Allen Blevins

Allen Blevins

Allen Blevins was born on February 23 or 26, 1832 of Rial or Ryal Blevins and Isabella Cornett Neal (her second marriage) of Clay County, Kentucky and later Laurel County, Kentucky. Late 1836, Allen was in Roane County, Tennessee with his father and step-mother, Lititia or Lintitia (?) (married after 1834 and before 1838); a sister, Mary, and three half siblings (William - born around 1838, John Hill - born around 1840, and Thomas - born around 1845). By 1860, Allen lived in Cumberland County, Tennessee with his wife Eliza Basket. He is listed as a farmer on his military records and several of the cenuses. Although some records show Allen with middle initial H it appears that this was only added in and not really representative of a name.

Allen Blevins did not join immediately when the War Between the States broke out (although his half brother John Hill Blevins left the Confederate county of Cumberland and served throughout the War also in Company I, 1st Regiment (East) Tennessee Volunteer Infantry). On July 17, 1862, Allen joined Company E, First Regiment (East) Tennessee Volunteer Infantry at Camp Cottrell at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. He appears there shortly after John H. Blevins was on furlough and it is suspected that he was recruited by his half brother. Regimental history shows this was under General Morgan of the Army of the Ohio. It appears the regiment during Allen Blevins’ service was assigned to Cincinnati, Ohio; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Louisville, Kentucky; and fought at Stone’s River in December 1862. It is unlikely Allen Blevins actually fought at Stone’s River because his discharge papers list him as unfit for 90 days and it is unknown if he did supporting work when not in the front lines. It is possible that he participated in several skirmishes in East Tennessee, but this is unclear – only the fact the regiment was in the right place and the right time when several are recorded.

During a march from Cumberland Gap to Tazewell, Tennessee (approximately 10-15 miles) in inclimate weather on August 11, 1862 he contracted tuberculosis and later choric diarrhea according to his January 14, 1863 discharge for disability which led to his discharge on February 7, 1863.

He returned to Cumberland County, Tennessee, but by 1866 was divorced by Eliza for running off with Sintha Kindred, whose brother-in-law served in Allen’s company. It is unclear if her husband served in the Confederate or United States armed forces, or not at all. He is known to be dead before 1868, and possibly during the war. Allen and Sintha ended up in Greene County, Indiana where they had several children before they divorced and Allen remarried for a third time to Lucy Eva Davis. Allen died October 9, 1913 in Solsberry, Highland Township, Greene County, Indiana and is buried in Newark Cemetery there. Eliza Basket Blevins settled with their three children in Missouri. It is believed that Eliza Basket Blevins married a Peters later in life in Missouri.

Photograph and information submitted by Allen Blevins' great great grandson, Ernest Everett Blevins.

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Complied from Allen Blevins' Pension Record, Jackson County, Tennessee Court Records, Cumberland County, Tennessee Court Records, Roane County Court Records (Roane County Historical Society), 1850 and 1860 United States Census, Ancestry.com Indiana Marriage Database, and Correspondence with descendants of Allen Blevins' other children’s ancestors.

Allen Blevins, third wife, Lucy Eva Davis, and some of their children
(Circa 1892, probably Greene County, Indiana)
Note Grand Army of the Republic Membership Badge