Elisha Hunt Allen (January 28, 1804 – January 1, 1883) was an American congressman, lawyer and diplomat, and judge and diplomat for the

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island ...

Early life

Elisha Hunt Allen was born January 28, 1804, in

New Salem, Massachusetts New Salem is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 983 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History New Salem was first settled in 1737 and was off ...

. His father was Massachusetts minister, lawyer, and politician

Samuel Clesson Allen Samuel Clesson Allen (January 5, 1772 – February 8, 1842) was a U.S. politician from Massachusetts during the first third of the 19th century. He began his career as a member of the Federalist Party, but later became a staunch supporter of ...

(1772–1842) and mother was Mary (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Hunt) Allen (1774–1833). He attended

New Salem Academy New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

and graduated from Williams College in 1823.

Career

Allen was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1825 and commenced practice in Brattleboro, Vermont. In 1830 he moved to

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

and entered into practice with John Appleton (born 1804), who would subsequently become Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court. Appleton would also marry Allen's sister Sarah in 1834. Allen was a member of Bangor's first City Council, from 1834, and from 1835 to 1840 was a member of the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...

, representing Bangor. He served as its Speaker in 1838. From 1841 until 1843, he served in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

as a member of the Whig party, but his district (

Maine's 8th congressional district Maine's 8th congressional district is a former congressional district in Maine. It was created in 1833 and was eliminated in 1843. Its last congressman was Elisha Hunt Allen Elisha Hunt Allen (January 28, 1804 – January 1, 1883) was an ...

) was eliminated before the next election based on census data. He ran in the 1842 election against Hannibal Hamlin but was defeated. Following this loss, Allen ran for the Maine Legislature once more, serving one term before moving from Bangor to Boston in 1847 and being elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1849.

Kingdom of Hawaii

From 1850 to 1853, he was United States Consul in Honolulu, Hawaii under president Millard Fillmore. He realized the potential for the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

to provide agricultural products to the growing number of people in the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

and tried to negotiate a trade treaty but failed. When he was replaced by an appointment from the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

president

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

in August 1853, he decided to stay due to the severe shortage of legal professionals, and became a citizen of the

. Within weeks he was appointed Minister of Finance for King

Kamehameha III Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (March 17, 1814 – December 15, 1854) was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name is Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula K� ...

replacing

Gerrit P. Judd Gerrit Parmele Judd (April 23, 1803 – July 12, 1873) was an American physician and missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaii who later renounced his American citizenship and became a trusted advisor and cabinet minister to King Kamehameha III. He ...

, and from 1854 to 1856 served in the House of Nobles. He openly advocated annexation of the islands by the United States, and opposed French and British influence. However, when King

Kamehameha IV Kamehameha IV (Alekanetero ʻIolani Kalanikualiholiho Maka o ʻIouli Kūnuiākea o Kūkāʻilimoku; anglicized as Alexander Liholiho) (February 9, 1834 – November 30, 1863), reigned as the fourth monarch of Hawaii under the title ''Ke Aliʻi ...

(who was considered pro-British) came to the throne in 1855, the annexation idea was put on hold. During Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma's wedding in 1856, he offered his own wedding band to the king to allow the ceremony to continue. In June 1856, Allen sailed back to New England and remarried in Philadelphia. The newly married couple returned to Honolulu, where from June 1857 through February 1877, Allen was chief justice of the Kingdom of Hawaii Supreme Court. The Allens' first-born son, Frederick, was born ten days after Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa, and the two children became playmates. The prince died when he was only four years old.

Minister to the United States

From 1856 until his death in 1883, Allen served as Minister Plenipotentiary from the Kingdom of Hawaii to the United States. In August 1864, he served as Chancellor for the coronation of King

Kamehameha V Kamehameha V (Lota Kapuāiwa Kalanimakua Aliʻiōlani Kalanikupuapaʻīkalaninui; December 11, 1830 – December 11, 1872), reigned as the fifth monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Kingdom of Hawaiʻi from 1863 to 1872. His motto was "Onipaʻa": i ...

under the new

1864 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii Events January–March * January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song " ...

