky, where they were engaged in driving out General Forrest's hand of
guerrillas. Receiving an honorable discharge, Mr. Allen then entered the
Quartermaster's Department at Nashville, Tennessee, and was employed at his
trade in rebuilding bridges and doing other necessary work in the line. In the
spring of 1865 he returned to his home and was married at Newton, New Jersey, in
May following, to Miss Garphelia King, of the same State. Mr. Allen then settled
in Newark, New Jersey, and for one year was engaged as superintendent of
wood-work in the erection of the first factory for the Clark's Thread Company,
the building being of brick, 110 x 600 feet, five stories high. After the
completion of this work, Mr. Allen engaged in contracting and building, up to
1868, then removed to Port Oram, New Jersey, and continued in the same
occupation until the spring of 1872, when he closed up his business and moved to
Seattle, Washington Territory, having learned of the grand opportunities and
wonderful timber resources of the Sound country, securing his information from
Richardson's book entitled "Beyond the Mississippi." On arrival in Seattle, Mr.
Allen was first employed in building wharves and docks at the portage between
Lakes Union and Washington, preparatory to moving coal by that route. In the
summer of 1872 he went up the Snoqualmie river to the mouth of Tokul creek, and
there located a claim by pre-emption, and erected a small sawmill, riving out
all the timbers from the log. He transported his mill equipment from Snohomish
to his camp on the river, a distance of forty miles, in small canoes. In like
manner all supplies were brought into camp, and there he resided for nearly ten
years, engaged in milling and in reclaiming a small farm. In 1879 Mr. Allen was
deeply afflicted by the death of his good wife, who left three small children:
Lillian, who is now Mrs. James Newman, of Seattle; Lena and Annie. In 1880 Mr.
Allen was elected to the Territorial Legislature by the Republican party, and
served during the session of 1881. He then returned to his ranch, closed it out,
and placing his children in the Sisters' school he accepted a position with the
Oregon River and Navigation Company of Oregon, in building bridges between the
Dalles and the Cascades. In the spring of 1883 he was appointed superintendent
of construction of bridges between Puyallup and Seattle, on the Puget Sound
shore line, and in the fall of 1883 he formed a copartnership with Albert L.
Nelson, organized the firm of Allen & Nelson, and engaged in contracting for the
building of piers, wharves, bridges, and other work connected with the water
front. They built the first line of railroad along the water front of Seattle,
and were the first to engage extensively in the pile-driving business, executing
the principal large contracts between Tacoma and British Columbia. Continuing
until April, 1880, they sold their interests to the San Francisco Bridge
Company. They also owned and operated the old Donnelly sawmill on Sammamish
lake. They have since moved the plant to Monohan, on the Lake Shore & Eastern
Railroad, and the same is now in operation, with a daily capacity of 50,000
feet. The firm also have extensive interests in tide lands at Seattle, and Mr.
Allen owns a valuable timber tract of 1,260 acres in Snohomish county. Mr. Allen
was married in Olympia, November 30, 1883, to Miss Cornelia Newton, and one
child, Eva, has been born to them. Mr. Allen is prominent in the Masonic
brotherhood, being a member of the blue lodge, chapter, commandery and Mystic
Shrine.

Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in January 2004 by Jeffrey L. Elmer

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Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies
Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the
individual featured in the biographies.