Historical significance:
Thomas Edward Allen was born on Feb. 5, 1867 in Lawrence, MA son of Thomas & Elizabeth (Monaghan) Allen. Thomas was the oldest of four siblings, His brother James Eugene Allen b. June 20, 1869 became an architect and may have designed the Allen home on Union St. James did several homes for the AWCo. in Shawsheen Village.

Nov. 12, 1897 AT – Thomas E. Allen, of the Monroe Paper Co., has bought a tract of land on Union Street, Frye Village and will build on it for his own occupancy. The tract comprises about two and a half acres and extends to the Shawsheen River. It adjoins the property of Walter S. Donald on the north and Donald’s ink factory on the south.
Mar. 25, 1898 p1 AT Work has commenced on the new house of Thomas Allen of Lawrence near the junction of North Main and Union Streets.

Thomas grew up in Lawrence and worked for the Monroe Felt & Paper Co. He later became Superintendent of the company. Thomas married in Boston on Sept. 1, 1898 to Grace D. Towne b. June 7, 1864 in Cambridge, MA, dau. of Augustus & Anna (Armstrong) Towne. Children: son Norman was born in May 1899 and he attended Punchard High School, class of 1918. Thomas & Grace also had triples, two boys and a girl born on Feb. 19, 1901. Tragically they were premature births at 7 months and only survived a few hours.
Grace Derby Towne was born in Cambridge, MA. Her father Augustus Towne was a Druggist, selling wholesale. The family always had a domestic living with them. Grace had one older brother Walter A. b 1861. In 1880 they live in Hamilton, MA and her father is a Dealer in Paint and Oils, Walter is a clerk in the store. On June 19, 1890 Grace, now 26, applied for a passport. She is living at 22 Huntington Ave, Boston. She gave her occupation as “lady” and planning a fall trip to Europe. She was 5’ 4½” tall, blue eyes and brown hair. Grace also joined the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Thomas and Grace lived in the house on Union Street for 30 years. Thomas died of a heart attack on Jan. 7, 1929 in his office at age 62 years old.
Obituary - Andover Townsman p. 8 Shawsheen Villager – January 11, 1929 - THOMAS E. ALLEN
Thomas E. Allen of 1 Union street and a resident here for thirty years died suddenly in his office in Lawrence Monday forenoon. Mr. Allen seemed in his usual health and a heart attack was given as the reason of his death.
Mr. Allen was one of the best-known business men in Lawrence and at the time of his death was general agent of the Munroe Felt and Paper company. He began his business career with the company as a young man and rose steadily from the ranks of superintendent and was named general manager in 1921. He was widely known among paper manufacturers as a successful business man. He was prominent in many organizations and was president of the Lawrence Automobile club in 1923. He was also affiliated with Phoenician Lodge, A. F. and A. M., the Engineers club, Boston, and the Corinthian Yacht club of Marblehead, where he spent his summers.
Mr. Allen is survived by his wife Grace (Towne) Allen; a son, Norman Allen, and a brother James E. Allen, architect of Lawrence. Funeral services were held at the home Thursday afternoon by the Rev. Charles W. Henry, rector of Christ church and the body was taken to Cambridge for interment in the family lot in Mount Auburn cemetery. The bearers were Walter C. Donald, Thomas A. Collins, Arthur H. Wyman, Chester Ellis, Frank A. Heyes and Byron T Butler.

Grace Allen then sold their home to Edwin H. & Bertha L. Steinert of Lawrence on Apr. 12, 1929. Grace and her son Norman moved to Cambridge and rented an apartment at 986 Memorial Drive. In 1935 Grace was at Garden Street and in 1950 at age 85, at the Hotel Commander, across the street from Harvard Common.

Edwin Herman Steinert was born April 1, 1892 in Lawrence, son of Otto and Emily L. (Bittner) Steinert. His parents were immigrants for Germany and lived at 288 High Street in Lawrence. Otto was a carpenter and General contractor under the name O. E. Steinert 288 High St. Lawrence, MA.
Edwin was one of six siblings; Arthur Emil b. 8/8/1888, Helen E. b. 8/24/1889, Edwin 4/1/1892, Franz Herman b. 12/24/1894-d. 12/9/1896, Gertrude E. b. 1/31/1902 and Ruth Mildred b. 5/11/1906.

Edwin married in 1916 in Lawrence to Bertha L. Hadley b. June 5, 1983 in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, dau. of Levi J. and Mary Louisa (Tory) Hadley. Bertha immigrated with her family in 1902. They had two children; Francis Edwin b. 3/6/1918 and Dorothy Ruth b. 3/16/1925. Although Edwin purchased the Allen house in April 1929, it was his older brother Arthur E. who would occupy the place.
Edwin & Bertha lived at 429 High St. in Lawrence and both brothers were carpenters working for their father Otto.

Arthur Emil Steinert b. Aug. 8, 1888 was the oldest child of the Steinert family. Arthur married in 1923 to Edna Victoria Patterson b. Sept. 16, 1896 in NY, dau. of Henry Samuel & Maria T (Gluck) Patterson. Arthur and Edna had four children; Arthur Patterson b. 1924–d. Jan. 31, 1935, Richard Langdon b. Oct. 9, 1925, and twin girls June Elizabeth and Jean Edna b. March 1, 1930. Tragically Arthur was killed in a sledding accident on which he was riding with his sister June age 4, and friend Carl Erler, age 10, on Kenilworth St. when they crashed into a laundry truck.

Richard was in the Punchard High Class of 1943 and enlisted in the US Navy during the WWII and was Honorably discharged on April 6, 1946. Richard married in Boston in 1947 to Jacquelyn A. Handren. Sisters Jean and June graduated from PHS in 1948. June married in 1956 to Charles O. Carey III and Jean married in 1958 in NYC to James B. Gildersleeve.

The property was conveyed by Edwin to his father Otto Steinert, trustee of his mother Emily’s estate who died in May 18, 1934, in 1944 with all the heirs holding 1/5 undivided shares. Otto died on Sept. 27, 1953. On February 17, 1954 the heirs sold the house to their brother Arthur E. Steinert, wife Edna for $3200.

Arthur and Edna held the property for six more years then sold to Cyr Oil Co. on May 26, 1960. The Steinerts owned for 31 years.

The property was placed into the Cyr Trust and the house was converted into four apartments. It was sold in
On Aug. 15, 1986 to the Home Health Foundation, Inc. and Home Health VNA, Inc. The building was then adapted for assisted living and a Hospice Care facility for 13 years before it closed.
The property was then sold to Chinmaya Mission of Boston on Dec. 15, 1999. The house was then harvested for its interior architectural elements and razed for the construction of the new religious edifice.