Stephen Haley Allen (March 19, 1847 – October 26, 1931) was an associate justice of the

Kansas Supreme Court The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as the sta ...

from January 9, 1893 to January 9, 1899.

Early life, education, and career

Born in Sinclairville,

Chautauqua County, New York Chautauqua County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 127,657. Its county seat is Mayville, and its largest city is Jamestown. Its name is believed to be the lone surviving remnant ...

, Allen was educated in the village school,Clark Bell, ed., ''The Medico-legal Journal'', Vol. 18 (1900), p. 74-75. until the end of his formal education in 1862.R. Alton Lee, ''Sunflower Justice: A New History of the Kansas Supreme Court'' (2014), p. 91-92. Thereafter self-taught, he studied civil engineering, and then read law with Hon. Obed Edson to gain

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in Buffalo on May 5, 1869. Allen moved first to Missouri, and then moved to Pleasanton, Kansas, as of February 1, 1870. He practiced law there for twenty years, until 1990.

Judicial service

Allen was elected as a judge of the Sixth Judicial District of Kansas in November 1890. He was defeated in a bid for re-election in 1891, but in 1892 was elected to a six-year term as an associate justice of the Kansas Supreme Court by the combined vote of Democrats and Populists, taking office in January 1893. Allen was the first justice to serve on the court who was not a Republican. On the court, Allen dissented from the court's decision in the 1893 case of ''in re Gunn'', in which two rival versions of the

Kansas House of Representatives The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocke ...

had been organized. The majority of the court decided to take jurisdiction of the case, and held the Republican organization to be the legal one. Allen's dissent asserted that the court had no jurisdiction over the question. Allen was nominated for reelection by both the Populist and Democratic conventions in 1898, but was defeated, along with the balance of the ticket in that election. He then returned to the practice of law in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat ...

Death

Allen died in Topeka at the age of 84. Pallbearers at his funeral included then-Chief Justice

William Agnew Johnston William Agnew Johnston (July 24, 1848 – January 23, 1937) was a Kansas State Representative in 1875, Kansas State Senator, justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from December 1, 1884, to January 12, 1903, and chief justice from January 12, 1903, ...

, Justice

Frank Doster Frank Doster (January 19, 1847 – February 25, 1933) was a chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from January 11, 1897, to January 12, 1903. Early life, education, and career Born in Morgan County, Virginia in 1847, Doster spent most of hi ...

, and federal judges

George Thomas McDermott George Thomas McDermott (October 21, 1886 – January 19, 1937) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for ...

and

Richard Joseph Hopkins Richard Joseph Hopkins (April 4, 1873 – August 28, 1943) was a justice of the Kansas Supreme Court and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Education and career Born in Jefferson City, ...

."Court in Tribute to a Former Member", ''The Manhattan Mercury'' (October 28, 1931), p. 1.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Stephen Haley 1847 births 1931 deaths People from Chautauqua County, New York U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court