From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, 
Publ. 1912 - Page 853-855
 
JOHN SAMUEL ALLEN, well known electrical engineer of Lake Geneva, has spent 
most of his life in Walworth county.  He is a man who is entitled to the 
respect of his fellow men owning to the well ordered life he has led.
 
Mr. ALLEN was born on February 28, 1872, at Bloomfield, this county.  He is 
the son of George R. and Mary (GRIER) ALLEN, the father a native of Washington 
county, New York.  The paternal grandparents, Samuel ALLEN and wife, were 
natives of England, from which country they emigrated to the state of New York 
in an early day, where they settled and lived for some time.  George R. ALLEN 
came west with his parents in 1841 and located in Bloomfield township, 
Walworth county, Wisconsin, which locality was new and sparsely settled and 
here his father entered a homestead from the government and established the 
family home and this land has been in the possession of the family ever since, 
never having been conveyed since it was taken from the government, except by 
inheritance from father to son.  George R. ALLEN was much in public life in 
his community and was influential in public affairs.  He was a member of the 
Assembly in 1880.  He was a man of sterling qualities, and was esteemed by all 
who knew him.  For many years he was a director in the First National Bank at 
Lake Geneva, and was president of the Farmers Insurance Company.  His family 
consisted of three children, John S., of this review; James G. and Mary C.
 
The mother of the above named children is still living in Lake Geneva, George 
R. ALLEN having passed away on September 20, 1901.  A complete sketch of his 
life will be found on another page of this work.
 
John S. ALLEN spent his boyhood on the home farm, but much of the time he was 
away at school.  He attended high school at Lake Geneva, from which he was 
graduated in 1890, after which he spent two years at the normal school at 
Whitewater, then he taught school a year, later which he went to the State 
University at Madison, taking the course in electrical engineering, from which 
department he was gradated in 1897.  After leaving school he worked a year as 
electrician at the state prison at Waupun, then built the electric light plant 
at Geneva Junction, Walworth county, after which he built a similar plant at 
Elkhorn.  He then took a position as manger of the Beloit Electric Company, 
which he held for five years.  Leaving there in 1906, he came to Lake Geneva 
where he took charge of the electric light plant and he has remained here to 
the present time, discharging his duties in his usual successful and 
conscientious manner.  He is regarded as one of the best men in his line in 
southern Wisconsin, for he not only laid a good foundation for his work, but 
has kept well abreast of the times in all that pertains to his profession, and 
wherever he has been he has given the utmost satisfaction.  He is a member of 
the Wisconsin Electrical Association, the National Electric Light Association 
and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.  Fraternally, he belongs 
to the Masonic order, Geneva Lodge No. 44, of which he was master for three 
years.  He was the first exalted ruler of the Beloit Lodge of the Benevolent 
and Protective Order of Elks.  He is a director of the First National Bank at 
Lake Geneva.  He and his wife are members of the Episcopal church.
 
Mr. ALLEN was married on May 18, 1898, to Emma J. GIBBS, of Randall township, 
Kenosha county, the daughter of Charles G. and Alice (OWEN) GIBBS.  Her father 
was born on the same farm on which Mrs. ALLEN's birth occurred, and the mother 
was born in McHenry county, Illinois.  Two children have been born to Mr. and 
Mrs. ALLEN, Harris Gibbs ALLEN, born July 28, 1900, and Gibbs Rue ALLEN, born 
September 8, 1905.
 
Submitted by Carol