Wren Orvid ALLUM

  General Notes:

Photo: A good-looking man, this casual photo of Wren Orvid Allum, 1901-1961, was taken in 1948. His adult life was lived in Chicago.

Photo from DeeAnna Allum Granston (gift to DeeAnna from Gertrude May Amrine Allum Brown, 1885-1964, second wife of John Banks Allum)


1901 BIRTH of Wren Orvid Allum ("Wren")

1905 CENSUS, Iowa State Census, Iowa County, Marengo (no date) ("O. W." Allum with parents "J. B." and "Gertrude")

1910 CENSUS, Iowa, Iowa County, Marengo (April 26) ("Wren O.," age 9, is with his parents)

1915 CENSUS, Iowa State Census, Iowa County, Marengo (no date) ("Ren," age 13, born in Iowa, completed 6 years of grammar school education, church affiliation, "Methodist," father born in Pennsylvania, mother born in Iowa) (Typical of the 1915 census, every individual has a personal card; we can rightfully assume Wren lived with his parents in 1915)

1920 CENSUS, Iowa, Iowa County, Marengo (January 13) ("Wren O.," age 18, "Printer, Newspaper," with parents)

1923 DIVORCE of parents, John Banks Allum and Gertrude (Amrine) Allum

1923 MARRIAGE of mother, Gertrude (Amrine) Allum and James G. Brown

1924 MARRIAGE of father, John Banks Allum and Mary "Abbie" (Tebbetts) Hoopes

1925 CENSUS, Iowa State Census, Benton County, Belle Plaine (January 1) ("Wren," age 24, "Laborer")

1926 MARRIAGE of Wren Orvid Allum and Adele Lucia Wild on March 21 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois

1927 DEATH of father, John Banks Allum

1930 CENSUS, Illinois, Cook County, Chicago (April 17) ("Wan O.," age 29, "Salesman, food products") (wife "Adela T.," age 26) (Adele's middle initial was actually "L" but is incorrectly transcribed "T" in some census indexes)

1931 DEATH of stepmother, Mary "Abbie" (Tebbetts) (Hoopes) Allum

1961 DEATH, Wren Orvid Allum, at 60 years 9 days

Cause of death: "Acute myocardial infarction" (1/2 hour) and, contributory, "Arteriosclerotic heart disease (1 year)" --death certificate

Wren had been a resident of Cook County, Illinois for 35 years at the time of his death


Gertrude May (Amrine) (Allum) Brown (1885-1964), second wife of John Banks Allum and Wren's mother:

December 11, 1961 letter to Shirley Allum Hudlicky:

"My son Wren suddenly passed away on January 25, 1961. 'Was a shock to all of us and hardest for his wife Adele. It will soon be a year, and she is lost and lonesome without him. They were a devoted couple; they had no children. Adele is a wonderful person--kind, thoughtful--and writes me often."

January 10, 1964 letter to DeeAnna:

"I believe I told you in my last letter that Wren passed away January 25, 1961. He is buried in a Catholic cemetery in Chicago."


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1964 DEATH of Wren's mother, Gertrude May (Amrine) (Allum) Brown

1989 DEATH of wife, Adele (Wild) Allum, at 85 years 8 months 25 days


Wren and his wife had no children




DOCUMENT: Illinois Death Certificate No. 2752 for Wren O. Allum signed by his wife, "Adele L. Allum"




Henriette "Belle" (Patterson) Allum (1886-1963), wife of Clayton Allum (1884-1963), May 3, 1958 letter to Shirley Allum Hudlicky:

"Clayton distinctly remembers carrying Wren around when he was a baby."

"I want to thank you for all the pleasure you have given Clayt. Since he got Wren's address he wrote asking if Wren remembered him, and this morning we received a reply, a nice long letter which made Clayt very happy."



Shirley Allum Hudlicky, July 14, 1964 letter to DeeAnna:

"In the Chicago telephone directory, Wren's name was always listed 'Wren O.' Both he and his mother also wrote it 'Wren O.' The pension papers of John Banks Allum list it as Wren Arvid."

Wren's middle name was "Orvid." --DeeAnna




OBITUARY (Wren) from CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, January 27, 1961:

Wren O. Allum

Wren O. Allum, beloved husband of Adele; loving son of Mrs. Gertrude Brown of Tiffin, Ia., and the late John B. Allum; dear brother of Mrs. Cleone Pelzer of Toledo, la., Mrs. Myrna Schoelmen of Cedar Rapids, Ia., James Brown of Coraville, Ia., and Mrs. Ione Erickson of Dysart, Ia. At George Klaner Funeral home, 4717 Broadway. Funeral Saturday, Jan. 28, at 9 a.m., at St. Mary of the Lake church. Mass 9:30 a.m. Interment St. Joseph cemetery.




PHOTOGRAPHS:

Wren in 1948

Wren and his mother Gertrude in 1959



CORRESPONDENCE:

Original handwritten letter to DeeAnna from Mrs. Wren Allum (Adele Wild Allum) dated April 7, 1964 (3 1/2 pages)

Original note to DeeAnna from Mrs. Wren Allum dated September 30, 1964

Wren married Adele Lucia WILD, daughter of Louis S. WILD and Agnes KLEIFORTH, on March 21, 1926 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. (Adele Lucia WILD was born on April 9, 1903 in Mayville, Dodge County, Wisconsin and died on January 3, 1989 in Milwaukee, Waukesha County, Wisconsin.)