Butler County, Kansas

FRANK S. ALLEN SUFFOCATES TO DEATH IN FIRE

Well Known El Doradoan Meets Death This Afternoon In Business House

FOUND ON FLOOR

Apparently Had Gone To Rooms To Rest; Some Damage To The Building

Frank S. Allen, aged 85 years, widely known El Dorado philanthropist, founder of the Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital, dean of the profession of Kansas abstractors, donor to the recently completed St. Joseph's Orphanage here, and connected with many business enterprises, met death by suffocation shortly after 1 o'clock this afternoon when fire gutted some rooms on the second floor of a building owned by Mr. Allen at 112 West Central Avenue. Mr. Allen's body was slightly burned.

Mr. Allen was seen to go to the rooms about 1 o'clock by Mrs. Charles Delano, who was sitting in her car in front of the building. She said her attention was attracted because when she started up the stairway the door did not close and Mr. Allen turned around and shut it. About fifteen minutes later the fire was discovered when smoke poured from the windows of the law office of M. F. Litras. The office joins the room in which Mr. Allen's body was found.

FRANK S. ALLEN

FIND THE BODY

It was several minutes after the fire was discovered that it was thought Mr. Allen might be in the rooms. He often went to the place where he kept a number of possessions and where he lived until he established residence in Allen Memorial Hospital.

When Mr. Allen left his desk at the Allen Abstract Company, which is almost directly across the street from where the fire occurred, it was thought he was going to a barber shop. When it was found he had not been there, a search of the rooms was started. The body was not found the first time, but a few minutes later Harry West discovered Mr. Allen lying on his back on the floor, at the head of a bed. All the doors to the rooms were locked or propped tight.

The only clothing worn was a pair of socks. It is believed Mr. Allen went to the rooms, undressed and laid down on the bed for a rest. Just how the fire started is not known, as there was no heating equipment in the rooms. It is possible that Mr. Allen may have struck a match to search for some article and the flame ignited something.

The body was taken to the Byrd Funeral Home.

Considerable damage was caused to the rooms by fire and water. Smoke and water damage also was caused in Mr. Litras' office and the Leben Jewelry Company, directly below the rooms and office. It was believed at 2 o'clock that the fire had been confined to the Allen Building.

The fire attracted a crowd of several hundred persons and some of them aided the firemen combat the flames, take merchandise from the Leben Store and handle the body of Mr. Allen. Ted Leben, owner of the Leben Store, is in Kansas City on business.

A complete obituary on Mr. Allen will be published Monday.
(El Dorado Times ~ Saturday ~ January 23, 1943 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

ALLEN FUNERAL WILL BE HELD HERE TUESDAY

Rites For Widely-Known Philanthropist Will Be Conducted at 2 O'Clock

BUSINESS TO HALT

Deed Of Trust Made Last November 30 Gives $1,000,000 To The Hospital

Funeral services over the body of Frank S. Allen will be held at 2 o'clock Tuesday afternoon at the Byrd Funeral Home, with the Rev. Charles F. Rehkopf, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, officiating. By request of Mr. Allen, the body will be cremated.

Among those who will attend the funeral services are a group of nurses and the Board of Trustees of the Allen Memorial Hospital, the present and a number of former employees of the F. S. Allen Abstract Company, a group of Sisters and children and also representatives of the board of trustees of the St. Joseph's Home, Lewis E. Allen Memorial, representatives of the First National Bank of Wichita and representatives of the Ranson-Davidson Investment Company of Wichita of which Mr. Allen was a stockholder and member of the board of directors.

DIES FROM SUFFOCATION

Mr. Allen's death occurred shortly after 1 o'clock Saturday afternoon as a result of suffocation when a fire destroyed his personal possessions stored in a second-story room of his building at 116 West Central Avenue. Of late, Mr. Allen had remained at his suite in Allen Memorial Hospital of mornings, going to his office after lunch. Saturday, he spent a few moments at his office, leaving there to go to a barber shop. He stopped, en route, at his former apartment to change his clothing. His eyesight had become increasingly impaired and it is assumed that he lighted a match to seek some article of clothing in a closet, inadvertently causing the fire which also damaged the law office of M. F. Litras, on the same floor, and the Leben Jewelry store on the first floor of the building.

A compassion for unfortunate humanity was a dominant characteristic of Frank S. Allen. This inherent trait found expression in the founding of two of the outstanding institutions of mercy in Kansas---both in El Dorado---the Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital, as a tribute to the life of his mother, and the St. Joseph's Home, Lewis E. Allen Memorial in commemoration of his father. He had conceived the idea of founding both institutions years before either was built, but patiently awaited a propitious time.

The idea of founding a home for orphaned girls originated with him when as a small boy on his way to school, he passed a New Orleans orphanage daily and noted little girls happily at play and the tender care they were given by Sisters of the Catholic Church. His donation of $30,000---to which he later added ---toward building an orphanage in El Dorado was proffered several years before the decision to build the home here was made. When those in charge of building the home suggested that boys also be accepted as residents, so that brothers and sisters would not be separated, Mr. Allen acquiesced.

A RETICENT BENEFACTOR

Mr. Allen's inborn humanitarian impulses were not by any means confined to erection of the hospital and orphanage. His lesser benefactions were numerous, constant and unless accidentally discovered, unknown to anyone excepting the beneficiary.

The down-and-outer, the under-privileged child, the old-time friend or deserving business man on the rocks financially, and many others knew his helping hand is time of need. "Don't say anything about it," he urged extremely embarrassed, when one morning early in September a citizen happened into his office as he handed money to a tattered little boy---money for school books and new clothing. It was one of his delights to confer gifts anonymously, leaving the recipient to guess as to the identity of the sender. Many a man, woman and child still wonder who sent the gorgeous flowers or the big box of candy while they were ill. One waif wore a new overcoat many months before, through persistent sleuthing, he found out Mr. Allen had sent it to him.

Personally, Mr. Allen lived simply. He had the old-fashioned virtues of industry and thrift, but, as a public-spirited citizen, donated liberally to all constructively sound projects that meant improvement and progress for the community. In giving to charities, he often insisted upon being listed merely as "A Friend," but his contributions were substantial. At the only dinner-meeting of an El Dorado Carnegie Library board, Senator Curtis L. Harris revealed that the first donation toward establishing a local public library was $50---given by Mr. Allen.

Mr. Allen's friends were legion and his personal correspondence extensive. His loyalty to his friends and to the personnel of his abstract company was notable. Through correspondence he kept in touch with every person who ever had worked in his office, regardless of how long a time they had lived away from here. He planned innumerable courtesies for his staff members and genuinely enjoyed contributing to their happiness. Separately and aggregately they reciprocated this affection and did everything within their power for his comfort and pleasure.

At every opportunity Mr. Allen expressed appreciation of his good fortune in having as office manager, a man of such integrity, loyalty, ability and pleasing personality as Oscar Morgan. He also had frequent praise for every other member of his staff.

VERSATILE AND APPRECIATIVE

As a financier and executive Mr. Allen was superb. He achieved wealth, but he never lost the common touch. He was cognizant of the frailties of mankind, but he was not condemnatory. Unassuming, unselfish and generous, he also was appreciative of every courtesy and of every kind word or deed directed his way. His wit, his whimsical yet practicable philosophy, modesty, active interest in world events and local history, retentive memory, his concern for the welfare of others and his so-many-other-delightful characteristics combined to make him an interesting, beloved and outstanding citizen. In his tragic death, this section of Kansas and a legion of friends suffer an irreparable loss.

NATIVE OF BOSTON

Mr. Allen was born in Boston, Mass., December 30, 1857, and educated in New Orleans, La., and Mason City, Ill. In Illinois he farmed from 1877 until 1881 when, by his mother's request, he decided to move to El Dorado where he entered the office of Daniel Borden who, in 1879, had bought a set of abstract books that had been established in 1868.

Later, Mr. Allen and his associates consolidated all the abstract offices in Butler County, and still later acquired the Butler County Abstract Company's office. Mr. Allen bought out his associates in 1899 and continued the business under the firm name of the Borden Abstract Company until 1926, when he established the F. S. Allen Abstract Company. He developed a complete system of abstracting and at the time of his death was dean of the profession of abstractors in Kansas.

During this time, Mr. Allen studied law. Although admitted to the bar, he never practiced. Records of the courthouse show that during a period of a half century, he was the only Democrat elected to the office of register of deeds. He was elected in 1896 and served five years, the holdover caused by a change in the law in 1901.

Although he previously had made provision in his will for building a hospital in El Dorado, it was in June, 1930, after he had attended a meeting of the El Dorado Rotary Club at which the immediate need of a new hospital in El Dorado was discussed, that Mr. Allen announced his decision to give $100,000 in cash and the site for the Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital. Later, he more than doubled this original contribution of cash. The hospital, built with a regard of durability, modernity and beauty, has been increasingly successful and has rendered immeasurable service to thousands of patients.

HURT IN ACCIDENT

Early in 1938 as he was leaving a meeting of the hospital board of which he was president, Mr. Allen suffered severe injuries when struck by a taxicab. Other members of the board suggested to Mr. Allen that he establish his residence at the hospital and for several years and until his death, he occupied the southwest suite on the first floor, which was partially furnished with choice antique pieces that had belonged to his mother. The hospital board adopted a resolution several years ago providing residence and hospitalization for Mr. Allen for the remainder of his life.

Mr. Allen's parents, Luis E. and Susan B. Allen, were natives of Boston, Mass. The father was a merchant and died at sea October 6, 1866. He was of English descent. Mr.s Allen was the daughter of Borden, merchant, and at the time of her marriage lived in Boston. She had two brothers, Daniel Borden, who lived in El Dorado many years and was a veteran of the Civil War on the Union side, and , Jr., a resident of Louisiana and a Confederate veteran. Mrs. Allen died in El Dorado September 10, 1924, in the home she shared with her son, on the site of the hospital and where she had lived more than a third of a century.

Preferring to devote his time and care to his mother their home, Mr. Allen never married. He did not belong to a church or lodge but donated freely to churches, particularly during the years when the larger congregations erected new edifices. He was a charter member of the American Title Association and the State Association of Abstracters and was an honorary member of Rotary Club.---J.P.S.
(El Dorado Times ~ Monday ~ January 25, 1943 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

ALLEN RITES ARE HELD YESTERDAY

El Dorado Pays Final Tribute To Benefactor Who Died Last Saturday

Funeral services for Frank S. Allen, whose death occurred Saturday afternoon, were held at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon at the Byrd Funeral Home, attended by an overflow crowd of his friends.

The Rev. Charles F. Rehkopf, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, read the Episcopal funeral service which included Psalms 39 and 90, and the lesson from Romans, 8th chapter, verses 14 to 39.

Masses of beautiful flowers were mute testimony of the high esteem and affection with which Mr. Allen was regarded in this section of the state and by innumerable friends in other localities.

The body of Mr. Allen was taken to Kansas City yesterday evening, for cremation, in compliance with a wish he had expressed.

By proclamation of Phil McDonough, mayor of El Dorado, the offices and business houses of the city were closed during the funeral hour.

Among the local institutions represented by board members or groups in attendance were the F. S. Allen Abstract Company, the Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital, the St. Joseph's Home, Lewis E. Allen Memorial and the Butler County Medical Association. Among those here from out of town were Mr. and Mrs. Sam Ranson and Junior, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Riddle, C. Q. Chandler, Mr. and Mrs. J. O. Davidson, Frank Carson, R. C. Clevenger, W. A. McKinney, Judge William D. Jochems, Mr. and Mrs. C. S. Falk and Francis Jaehle of Wichita; Mrs. Oda Snyder Oliver of Canon City, Colo.; Mrs. Edith Halfhill Hunt, Bartlesville.

Among those from whom Oscar Morgan has received letters or telegrams expressing sorrow at learning of Mr. Allen's death are Mrs. Hattie Postle of Columbus, Ohio, who worked for Mr. Allen in the abstract office more than fifty years ago; Miss Alice Mosshart of Enid, Okla., Mrs. Mamie Austin Truitt, of Kansas City and Lewis Hamer of Pratt, also former employees; Mrs. Everett G. Reed of Butte, Mont., whose father, the late Clair Dodge, was at one time a member of the office staff, H. H. Copeland of New York City, lifelong friend of Mr. Allen, and his son, Clarence Copeland, also of New York, Perry Pitcher of Topeka; Mrs. Zelma Smith and the Rev. Roy M. Truesdale of McPherson and the Denam brothers of Sedan.

Relatives present were Mrs. George Lawrence of Wichita and Mrs. Viola Pinson of Winfield, second cousins of Mr. Allen. Mrs. Pinson was accompanied by her husband, the Rev. Wayne Pinson.
(El Dorado Times ~ Wednesday ~ January 27, 1943 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

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