General Notes

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Lester roomed with the family that lived next door to Allie (Burnett)
Matthews, Ella's mother.  That's how he met Ellie.  They walked to the
streetcar together to go to work.  Ellie was working at Titche's and
Lester was working at a meat packing plant.  He later worked for a power
plant, and then went to work for the
U. S. Post Office in Dallas.  They were married in her parents' home.
Lester Allison and C. D. Marchman both went to work for the post
office on the same day.  They took the civil service exam on the same day
in 1913, took the required medical exam on the same day, and both
reported for work on 2 June 1913.  Both men started out working in the
outgoing mails division, sorting letters.  They were both promoted to
supervisors in 1937, and both men retired on the same day, 31 May 1957,
nearly 44 years after they began work together.  At the time of their
retirement, they were both "foremen of mails".
It was while he was working for the post office that Lester acquired
the nickname of "Pete".  The men there began calling him that, and the
name stuck.  Even his grandchildren called him that.
Lester and Ella Matthews married on 12 July 1911, and Marjorie was
born on 1 June 1912.  For the last couple of months before she was born,
Lester and Ellie went to live with her parents on Rosemont Street in
Dallas, so Ellie's mother could be there to help with the birth of the
child and to help for a time after.
They stayed there for about three months, according to a letter from
Ruth Matthews to her Grandma Burnett).  By July 11 when Ruth's letter was
written they had moved to their home at 3012 Holmes St.  They later lived
at 193 Alexander, 446 Gould St., and 607 S. Lamar St.
Alfred Lester Allison, Jr., was born on 7 March 1917, and in the
summer of 1919 (after Marjorie's seventh birthday), the family moved into
a home which Pete had built for them at 402 E. Woodin Blvd.  He
contracted the work out, but supervised its construction.  Their third
child, Glenn, was born in this home on
24 July 1926.
Pete took great pride in his home and yard, and he used to spend some
time nearly every evening hand-watering the grass, so that it would get
just the right amount of water, and be good and healthy.
There was a small building behind the house which housed chickens for
some time, and was a playhouse for Marjorie after they quit raising
chickens, but when they bought their first car, it was turned into a
garage.  Their first car was a Chevrolet touring car, which Pete got when
Marjorie was in high school.  He
took her out to country roads and taught her to drive in this car when
she was fourteen years old.
For a time the principal and one of the teachers at Trinity Heights
Grammar School lived and boarded with the Allisons.  There are a couple
of photographs of them with Ellie, Marjorie, and Alfred, probably taken
about 1920 or 1921.  Marjorie says that the year she was in the first
grade, her first grade teacher
lived with them.
Lester and Ella lived in their home on Woodin Blvd. until several
years after he retired.  Then they moved into an apartment which would be
easier to care for.  After Pete died, Ella moved into a Presbyterian
Nursing Home in Oak Cliff.  When they died, Lester and Ella had seven
grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.  They were members of
Rosemont Christian Church for many years.  They were both buried in
Laurel Land Cemetery in Dallas, Texas.
Sources for ALFRED LESTER "PETE" ALLISON, SR. and ELLA MATHEWS:
Family records
Alfred Lester Allison, Sr.
Marjorie (Allison) Massey, daughter
Glenn Edward Allison, Sr., son
A. F. Allison Family Bible
Ella Allison's records
Photographs
Family traditions
Newspaper articles
Golden Wedding Anniversary book