Year: 1934
Allie Willis Page was born around 1871 and spent her life in Roanoke, Virginia, where she built a home with her husband, George Page. George worked as a laborer at the Norfolk and Western Machine Shop, while Allie contributed to the household as a laundress. By the time of her death, both appear to have retired after many years of labor. The couple lived at 239 9th Avenue and raised a family that included their son, Lowell, and, according to later census records, adopted several children—Annie, William H., Willie, and Katie—who appear to have been taken into the household later in life.
Allie died on December 26, 1934, from paralysis brought on by high blood pressure, a condition that was often difficult to manage in an era before modern treatments. Her life reflects the steady, often unrecorded labor of working families in Roanoke, as well as the generosity of a household that opened its doors to additional children. She is remembered as part of that enduring family story.
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