A DEDICATED LIFE

ANNIE T. ALLEN

1868-1922

Annie was the fifth of six children born to Orson and Caroline Wheeler Allen, missionaries sent to the Near East by American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.  All the children were born in Harpout in eastern Turkey.  

Orson was born in 1827.  He graduated from Amherst College and Andover Seminary.  He married in September of 1855 and sailed from Boston in October of that year with his bride.  He remained on the mission field until 1896, when he resigned and returned to America.  His wife died in 1898.  The first three of his children had died very young, and at the time his wife died, two of his three children were still on the Mission Field, and Orson moved back to Turkey to be with them.  Daughter Annie had graduated from Dana Hall, Wellesley, Bible Normal, Springfield, Mt. Holyoke College in 1890. She left Boston in 1890 to help her parents in Harpout.  She received full missionary status and appointment in 1903.

According to the James L Barton, author of "The Story of the Near East Relief (1915-1930," Annie T. Allen, of Auburndale, MA, for many years engaged in mission work in Turkey, died from typhus at Sivas on February 2, 1922,  From the time that the Turkish Nationalist regime was set up in Angora (today's Ankara), she was the representative of the Near East Relief in that city and acted as a liaison officer with the government.  At the time of her death she had journeyed several hundred miles overland on horseback to Kharput in mid-winter to investigate conditions among Armenian and Greek deportees, then on the march to exile, and to adjust difficulties between relief workers and the local government in the city of Kharput.  The weather was bitterly cold and traveling difficult.  She contracted typhus from the refugees she was attempting to help.  She died in Sivas on 2 Feb 1922.  She was 54 years old.

IMMORTALNOBODIES OF A DIFFERENT KIND

The animals below have played a very important part in our lives.  It occured to me the other day that these precious pets out to be considered as Immortal Nobodies too.  Why not give them the same treatment as I have when I've selected the ordinary human ImmortalNobodies.   Yes, why not!

1975-1992

 SPOT came to us as a wedding gift from Bev & Ed Duffy. She was smart and sweet natured. She lived to be an old lady, looking like a bag of cat fur with some bones rattling around in it.  But she was beautiful to us, and we kept her forever until she got Alzheimer's at 18 and we had to put her down.

  

 1978 - 1989

DOLLY was originally Bryn's cat, but we acquired her when Bryn married.  We called Dolly our "dumb blond" - she was very pretty but a little short on judgment.  She loved her catnip!  She died from Feline Leukemia

1980-1991

ANNIE was Kerry's cat until Kerry graduated and moved out on her own.  Annie was not a very pretty tortie, but her smarts made up for it.  She took walks with us every afternoon, running across the lawns while we walked the dog on the sidewalk, no matter how far we went.  She lost her life when the house was fumigated for termites.  :(

1980ish-1993

This kitty, when about 4 months old, walked up to our front door one day and said he was lost.  I carried him around two blocks, hoping to find his owner, but to no avail.  So he became ours.  We named him Sammy Davis III, a black jewish cat, we said.  Everyone liked Sammy.  He was kind, gentle, friendly and never under foot.  He was easy to love.  When we went to Istanbul we passed him on to our niece, Robyn, who had loved him like we did.  He ultimately died of cystitis.

1985-1985

This is Chauncy, who appeared one day in our back yard and sauntered into the house to have a mouthful of the cats' IAMS.  He stuck around for about 4 days, long enough for me to give him a name that I thought would be an ego-boost for him (he was a scrappy male cat!), and then he left as silently as he arrived.  I was so sorry.  I did like the cat a lot.

1981-1995

Missy Maud was a "found" puppy, turned in at my cousin's vet clinic.  She was the first dog I'd ever had and what a pleasure it was, every minute of it.  All the little grandkids knew and loved her too.  She was just their size.  She got sick with an unidentified ailment and died from a stroke.

1991-2008

Tigger arrived at our apartment in Istanbul as a tiny little kitten.  That was our lucky day.  This cat gave us more pleasure that we ever would have expected.  He is the one we have cremated and will somehow find a way to have his ashes buried with us.   He was one loving cat, though he didn't tolerate any what he considered "nonsense" (like vet exams!)

1992-2001

Cipsi (pronounced Gypsy) was our second Turkish cat, arriving in the arms of a Turkish neighbor who heard her screaming underneath a parked car.  She was hardly even weaned and she wanted milk!  The Turkish neighbor spoke no English and I no Turkish, but the understanding was that if the lady could catch her I would care for her.  Cat lovers both won!  She had very long, thick hair, and once home, we had her "summer cut" done for the hot months.  In the winter she looked like a furry bowling ball.  She died in 2001 of diabetes.

19?? to 2005
This is GLORIA DARLING.  We moved into a rented house upon our return from Turkey, and it was in a neighborhood where the residents let feral cats run everywhere.  In the middle of them was this cat, who definitely had been someone's cat once (she had been spayed) but she had run with the pack for so long she was really skittish around us.  But we persevered, slowly bring her back to her real self, and giving her a name that should have let her know what we thought of her.  After a year, we had to move, and for some reason I can't remember, we left her at the old house.  The next morning at 7 a.m. I jumped in the car, pulled up in front of the old house and yelled, "Gloria Darling, I've come to get you."   She separated herself from the pack and ran to my car.  I tossed her in the cat carrier and took her to her new home with us.  She was a fabulous lady.  She ultimately died from cancer.  We'll never forget her.

1994-2000

Bucky was a fostered dog; he was a purebred sheltie belonging to my cousin, a vet, and lived with us, I think because we needed a dog after losing Missy Maud.  My cousin named him "Bucket of Fun", because as a tiny puppy he was the life of the litter.  He answered to Bucky.  He was such a dog, so much fun, so smart,  We were so lucky to have him until we retired and moved out of the area.  My cousin found a new home for him with a friend, but he died shortly of bladder cancer.  :(

2004-

Squeaky is our lovely old-lady cat now.  She all but talks to us and she understand exactly what we say.  There are three of us in the apartment, Jerry, Squeaky and me, and I swear we understand each other.  I used to baby-sit this cat when her owner went out of town, and at that time I told Joan if she ever needed to find a home for her, give me first crack.  All it took was a phone call about a year later and she became ours.  She resides on the end of my bed.

2011-

This is our newest, whose name changed from "Blue Eyes" to "Ziggy" when she took up residence at our apartment.  She belonged to Jerry's sister Judy, and we always were the backup for her if she needed to find another home for the cat.  When Judy decided to move to Oklahoma to be nearer her daughter, that's when Ziggy came to us, just a month or so ago.  We couldn't be happier.  She is a talkative cat, not a fussy eater, doesn't care which potty box she uses, and has commandeered my computer chair as her bed. And no, she isn't deaf. We hope we outlast both her and Squeaks; we would hate to ever have to give these two up just because we are getting old!  

So now you know the ImmortalNobodies who have touched our lives in the 41 years we've been married.  

STOPPING THE PARADE

PHILIP L. ASHER

1859-1911

New Orleans, Louisiana

July 20, 1911

PHILIP L. ASHER DIES AS ELKS' PARADE STARTS FOR THE DEPOT

Philip L. Asher, one of the best accountants in the country, died last night as a result of an attack of heart disease in the Elks' Home, on Elk Place, near Canal Street, just a few minutes before the great procession started to the Union Depot to receive Colonel John P. Sullivan, the grand exalter ruler of the order.

Mr. Asher was ready to get in line with the marchers when he was seized with a sudden attack and collapsed.  He was carried into the Elks' Home by friends, and Dr. Lescalle, who was present, attended him. The unfortunate man was beyond all medical skill, and passed away in a few minutes.

The news was broken to Mrs. Asher and her children in their home at 2407 Milan Street, and their grief was pathetic.  Mr. Asher was 51 years old.  For many years he lived in Opelousas and there he served as the exalted ruler of the Elks' Lodge.  Aside from being a member of that order, he was a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Red Men and the Woodmen of the World.  Leaving Opelousas with his family a year or so ago, he went to Baton Rouge, but he had an opportunity to locate here, and three months ago Mr. Asher came to this city with his family.  His eldest son, Julius, a young man of 22 years, became identified in commercial circles and Mr. Asher was employed in one of the big lumber concerns as an accounting.

Last afternoon he told his family that he was going to take part in the reception of Colonel Sullivan and looked forward to a great deal of pleasure.  A year or so ago, when Mr. Asher was at Dubuque, where he attended a big meeting of the Red Men, he was seized with an attack and was cared for.  He did not suffer seriously and returned to his family.

Mr. Asher was born in Jackson, Mississippi.  He located in Opelousas, and almost twenty-three years ago he married Miss C. [Cleona] Weil, of Alexandria.  Five children were born to them.  Four are boys, while the other is a girl of 10 years of age.

The Elks had the body cared for by Undertaker Lynch, and the remains were kept in the mortuary parlors for the night.  This morning the body will be conveyed to Opelousas, where it will be interred.

~O~

NOTE:  The little 10 year old girl noted here is Sylvia Julia Asher, who became the grandma of my stepchildren Kathie z"l and Garry Title.