Interned Austin S. Allen -3-3-1917, Walter Scott Estes -2-12-1926. Linda McOwen Allen -6-6-1926, Whitby J. Allen -5-22-1930 and Austin Allen Jr. – 12-2-1940
The mausoleum architecture features solar disks between the pair of falcon wings at the very top. It represents the sun god, Re and rebirth.
Austin’s wife, Belle Taylor Allen (1887-1921) died several years after Austin’s untimely death. She and her young children were residing in Los Angeles, California with her aunt and uncle at the time of her death. It is believed that she died from heart disease. After being cremated in California, her brother Wilkins Taylor picked the ashes up in a container. From that point, the whereabouts of her ashes is unknown. According to Mount Hope Cemetery officials, Mrs. Allen’s ashes are not in the mausoleum. However, other family members are interred in the mausoleum.
Inside Austin Allen’s mausoleum, a rich blend of Egyptian Revival details, is a resolution from the Kansas City Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Above his name is an array of Egyptian elements constituting a pair of vulture wings, symbolizing protection and maternal care, and a circular relief, representing the sun. The solar disc is flanked by twin cobras symbolizing death. Mr. Allen also incorporated two solid bronze entrance doors and located on the back wall a colorful Egyptian art glass window. – Excerpts from the Joplin History & Mineral Museum calendar published in 2021.
The Allen Mausoleum is located at Mount Hope Cemetery. Inside Allen’s mausoleum is a resolution from the Kansas City Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Several family members interned in the mausoleum.
Mr. Allen married Belle Taylor and had three children. He died at the early age of thirty-six from typhoid fever.
