But life had some specific plans for the gutsy, hard working and brave boy—he would one day leave a deep impact on the history of America. As a child slave he had the good fortune of coming across kind white people who taught him to read and thereby inspired him to become an educator later in life. Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park. In 1908 a group of Black Americans led by Colonel Allen Allensworth founded a town that would combine pride of ownership, equality of opportunity, and high ideals. Young Allensworth dressed in an old uniform, plastered mud over his face and marched boldly up Main street with the Union soldiers. He was appointed as a chaplain in the U.S. Army in 1886 when he was 44 years old, making him one of the few black chaplains in the U.S. Army. 16 Jul 2012 Allensworth would be an historic monument and public park dedicated to the memory and spirit of Colonel Allensworth as well as a place to note the achievements and contributions of African Americans to the history and development of California. The Post Office closed in 1931. Colonel Allen Allensworth, Professor William Payne, William Peck, a minister; John W. Palmer, a miner; and Harry A. Mitchell, a real estate agent, dedicated to im… He always believed in the importance of education and worked hard to build Sunday Schools at his churches. The Civil War started, and when the Union forces neared Louisville, Allensworth found his chance for freedom. At the behest of his mother Phyllis, he learned to read from their master's son. It was found out and Allensworth was sent to a Quaker household, eventually sold from the Louisville estate in the mid-1850s. The couple was blessed with two children. Their dream of developing an abundant and thriving community stemmed directly from a strong belief in programs that allowed blacks to help themselves create better lives. In 1886, when he was 44, Allensworth gained support by both southern and northern politicians for appointment as a chaplain in the US Army; his appointment was confirmed by the Senate, as necessary at the time, and approved by the president. In 1908, Allensworth became California’s first town to be founded, financed and governed by Black people. Colonel Allensworth, born a slave, served in the Army and Navy and retired as lieutenant colonel… Born into slavery in Kentucky in 1842, Allen Allensworth gained his freedom in the Civil War when the Forty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry was camped in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1908, an escaped slave turned army officer named Colonel Allen Allensworth founded a small town in California’s Central Valley where African Americans could thrive. This biography provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline. The town served as a depot station on the Santa Fe Railroad line from Los Angeles to San Francisco. He was appointed as Sunday School Missionary for the state of Kentucky by the American Baptist Publication Society. He rose Lieutenant Colonel, and was the highest ranking black officer in the United States Army at that time. He had seen many African Americans move west after the Civil War to escape discrimination. In 1976, when the town site became a state historic park, restorations began, and plans began for further preservation, restoration, and reconstruction, and for interpretation of the history of Allensworth. One of the surgeons, Dr. A. J. Gordon invited him home and gave him his own room to stay. Colonel Allen Allensworth, a retired clergy man from the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment, along with William Alexander Payne and three other black settlers established the town to be the first in California to be "founded, financed, and governed by blacks." In time he met up with four other people William Payne, John W. Palmer, William H Peck, and Harry A. Mitchell and they formed the idea of founding an African American town where people could live free from racial discrimi… Allen was born as the youngest of thirteen children of Phyllis and Levi Allensworth in Kentucky. In August 1908 Colonel Allen Allensworth and four other settlers established a town founded, financed and governed by African Americans. He had by now become a prominent figure through his educational endeavors and public speaking and decided to enter politics. Lt. A highly religious man, he also founded several churches. As a freed slave and a black American he had faced more than his share of racial discrimination and was determined to create a community exclusively for the African-Americans, and thus the town of Allensworth was founded. By the 1940s, most of the residents were migratory farm workers, and the population was mainly a mixture of Blacks and Hispanics. Allen was beginning to enjoy the joy of being free. While posted at Fort Bayard, he wrote ‘Outline of Course of Study, and the Rules Governing Post Schools of Ft. Bayard, N.M’ which was later adapted by the army to be used as a manual for the education of enlisted personnel.