Big City Law Firm Has Lunenburg Origin

Courthouse law office project off to solid start in Lunenburg - Founder of Allen & Allen began practice at County seat, 1910

Source: The Courier Record

Thursday August 4, 2011 - Page 9

The Lunenburg County Historical Society met on Sunday, July 31, 2011 to celebrate the completion of Phase I of its project to make the two law offices at Lunenburg Court House available to the public. 

When the project is completed, the building constructed in 1842 would become the Lunenburg Visitor Center.

The second would become a museum, with some original furnishings used by Isaac Bonaparte Bell, the illustrious Lunenburg attorney who had his law office constructed in 1888.

Phase I of the project saw the buildings repaired and preserved for the future with new coats of paint, weather-tight windows and doors, and shutters that replicated ones that had disappeared during the long history of the buildings.

Subsequent phases will include interior repairs and updates, installation of modern heating and cooling devices, the final furnishings of the buildings for their new roles, in addition to making the building compliant with ADA accessibility standards. 

The Society views this as a four-phase project.  It hopes to complete each phase with a budget of $10,000 or less.  The expenditure by the society of approximately $10,200 resulted in the completion of Phase I.

Completion of these additional phases will require considerable money, approaching possibly as much as $30,000.  The Allen Law Firm has pledged $10,000 to the project, if the society can raise the needed funds to complete the project. 

The Allen Law Firm, which celebrated its 100^th anniversary in 2010, has agreed to give its donation as a means of honoring its founder, George E. Allen, Sr. 

It was in 1910 at the Lunenburg County seat that the senior George Allen, the firm’s founder and a native of Lunenburg, began his practice of law, before moving his practice to Victoria, and later in the 1930’s to Richmond, where his three sons eventually joined him in the firm. 

While living in Victoria, Mr. Allen was elected the town’s youngest ever mayor and went on to represent Lunenburg County in the Virginia General Assembly.  In 1973, his family presented the County with a handsome portrait of George Allen that proudly hangs in one of the anterooms on the second floor outside the courtroom.

At the Historical Society Meeting, Project Manager Steve Israel of Kenbridge made an outstanding PowerPoint presentation, along with “living history” re-enactments of attorneys Woodson and Bell, the original owners of the law offices. 

Following delicious refreshments coordinated by Betty Boyle and provided by LCHS members, those in attendance were able to go outside to the front lawn of the law office buildings to see the work that had been completed in Phase I.

At the July 31^st meeting of the Lunenburg County Historical Society, nine members of the family of George Allen, Sr., were in attendance.  Shown here on the porch of the historic Lunenburg Court House are (left to right) Ashby Bridgforth Allen, the second son of George Allen, Sr. and one of the original four Allens in the law firm of Allen, Allen, and Allen; Patricia Allen Winters, daughter of the firm’s founder, George Allen, Sr.; Beth Allen Cuthbert, George Allen’s granddaughter, a retired partner of the firm; Charlie Cuthbert, husband of Beth Cuthbert; and Ryan D. Winters, great grandson of George Allen, Sr. (Missing from the photo:  George E. “Ted” Allen, III, grandson of the senior George Allen and one of the practicing partners in the firm; Becky Allen, Mr. Ashby Allen’s daughter, and granddaughter of George Allen, Sr.; Bridgforth Allen, son of Ashby Allen, and grandson of George Allen, Sr.; Austin H. Winters,  Mrs. Winter’s son, and grandson of George Allen.)

Related News

• Lunenburg County Courthouse Law Office Renovations | Allen & Allen | Virginia Personal Injury Lawyers
• Lunenburg Historical Society Secures Donation: The Allen Law Firm Pledges $10,000 To Law Office Restoration

Related Attorneys

• George Edward Allen III
• Ashby B. Allen (Retired)
• Elizabeth M. Allen (Retired)