Ebenezer C. Allen (April 8, 1804 – 1863) was Secretary of State and the last Attorney General of the Republic of Texas. He was also Attorney General of the State of Texas. He was an early Texas railroad promoter.

Early life

Allen was born in

Newport, New Hampshire Newport is a town in and the county seat of Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. It is west-northwest of Concord, the state capital. The population of Newport was 6,299 at the 2020 census. A covered bridge is in the northwest. The ar ...

, in 1804 to David and Hannah (Wilcox) Allen.

Legal career and move to Texas

He attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

, graduating in 1826. Allen moved to

Orono, Maine Orono () is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. Located on the Penobscot and Stillwater rivers, it was first settled by American colonists in 1774. They named it in honor of Chief Joseph Orono, a sachem of the indigenous Penobsc ...

, and married Sylvina Morse in 1833. He practiced law there for a time before he went to Galveston, Texas. Charles T. Morrissey, ''Expatriates: New Hampshire and Vermont in Texas'', Dartmouth College Library Bulletin, November 1997
/ref> He arrived during the Texas Revolution and practiced law in Galveston.

Official of the Republic of Texas

On December 9, 1844, Allen was elected Attorney General of the Republic of Texas. He served under President

Anson Jones Anson Jones (January 20, 1798 – January 09, 1858) was a doctor, businessman, member of Congress, and the fourth and last President of the Republic of Texas. Early life Jones was born on January 20, 1798, in Great Barrington, Massach ...

, resigning in July 1845. He then served as acting Secretary of State, during the absence of

Ashbel Smith Ashbel Smith (August 13, 1805 – January 21, 1886) was a pioneer physician, diplomat, slave owner, and official of the Republic of Texas, Confederate officer and first President of the Board of Regents of the University of Texas. Smith was an a ...

, assisting with the annexation negotiations with the United States Government.

Later career

Allen was the primary business leader of the Galveston and Red River Railroad Company when the State of Texas granted the company a charter in 1848. Later the company changed its name to the

Houston and Texas Central Railway The Houston and Texas Central Railway (H&TC), was an 872-mile (1403-km) railway system chartered in Texas in 1848, with construction beginning in 1856. The line eventually stretched from Houston northward to Dallas and Denison, Texas. with branc ...

in the 1850s and Allen continued to lead the company. In 1850, Allen was elected Attorney General 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 (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, serving under Governor

Peter Hansborough Bell Peter Hansborough Bell (May 11, 1810Various sources give multiple dates in May 1810 and May 1812 for Bell's birth. Bell's gravestone uses a May 1812 date.March 8, 1898) was an American military officer and politician who served as the third Gove ...

from 1850 to 1853. He was the first state of Texas Attorney General to be elected, as this position had previously been filled by appointment. In 1861, with Texas' secession from the United States, Allen entered the service of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

. He died in Richmond, Virginia, in 1863. ,

Memorials

The city of

Allen, Texas Allen is a city in Collin County in the U.S. state of Texas, and a northern suburb of Dallas. According to the 2020 U.S. census its population was 104,627, up from 84,246 in 2010. Allen is located approximately twenty miles (32.2 km) nort ...

, which was founded when the Houston and Texas Central Railway built a depot there, was named for Ebenezer Allen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Ebenezer 1804 births 1863 deaths Texas Attorneys General Texas Democrats Texas lawyers People from Galveston, Texas 19th-century American politicians People from Orono, Maine 19th-century American lawyers