My grandmother told me that she named my Daddy after Richard Allen who was the founder of the A.M.E. Church.
Allen did not look back. She would have her children listen to Methodist preachers: rich, poor, slaves, black and white, were equal.

Sharing history of the A.M.E. Church which Charlotte and myself have. We have roots in the A.M.E. Church, as well as sharing about our daddy. My late grandmother Virtie Davis Allen and my Aunt Joesphine would take my sister, Charlotte and me to the A.M.E. Church with her on sundays. We attended St. Paul and or St Peter A.M.E. Church. We might have attended both of them in Mo. My grandmother told me that she named my Daddy after Richard Allen who was the founder of the A.M.E. Church. The A.M.E. Church from the beginning was a missionary institution. Richard Allen (founder of the A.M.E. Church) was the first American Negro at this time to pursue recognition for his people as the oppressed minority. He fought a good fight and if he did not achieve all that he had planned to do, no one can say that he lost. For he never walked off the battlefield. Allen did not look back. He was a slave and he had purchased his freedom; so he was now free. Allen had the hope - belief that one day all slaves would be free and saved, both from sin and bondage. In 1780, Richard Allen had reached the age of twenty years. Allen's mother had inspired in him, the one thing that shaped his life was "Freedom is something the soul yearns for from birth." His mother was a loving and devoted mother. She would have her children listen to Methodist preachers: rich, poor, slaves, black and white, were equal. The A.M.E. Church had been the first in many movements. When Allen knelt in prayer in St. George's Methodist Church, the usher attempted to pull Allen and fifteen other friends of theirs off their knees. Allen went on with his prayer, withstanding the struggle of the ushers, other people witnessed this horrible sight. When the prayer was finished Allen and his friends, rose and quickly left St. George to never return. As a result, Richard Allen and fifteen other friends met in a blacksmith's shop and organized the A.M.E. Church; and eventually, they secured a building in which they could worship God. Negroes called themselves African Americans; not Afro-Americans -- this was according to the A.M.E. Church standards. The New Church went to court in 1784 and won the rights of free worship, and property ownership. In 1816, at the first General Conference, Allen was elected bishop. The A.M.E. Church was a missionary church in the beginning. These consecrated men were dedicated and had pledged themselves to travel ..... and carry the banner .... of the A.M.E. Church; giving no thought of the dangers that they would encounter in travelling, as they struggle to fulfill the great commission of the LORD. The Womens's Missionary Societies of the A.M.E. Church was the strongest and most fruitful organizations ever established by this denomination. My daddy passed away (retired CW3 Ervin Richard Allen) on September 20, 2003 which just happened to be Succoth. He was buried in The National Cemetery. My late grandmother had traveled to France, Switzerland, Germany, England, California, Massachesetts, Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey and Canada. At one time my late grandmother was a member of the St. Paul A.M.E. Church as well as the St. Peters A.M.E. Church. She later joined the United Methodist Church.