More than a half-century ago, on December 16, 1959, Bishop and Mrs. Randolph Claiborne drove up U.S. Highway 41 (this was before Interstate 75) to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Dalton. The purpose of this trip was to ordain to the priesthood a young new clergyman, Frank Kellogg Allan. The following report of that visit can be found in Bishop Claiborne’s Diary, published in the January 1960 issue of The Diocesan Record:

“December, 1959—Morning, desk work. Afternoon, Dalton. At 6 p.m. I attended a dinner given by St. Mark’s vestry in honor of their deacon-in-charge; at 7:10 p.m. at St. Mark’s Church I confirmed 10 and addressed the confirmation class. At 7:30 I ordained to the Priesthood the Rev. Frank K. Allan, who was presented by the Rev. Harry Tisdale (of Holy Trinity, Decatur) The Rev. W. Russell Daniel (St. Peter’s, Rome) preached the sermon. After the service I attended a reception for the newly ordained priest.”

Frank Allan continued as the rector of St. Mark’s through 1967. He went on to serve three other parishes: St. Peter’s, Columbia, Tenn.; St. Paul’s, Macon; and St. Anne’s, Atlanta. He was elected bishop coadjutor of Atlanta in 1986, became diocesan bishop in January 1989, and retired in 2000. Following retirement he was for six years the Episcopal bishop-in-residence in the Candler School of Theology at Emory and founded the arts support organization, The Work of Our Hands. He also founded and currently directs the Mikell Folk School, headquartered at Mikell Camp and Conference Center, Toccoa, Georgia.

His partner in all endeavors is his wife, Elizabeth Ansley Allan, and they remain citizens of Atlanta.