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WILLIAMSON - This material is gathered by reports from James McDowell Allen and David Drewry Allen, Allen family descendants, and members of the Pulaski Chapter of the NSDAR (National Society Daughters of the American Revolution). The names of "Drury,” “Drewry,” and “Drewery” have persisted in the Allen family. Drewry Allens have consistently appeared in every generation up to the present.

In 1758, a Drury Allen of Lunenburg County, VA., bought land in Granville County, N. C. At the same time, a William Allen of Hanover County, VA. also bought land on this tract. Others from the Virginia group followed. North Carolina census records show Allens, Stokes, Clements, and Youngs, living close to one another.

After the movement from Virginia to North Carolina, they began to follow each other on into Georgia, usually in small clumps which formed into communities of relatives and friends at the new location.

One particular Drewry Allen was born December 1, 1749. Dispute exists about the location of Mr. Allen’s birthplace and correct parentage, due to many “Drury Allens” in Virginia and North Carolina at the same time, but it is agreed this Drewry Allen married Elizabeth (Betty) Yarborough (b. May 9, 1752). When the Revolutionary War broke out Drewry was in his late 20’s. In 1776, Drewry Allen enlisted as a private in the Continental Army, North Carolina Line and served throughout the War. He left his wife, Elizabeth, and did not see her again for seven years. He was often within forty miles of home, but he was never able to visit her.

As to actual fighting in the Revolutionary War, there is no formal record known which covers Drewry Allen's war service. Family lore, however, suggests that he served under Washington at the battle of Brandywine and at Yorktown, VA. He may also have served in the Carolinas at the battle of Cowpens and Guilford Court House. According to an account given by Carrie Ballard Sasser, a great, great, granddaughter, he shared incidents of these battles with grandchildren.

After the War, Drewry Allen, with his family, moved to Greene County, Georgia, settling on the Oconee River. The Greene County records show that "Drury" Allen bought land there from his son, Clement, on July 5, 1816.

In 1820, when Drewry was 70 years old and Elizabeth was about 67, they were still living in Greene County. He is listed in the census records for that year as a planter and the owner of fourteen slaves. In 1824, however, they moved still further west into Pike County, Georgia, which had only been organized as a county the year before. Pike County was a part of the land ceded by Native Americans in 1821. It is believed that only one of Drewry's sons, Young Drewry Allen, went with him or preceded him and very probably he was accompanied or preceded by grandsons.

Drewry Allen died in Pike County on Jan. 20, 1826, and was buried in a family burial lot in the county, now called the Allen Family Cemetery.

The exact date of Elizabeth Yarborough Allen's death is not certain. Records in the DAR lineage books state that she died in 1828 and that Drewry Allen died in 1826. Elizabeth is probably buried in one of the unmarked graves near his. Mr. Allen’s granddaughter married a Ballard, and several Ballards are also buried in the cemetery.

The Pulaski Chapter of the NSDAR is undertaking a cemetery cleanup project in Pike County, GA of the Allen Family Cemetery.

The Allen Cemetery is located off Reidsboro Road, in a new development by Trademark Homes called The Reserve, at the site of a former golf course. There are several unmarked stone slab graves, including the Allens, and headstone markers for the Ballards.

The Pulaski Chapter is working to clean out overgrown trees and underbrush, which has covered up the graves, as a service project honoring the 250th anniversary of the United States and Drewry Allen’s war service. There are chapter members who note ancestry to Mr. Allen. Trademark Homes has given the Chapter permission to clean up the site, and Boy Scout Troop 4 has been enlisted to help with the cleanup process over time. DAR spouses and friends have been instrumental in the process, as well.

Attached are photos of the first cleanup day in which graves were uncovered.