Benjamin Frederick Allen (February 15, 1815 – November 5, 1876) was an American lawyer and politician in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Allen served as the 5th

Secretary of State of Florida The Secretary of State of Florida is an executive officer of the state government of the U.S. state of Florida, established since the original 1838 state constitution. Like the corresponding officials in other states, the original charge of the ...

Early career

Allen was born in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

on February 15, 1815. His brother, Richard C. Allen, moved to

St. Joseph, Florida St. Joseph was a boomtown that briefly became the largest community in Florida, United States, before being abandoned less than eight years after it was founded. St. Joseph was founded in 1835 on the shores of St. Joseph Bay. A brief period of pros ...

by 1825, and became a prominent local politician, serving in the 1838 Florida Constitutional Convention and as a federal district judge in nearby

Apalachicola, Florida Apalachicola ( ) is a city and the county seat of Franklin County, Florida, United States, on the shore of Apalachicola Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. The population was 2,231 at the 2010 census. History The Apalachicola people, after ...

. Allen attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

from 1839 to 1840, and moved to

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In ...

after graduation to take care of his brother, who died shortly after. Allen took occupation as a local lawyer, and was elected to represent Leon County in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

for one term, serving from 1850 to 1851. In 1855, Allen was appointed as the printer for the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

. Allen later served as the editor for the influential Whig Party newspaper the

Florida Sentinel The ''Florida Sentinel'' was a newspaper established in Quincy, Florida, United States and then relocated to Tallahassee, Florida where it was published from 1841 until 1865. Joshua Knowles founded the paper and Joseph Clisby became the paper's ...

, serving in this position from 1856 to 1858. Allen ran as the

Opposition Party Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

candidate in the 1860 United States House of Representatives election for Florida's at-large congressional district, losing to clerk of the Florida House of Representatives

Robert Benjamin Hilton Robert Benjamin Hilton (' Smith; 1821 – January 10, 1894) was an American lawyer, newspaper editor, soldier, and Confederate politician who served in the Congress of the Confederate States during the American Civil War. Biography Hilton was bo ...

, receiving only 40% of the vote compared to Hilton's 60%.

American Civil War and Reconstruction

At the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Allen sided with the Confederacy and joined the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

in 1861, serving as a private in Dyke's Light Artillery Company under the command of Captain Charles Dyke. Dyke's Light Artillery was tasked with the defense of Tallahassee, which was far from the frontlines of the war. Due to this free time, Allen was again elected to the Florida House of Representatives to represent Leon County. Allen was mustered out of the army on January 13, 1863, following his appointment as

after the resignation of Frederick L. Villepigue, who resigned in order to take captaincy of the

Kilcrease Light Artillery The Kilcrease Light Artillery was a Confederate army artillery company. Headed by Captain Patrick Houston and Captain Frederick L. Villepigue, it was formed in Leon County, Florida in the spring of 1863 upon the dividing of the Leon Light Artille ...

. In this position, Allen oversaw the transition of Florida into

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

, and, along with Governor David S. Walker and other state officials, signed off on the resolution recognizing the

Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House of Representative ...

. Allen served as secretary of state until July 4, 1868, when he was succeeded by George J. Alden after an election.

Death

Allen died in

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is n ...

. He's buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Benjamin F. 1815 births 1876 deaths Secretaries of State of Florida Confederate States Army soldiers Editors of Florida newspapers 19th-century American newspaper editors Members of the Florida House of Representatives Florida lawyers Florida Democrats 19th-century American lawyers Florida Whigs 19th-century American legislators People from Tennessee University of Virginia alumni Politicians from Tallahassee, Florida Date of death missing Politicians from Hot Springs, Arkansas 19th-century Florida politicians