Allison Chapel Methodism Church, where the Holland Reunion is held in August

Elijah Allred(1801-1868)(Elijah, William, William)(Elijah, Patience, Catherine, John)
The following information was contributed by Carole Gregory
http://www.allredfamily.org/elijahallred.htm
East Texas Family Records, Summer 1986, Vol 8, No.2, published by the East Texas Genealogical Society, Tyler Texas, founded 1977: Panola County pg 19: The Allred Family by Leila B LaGrone, Carthage Texas
"Elijah Allred was born October 20, 1801 in North Carolina. The son of William and Patience Julien Allred of Randolph County, North Carolina, he heard for Sam Houston’s plea for volunteers; and he left for Texas. He was 34 years old and single. .He rode to Texas on "his good horse Shirk" and his equipment and provisions included a blanket, a rifle, an axe, a frying pan, a sack of corn meal and a slab of bacon. A descendant, S.T. Allison, said, "It must have been the close of 1835 or beginning of 1836 when Elijah, with a few dollars in his pocket, left the home of William and Patience Allred, in North Carolina, to go to Texas to fight for her independence."
Upon reaching Nacogdoches in 1836, he learned that Texas had won independence; so he moved northward along Trammel Trace until he found unclaimed land that suited his fancy, "off Trammel’s Trace to the East in what is now the community of Fairplay, in late 1836." Here he built his first home, his closest neighbor being the Reverend Isaac Reed family, four miles south.
He chose his home site among pines just north of present Fairplay. He bought land from Lewis Sanchez and built a cabin of small logs or poles which he could manage by himself. This was the first house built in that community.
Wild game was plentiful, but he needed bread, so he cleared a patch and planted corn. When the corn was gathered, he rode Shirk to Elder Reed’s or to Nacogdoches, some forty five miles away for grinding. He became closely associated with people at Reed’s Settlement when he and Isaac Reed Jr., married sisters, daughters of Abner Herrin.
A dogwood tree stood in the chimney corner of his log house. He tied his horse to this tree at night for fear the Indians might steal it. In the fall, the Indians became so active that he went to the home of Isaac Reed for protection.
He was at Reed’s Settlement during the Indian hostilities at the time when Isaac Reed, Jr was killed by Cherokee Indians. He (Elijah) volunteered to ride alone that night to notify one of Rev. Reeds daughters at Mount Enterprise.
Allred said that it was a clear moonlight night, the ground was frozen and he fancied he never heard a horse make so much noise traveling over the icy ground. When Allred went home, the Indians had gathered his corn for him and had put it in his cabin.
In 1839, when the Indians were driven out of this section of Texas, Elijah Allred was named "Captain Allred", for he volunteered for service with Texas forces that moved the Indians our of East Texas. From that time, he was known as Captain Allred.
In 1841, Elijah married Sarah (Sallie) Herrin. She was the daughter of Abner Herrin, brother to Rev Lemuel Herrin. He lived out his life near where he first settled and he was buried at Old Macedonia in 1868.
Elijah and Sarah had one child, Kizziah Jerucuia Allred, born October 2 1843. Sarah died about two years later. Elijah did not re-marry until his daughter married Samuel G. Allison in 1859, at age 15.
Kissiah and Samuel G. Allison had 12 children. They donated land for the school and Allison Chapel Methodism Church. In 1884 they moved with their children to Wise County, Texas. There at Paradise, Texas, they are buried. Their daughter Lou Allison Atkins born 1864 wrote a manuscript about the family. { I have a copy of that manuscript}
Elijah later re-married to Lizzie Akard and to them were born two children; Moses and John Julian. Moses died as a child and John Julian moved to Hobart. ( This is in error, John Julian Allred never lived in Hobart OK cg) No descendants of John Julian Allred remain in Panola County today.
Stephen Allred, Sr., born May 2, 1796, in North Carolina, and Renne Allred, brothers of Elijah, left Randolph County, North Carolina in 1838. They had delays due to broken wagons and Stephen rented land in Tennessee to make a crop and repair the wagons.
Renne Allred came on to Fairplay, near his brother Elijah. Here he remained a year or two before moving on to Grayson County, Texas. There he reared his family and his great grandson became governor of Texas. James V. Allred.
Stephen set out again for Texas when crops were gathered and wagons repaired, arriving in Fairplay n 1839. He bought 4,605 acres and settled there with his two sons, Seymore and Stephen, Jr. With him also came a daughter and son-in-law, the James Robinsons and they settled nearby. His elder son, Alfred, had married Margaret Whatley in Tennessee and remained there until 1841 when they also came to Fairplay, Texas, buying land west of Fairplay. Stephen, Sr., lived there until his death February 13, 1894 and was buried in Williams Cemetery."
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Elijah Allred was born 20 Oct 1801 in Randolph Co., N.C. He died in 1868 in Fairplay, Panola Co., TX and is buried Old Macedonia Baptist Church Cemetery, Fairplay, Panola Co., TX..
More Info on Elijah and family
He was married twice: m1 1841, Panola Co., TX to Sarah Herrin, b 1812 TN., d 10 July 1845 Fairplay, Panola Co., TX., daughter of Abner Herrin.