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The Regar Collection

The Regar Collection was donated to the Stetson University Library in 2008 by Donald Allen Regar and his four children, Donald Allen Regar, Jr., Alison Regar Betancor, Allen William Regar, and Adam Frederick Regar.

The Regar family members are direct descendents of the Allen family that had strong ties to early DeLand. Donald Regar's great grandparents, James Frederick "Fred" Allen and his wife Calista Doble Allen, arrived in DeLand in 1875 after Fred had served in the Civil War in 1864-1865.

They built a house at 516 N. Woodland Boulevard across the street from what would become the DeLand Academy (later Stetson University). The home now houses the University's Public Relations and Communications Department. They watched as construction began on the first campus building, DeLand Hall, and Fred promised the builders he would furnish the school with "some scholars."

Fred kept his promise; four of his surviving children attended Stetson. One daughter, Mabel Allen, was in attendance in 1886, shortly after the Academy (the equivalent of a high school) and the University opened for business.

Another daughter, Fannie Norton Allen, also attended the Academy, graduating in 1902, and then taking elective courses in the College in 1904. She later married William John Regar of Tampa and they had a son, Jeffred Allen Regar, who is donor Donald Regar's father. Although Donald and his children did not attend Stetson, they considered the alma mater of four of their DeLand ancestors to be a fitting home for their great and great, great grandparents' treasures.

The collection includes 13 Civil War era letters written by James Frederick Allen before, during, and after he became a prisoner of war at Andersonville Prison, the spoon Allen used at Andersonville, the Bible he had in prison, and a number of other family keepsakes. The collection also includes more than 200 family photos.

Regar Collection

• Regar Collection
• Civil War Letters
• Civil War Items
• Family Keepsakes
• Allen-Regar Photos
• Newspaper Clips