When John Axel Allen was born on 15 May 1864, in Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland, his father, Theodore Allen, was 26 and his mother, Marie Renberg, was 22. He married Emma Sophia Forslund about 1886. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 1 daughter. He lived in Butte, Silver Bow, Montana, United States in 1900. He died on 25 July 1936, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States, at the age of 72, and was buried in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States.