William Allen (August 13, 1827 – July 6, 1881) was a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Representative from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

during the early part of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, serving two terms from 1859 to 1863.

Early life and career

Allen was born near

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Cincinnati along the Great Miami River, Hamilton is the second-most populous city in the Cincinnati metropolitan area and the List of municipaliti ...

, where he attended the public schools. As a young man, he taught school, then studied law. Allen was admitted to the bar in 1849 and commenced practice in

Greenville, Ohio Greenville is a city in Darke County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is near Ohio's western edge, about northwest of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton. The population was 12,786 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Indigenous ...

, in 1850. He was the prosecuting attorney of Darke County from 1850 until 1854.

Congress

Allen was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1863), where he served as chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Interior (Thirty-seventh Congress).

Later career and death

He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1862 and resumed the practice of law. He became affiliated with the Republican Party at the close of the Civil War and was appointed judge of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

of the second judicial district in 1865. He declined the Republican nomination for election to the Forty-sixth Congress in 1878 because of failing health. He was interested in banking until his death in Greenville, Ohio, in 1881. He was buried in Greenville Cemetery.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, William 1827 births 1881 deaths People of Ohio in the American Civil War Politicians from Hamilton, Ohio Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio People from Greenville, Ohio County district attorneys in Ohio Ohio Republicans 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives