Littleton P. ALLEN, a native of Buncombe County, North Carolina, came to Ringgold County in the spring of 1852, settling in Middle Fork Township near the Missouri-Iowa border. At the time of his arrival, ALLEN two young Negro slaves, a boy approximately fourteen-years of age and a girl about sixteen-years-old. Apparently, Mr. ALLEN believed he was residing in Missouri, a slave-holding state.

In the fall of 1852, Mr. ALLEN sold his slaves to a man from St. Joseph, Missouri, for $1,100.

There are members of the ALLEN family interred in the Allen-Clark Cemetery, Ringgold County.

It has been said that after finding out that he was actually residing in Iowa, Mr. ALLEN moved a few hundred feet across the state line so that he could reside in a slave-holding territory.

Milton S. TRULLINGER of Middle Fork Township operated a station on the underground railroad prior to the Civil War. It is believed that after leaving the TRULLINGER farm, the fleeing slaves proceeded on to Jefferson Township, located north of Diagonal.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, September of 2009