Allen Pendergraft was a resident of Álamos for more than 50 years.  He became well known here as an artist, and many of his paintings are hanging in local homes.  He and his cousin, Peter Carroll, bought and restored the house at #12, Juarez.  At the time only one room had a roof, and the house had a large floor cistern that stored rain water for its water supply.  They paid $5,000 for it, and several years later sold it for $8,000.  Peter’s sister Eleanor continued to live in the house as a house-sitter.

    Allen was born in 1918 .  His father owned a dairy farm near Mesa, AZ.  The family had been in the country for many generations, with an ancestor having fought in the Revolutionary War.  The Pendergraft ancestors originally were known as Pendergrass, and they can be traced back to 12th Century Ireland.  Another ancestor was Quantum Parker, a noted member of the Cherokee tribe who settled in Oklahoma on land that was rich in oil.  Parker left money for his descendants, and Allen received money from this fund all his life.

    The employees of his father’s dairy farm were immigrant Mexicans, and Allen early learned a fluent, common Spanish.  While in high school and college it was his habit to go to Rocky Point (Puerto Peñasco) on the Sea of Cortez for school vacations, so he was quite at home south of the border.

    Allen was a skillful artist from his earliest childhood.  He went to school in Mesa, and later graduated from the Arizona State Teachers College (now Arizona State University) in 1939.  He intended to be a teacher of art, but his mother insisted that he study for the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, and Allen submissively went to Seminary in Arkansas--earning a Doctor of Divinity degree.  He married during this time, a lovely woman from France, a registered nurse, and he was sent to work with the Diocese of New Jersey.  In college he had studied art restoration, a skill he used in the churches of the Diocese.  Also, during his ministry with the church, he continued to study of art--taking classes at the Philadelphia Art Institute as well as a few classes in Paris.

    In 1959 Allen’s wife, who worked in area hospitals, contracted a form of tuberculosis that was resistant to antibiotics.  Her death followed, and Allen was so devastated by the loss that his heath failed.  The Diocese granted him a retirement and a pension, which ultimately helped him establish a new career.

    Immediately after his wife’s death, though, and in a state of depression, he went to Mexico intent on drinking himself to death.  Fortunately for him, the drinking only made his sick!  He was out of money at a hotel in Southern Mexico, so the owner gave him a job tending the cash register at the hotel bar.  While at work he met the playwright Tennessee Williams, who was looking for a location for a play he intended to write.  Allen took Williams to Puerta Vallarta, then a small, sleepy fishing village, and Williams proceeded to write “The Night of the Iguana,” putting Allen in the play as the alcoholic priest.  Allen was not pleased with the characterization!

    Soon after he retired from the church, his cousin, Peter Carroll, returned from his military service with an impaired mental capacity; he suffered from paranoia.  Allen had had a close relationship with Peter, and Peter’s mother offered to help financially if Peter could live with Allen.  With the help of art patron Joanne Goldwater (daughter of Sen. Barry Goldwater), who became his agent, Allen embarked on a successful career in art, working from the home he and Peter shared in Sedona.  He painted Western scenes which sold well in galleries in New York City, Washington D.C., and other art centers in the East.  He established himself as a master of his medium.

    Allen and Peter came to Álamos from time to time, and after Allen sold his home in Sedona they decided to make Álamos their permanent residence.  After Peter’s early death, Allen moved to an apartment and settled down as a member of the local estranjero community.  He painted many small canvases of a size to fit into a suitcase, and he often went to the plaza and sell them to tourists for $25 each.  He also painted large canvases, and one large canvas, a picture of the church and the plaza, is in the office of el Museo Costumbriste de Sonora in Álamos.

    Unfortunately, Allen’s vision began to deteriorate.  By 1994 he could no longer see well enough to paint, nor to read.  Mitral degeneration left him with little vision.  At the same time he had developed an inner ear problem that made it necessary for him to have assistance when he walked.  He had help in his apartment, and he often sat in the portal and visited with friends.  Eventually he became bedridden, cared for first by Sr. Urbalejo (who died of a heart attack) and then by his wife, Sra. Josefa Urebalejo.  Sra. Josefa was a retired nurse and cared for him very well.

    In 2004, Allen felt that his strength was diminishing, and he worried about the future for Josefa, who was caring for him so faithfully.  He decided to marry her so that she could have the benefit of his social security and pensions, plus his investments.  Allen died November 22, 2005.