Shelden W. Allen was born September 28, 1808, in Augusta, Oneida County, New York. He was the son of Chester and Eunice Baldwin Allen. As a young man he learned the tailor's trade, but had to give it up because it adversely affected his health. He then became a butcher and followed that business for twenty-five years.

Allen was married to Fidelia Leach on January 15, 1835. They had eight children, only one being a girl. The first son, James S. Allen, was born before the couple traveled the circuitous route from New York to the proposed town of Galesburg in Illinois. They arrived at Log City in Henderson Township on June 20, 1837.

The wagon train consisted of the Levi Sanderson, the Eli Farnham, the Martin, the Prentiss and the Buckingham families. The Allens had joined the group at Bergen, New York. The Swift family lived in a double log cabin, so they moved their belongings into the east room and the new families settled into the west room.

As a butcher, Allen, was able to provide fresh meat for the pioneer families. It has been stated that the offal was dumped into Cedar Fork. The pioneers were accustomed to using whatever nature provided. Timber was plentiful and useful for building homes and businesses. The water table under Galesburg was relatively simple to tap. The creeks provided an easy way to carry off waste. Cedar Fork would become an open sewer and a disgrace to the people of the town for another four decades.

Growing up in Galesburg, Carl Sandburg knew about Cedar Fork and had seen it. He was sure rivers were like the creek, only bigger. He also attended the Fourth Ward School, which was just across the street from the Allen home, so he would have been familiar with the family.

On June 20, 1840, the Allen family moved into their newly constructed home on Mulberry Street at the corner of Allens Avenue. Several of the children later lived in houses on Allens Avenue. Allen and his sons invested in farm land around Galesburg. They also continued the abattoir which employed a number of former slaves who settled in Galesburg. The elder Allen erected a commercial block in Galesburg. He was a stockholder in Brown's Hotel when it was built and also supervised its construction. By the time he was 57 years of age in 1865, he was able to retire from active business life.

In the 1870s, the Women's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.)was organized in Galesburg. Mr. Allen allowed the ladies to use his large store front without paying any rent. He could have received as much as $800 a year for the space. The ladies conducted temperance lectures in the large room and served coffee and sandwiches to the public. Shelden O. Allen, the first male child born at Log City, and his wife traveled the poorly kept roads of Knox and Warren Counties, conducting temperance meetings in local school buildings on Saturdays and Sundays. They estimated they had traveled more than sixteen hundred miles and convinced many people to resist the temptation of alcohol.