[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 8, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E20]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      HONORING HERBERT ALLEN, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 8, 2014

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a long 
standing black farmer, Mr. Herbert Allen, Sr. of ``Allen Farm''. He and 
his family are residents of Silver City in Humphreys County, MS where 
generations of Allens have been farming since the 1940s, which gives 
them over 70 years.
  The story of the Allen family as black farmers includes major 
setbacks, but they are still in operation today. Grandpa Nathan Allen 
started with 40 acres of land in an effort to provide a decent living 
for himself, his wife, and 6 children. After he died, his son Herbert 
Allen, Sr. began operating the 40-acre farm and grew it into 323 acres. 
Herbert and his wife, Nomie, raised 9 children on that small and hard 
to come by income because again the challenges of the black families 
were real. In fact they raised most of the food they used to feed their 
family.
  Mr. Speaker and colleagues, the odds have been great and many: 
Depression, rainy and dry crop years with little to sometimes no 
government compensation, floods, bad loans, too little loans, and other 
unfortunate things, but again, through it all they survived.
  Herbert Allen, Sr. operated the farm for over 50 years until his 
death in 2006, then Herbert, Jr. and his brother, Freddie, took over 
the operation. Although the two brothers managed the daily affairs, it 
was still a family affair involving all the siblings. There are several 
spinoff businesses that have been developed: Allen Recycling (Canton 
and Yazoo City, MS), Allen Heating and Air (Gulfport, MS), and Allen 
Cattle Ranch (Silver City, MS).
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Mr. Herbert 
Allen, Sr., a black farmer from Mississippi's Second Congressional 
District.

                          ____________________