Death of Major Allen - By request we publish the following upon the death of Harry Allen, taken from the Napoleon correspondence to the Toledo Commercial: The remains of Major harry Allen were interred last Sunday afternoon, five miles west of here, on the farm of his father-in-law, George W. Frease. Mr. Allen had many acquaintances here, having resided among us and carried on business here for several years. Being of a genial, whole-souled nature, he almost insensibly attached himself to our citizens ere they became aware of it. Intelligent and communicative, his store was a kind of resort evenings for a general discussion of politics and the various topics of the day. Amiable and kind toward all, he seemed to command the respect of all, save the rigidly righteous and unco [sic] good. Upright and honorable in his dealings and business transactions, prosperity attended him. In short, none knew him but to give him the right hand of fellowship, and a portion of that good will and esteem to which all men of noble and generous impulse are entitled. The funeral obsequies were conducted under the auspices of the order of the F. & A. M. and "with changing clouds and changeless stars with grass, with trees, with leaf and bud and blossoming vine, and amid all the sweet influences of nature, we leave our dead. Farewell."
In addition to the above we have received the following article concerning the deceased which the friends desire us to publish:
Mr. Allen was born in Wilmot, Stark county, Ohio, on the 15th of February 1837, and consequently at the time of is death, was nearly 42 years of age. While his was rather a checkered career, there were some features of it which deserve prominence, in that he played quite an important part in the war of the rebellion. In 1861, his heart burning with the fire and zeal of true loyalty, he recruited a company for the 19th, O. V. I., of which he became captain, and in which capacity he remained until after the battle of Stone River, when he was promoted to the rank of Major, for meritorious conduct. But in 1863, by reason of disability and ill health, he resigned his commission, and returned home to engage in the business of a merchant at Napoleon, and being filled with those noble impulses which distinguish the man from the brute, and liberally endowed with those traits of character which are as much the free gift of nature as the product of education, his circle of friends never grow less.
But death has severed the golden chord which bound him to this life, and all that he held near and dear. And knowing no other, not even giving himself any trouble or uneasiness about any other, he made no effort to meet it. Looking in his lifetime upon the chimeras of religion as having been made to appear worthy of veneration only by being shaded and festooned with the cobwebs of antiquity, he sought no comfort from a futile belief of them, and in death asked not the solace of the last rites of any religious order, nor that his resting place should be hallowed by the puerile mummery of a self-appointed and interested priesthood, but simply marked by some small tributes of nature's own offerings, which in life inspire beauty and tend to promote happiness, and in death afford to the friends of the departed the comfort of a sweet repose--the last gift of our mother--Nature--to whom "appertains the homage of the earth;" who is the "sovereign of all," and through whose adorable daughters--Truth, Reason and virtue--"error may be banished from our minds, wickedness from our hearts, and confusion from our footsteps." By the torch of Truth the intellect is illuminated, and darkness dispelled from the soul. By Reason our uncertain steps may be conducted through the path of life. By the gentle and refining influences of Virtue, we may be animated by beneficence, a love of the good and the beautiful.
The death of Major Allen was signalized by no fear of the future, but was calm and serene as a summer's day. "Peace to his ashes." /signed/ R. T.