My Common, Remarkable Family: Civil War to the Twenty First Century

One hundred and seventy five years of Allen Packard family history beginning in the 1840’s to present. Based on stories of Kansas pioneers arriving from Maine and Indiana. Primary authors include Georgiana Packard, daughter of Cyrus Packard who wrote a story about her family’s journey from Monson, Maine to Topeka, Kansas. She includes anecdotes from the Underground Railroad and interaction with John Brown. She later married her cousin George Washington Packard who served in the Kansas Cavalry during the Civil War and wrote many letters to family of the Civil War and homesteading in Kansas. Rev. Harmon Allen’s family moved to Kansas from French Lick, Indiana. Harmon married Mary Dunlap. Family legend holds that the Dunlap family included King George III and his Quaker mistress Hannah Lightfoot in their heritage. Harmon served churches in southeastern Kansas and was active in the temperance movement before moving to Leavenworth and assignment as the Chaplain of the Federal penitentiary. His story of their wedding and a letter to his dying wife provide insight into Harmon and his time. Georgiana and George Washington Packard’s Granddaughter Ruth Packard married Harmon and Mary’s son George Hadley. They survived the Depression and World War II and raised four sons. They too wrote stories of their lives that add to the collection. The family history includes many photographs dating from the 1800’s till present. The stories and photographs tell not just the history of the family, but also document the family culture passed through the last two centuries. This soup of family cultures comes through the stories.