Francis and Nettie Allen

July 18, 1899 – Six-year-old Francis Allen and his ten-year-old sister Nettie posed for a studio portrait at Carpenter Studios in Fort Bragg. In addition to photos taken that day, the Kelley House Collection also includes a lock of Francis’ hair clipped in 1899. Stored in the museum’s climate-controlled vault, this curl of brown hair is about 8 inches long and is tied with a dark blue ribbon.

Francis and Nettie were the youngest children of Frank and Nettie (Shuman) Allen. The Allens and their elder daughter Edith moved into the Carroll House on the northeast corner of Ford and Covelo Streets in 1888, and Nettie and Francis were born there. At the time of their purchase, the house was described as having seven rooms, good outbuildings, a splendid water system, and a small orchard of fine bearing trees.

In 1901, the Allen family sold the Carroll House to Fred Jarvis and moved to Fort Bragg where Frank was employed as a sawyer in the mill. Daughter Nettie married Harry Berning in 1908 and moved to Nevada County, where Harry worked in a saw mill. She died in San Francisco in 1932.

Francis moved with his parents to San Jose where he found a job as a machinist. After his parents’ death in a tragic car accident in 1923, he moved to San Rafael where he worked for Pacific Gas and Electric until his retirement. He passed away in Oakland in 1962.

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