Charles Leslie Allensworth

Charles Allensworth was born on August 8, 1889 to Charles M. and Wilhelmina Allensworth (née Weinberg) in Galesburg, Illinois. He was the youngest of three brothers and he had two sisters as well. Leslie (or Allie, as his friends and family called him) graduated from Galesburg High School in the spring of 1907 and started at Knox College the following spring.

Allensworth immersed himself in campus life during his college years. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi and treasurer of his senior class. He was also active in the Y.M.C.A club and Gnothautii literary society. On top of all that, he played football for several years and served as the manager of the Track & Field team in his senior year.

After graduating from Knox in 1913 Allensworth got a job teaching high school physics in Duluth, Minnesota, while also pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Chicago. However, in the spring of 1918, Allensworth resigned from teaching and entered the artillery officers’ training school in Fort Monroe, Virginia.  He later graduated with the rank of Lieutenant in the Minnesota Coastal Artillery Corps.

Sadly, he was swept up in the Spanish influenza pandemic of the time and he died at Fort Monroe on November 7, 1918. An article about his death, published in the Galesburg Evening Post states that "Lieut. Allensworth was a hard, persistent student and worker and his parents believe that he overtaxed his strength and became ill. . . . News of the death came as a great surprise to his family. They had received a letter from him day before yesterday, in which he did not mention being ill." He was 29 years old.

Leslie Allensworth is buried in Block 14, Lot 10 in Galesburg's Linwood Cemetery.