Timeline: 1863

Abraham Lincoln authorized African American participation as Union Soldiers in the Civil War.

Bethel A.M.E. Church was organized in Champaign. This was the first Black church in Champaign-Urbana.

John Allen arrived in Sidney, IL, from Tennessee. He brought 40 acres of land in Section 13 and another 40 acres in Section 10 northeast of Sidney. There he cleared the timber, farmed, and raised and educated ten children. He was a member of the Methodist Church of Sidney. In the early 1890s, he turned his farm over to his son Philip and moved to 503 E. Stoughton in Champaign. In his old age, he and his wife lived with children in Urbana. John and his wife are buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Sidney. Essex Tolliver Allen, John’s youngest son, married Clara Mae Anderson of Urbana, IL. They lived at 811 West Clark St. in Urbana and were members of Bethel A.M.E Church where he was a church trustee and superintendent of Sunday School. Essex and wife Clara are buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Urbana.