San Diego County Biographies

ROBERT ALLISON

Submitted by Carolyn Feroben

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ROBERT ALLISON, one of San Diego’s pioneers, was born March 10, 1814, in 
Washington County, Ohio, his parents being Charles and Hester (Stull) Allison. 
The father, of Scotch-Irish descent, was a soldier in the war of 1812; the 
mother, of German decent, was born in 1794, in New York State. They had eight 
children, four of whom are dead; the living are: Robert, Josiah, Napoleon and 
George. Robert, the subject of this sketch, remained of the farm with his 
parents until twenty-one years of age, when he became a boatman, carrying 
produce down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers; in this business he continued 
about seven years. He then removed to Illinois, settling in Warren County, where 
he engaged in milling, sawing lumber and grinding flour. A year later he removed 
to Marion County, Iowa, and took up 320 acres of land. He built a log cabin on 
it, fenced eighty acres, and in 1850 sold it. He then came to California , 
crossing the plains with his wife and one child, arriving at Placerville in the 
latter part of September. Soon after he went to Sacramento, where he kept hotel 
for a few months; he then settled on a grant and followed farming for a few 
years. He supposed he had settled on Government land, but finding that he could 
not get a title, he retuned to Iowa, remained a year and then once more crossed 
the plains to California, bringing with him 600 head of cattle. He settled near 
Vacaville, Solano County, purchased a grant and entered 320 acres of Government 
land. In addition to this he purchased 1,000 acres at $1.25 per acre here, and 
engaged in farming and cattle-raising. He had over 1,000 head of graded cattle. 
In the fall of 1868 he sold out and removed to San Diego, purchasing 3,000 acres 
of the ex-Mission grant. He then bought cattle and engaged in ranching and 
butchering. His sons are now running the butcher shop.
   Mr. Allison was married to Miss Tempa Waterman, born July 21, 1815, in Morgan 
County, Ohio, daughter of Allen Waterman, a farmer and a miller. They were 
married in 1837. They have had eleven children; three sons and one daughter 
still survive, viz.: Benjamin Franklin, born in 1848, at Red Rock, Iowa; Joseph 
A. and Josephine A. were born June 25, 1852; Juan M. was born March 12, 1857, in 
Solano County, California. Mr. Allison is a temperance man and a public-spirited 
citizen, ever ready to contribute liberally toward anything that will advance 
the interest of San Diego.
 
An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San 
Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower 
California, from the Earliest Period of Occupancy to the Present Time.... - 
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. pp 270-271