. In 1864, he tried again to negotiate a trade treaty. During the American Civil War sugar shipments from the American South were interrupted, increasing the demand from Hawaii. In 1867, he bought a

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

plantation in an area called

Princeville, Hawaii Princeville is a unincorporated area mostly consisting of master-planned homes and condos on the north shore of the island of Kauai in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 2,158 at the 2010 census, up from 1,698 at the 2000 cen ...

after the young Prince brought up with his son. He negotiated for the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 which this time was signed by

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

. The treaty removed tariffs but gave the U.S. the use of Pearl Harbor, which was not a popular concession with

native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

. He left his son

William Fessenden Allen William Fessenden Allen (1831–1906) was an American businessman in the Kingdom of Hawaii and Republic of Hawaii. Life William Fessenden Allen was born December 19, 1831 in Bangor, Maine. His mother was Sarah Elizabeth Fessenden. His father was p ...

from his first marriage in charge of the plantation, and went to Washington, D.C. to work out details of the trade agreement. He returned briefly to Hawaii, but his two children from his second marriage were back in the United States, so he resigned his supreme court post and went back to Washington in February 1877. The plantation did not live up to his hopes. By 1879 it was losing money, in debt with a mortgage, and needed a new manager. He wondered if it was doomed to a fate similar to the prince for which it was named. Finally the plantation paid dividends starting in 1882.

Personal life and death

In 1828, he married Sarah Elizabeth Fessenden, the daughter of William Fessenden and niece of author Thomas Green Fessenden. They had four children before her death in 1845, including: * Ellen Fessenden Allen (1831–1881), who married George Tiffany. After his death, she married Henry Adams Patterson, and, thirdly,

Charles Coffin Harris Charles Coffin Harris (1822–1881) was a New England lawyer who became a politician and judge in the Kingdom of Hawaii who firmly supported the monarchy as an independent nation. After serving in a number of cabinet posts, he became chief justi ...

(1822–1881), her father's successor as Chief Justice and Chancellor. *

(1831–1906), who married Cordelia Church Bishop (1837–1912), cousin of banker Charles Reed Bishop. William also served as Collector-General of the port of Honolulu. * Elisha Hunt Allen Jr. (1836–1906), who served as Hawaiian consul in New York and who married Julia Anne Herrick (1839–1913). * Sarah Fessenden Allen (1837–1901), who married Dr. William Palmer Wesselhoeft (1835–1909), one of the founders of the

Massachusetts Homeopathic Hospital Massachusetts Homeopathic Hospital was a homeopathic institution in Boston, Massachusetts, at which the first successful kidney removal in New England was performed. Established by an act of the Massachusetts legislature in 1855, the hospital ope ...

. In June 1856, he sailed back to New England and married Mary Harrod Hobbs (b. 1808) (sometimes spelled Hobbes) in Philadelphia on March 11, 1857. Mary was daughter of another former Maine legislator Frederick Hobbs. Together, they were the parents of two children, including: *

Frederick Hobbes Allen Frederick Hobbes Allen (May 30, 1858 – December 3, 1937) was an American international lawyer and soldier during World War I who was prominent in New York Society during the Gilded Age. Early life Allen was born on May 30, 1858. He was the son ...

(1858–1937), who served as his father's secretary, graduated from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1883, and become a law partner of his firm Adams & Allen in New York. * Mary Allen He died from a heart attack at the

White House New Year's Reception The White House New Year's Reception was an annual public reception held at the White House every New Year's Day from 1801 to 1932. Attendees were able to go inside the White House to greet and shake the hand of the president of the United States ...

for the Washington Diplomatic Corps given by president Chester Arthur at the White House on January 1, 1883, shortly before his 79th birthday. Allen is one of ten people known to have died inside the White House. He is interred in

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...

in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

References

External links

*
Elisha Hunt Allen papers, 1849-1934
The Library of Congress. {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Elisha Hunt 1804 births 1883 deaths People from New Salem, Massachusetts American people of English descent Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maine Ambassadors of the United States to Hawaii Hawaiian Kingdom Finance Ministers Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom Privy Council Members of the Hawaiian Kingdom House of Nobles Chancellors of the Hawaiian Kingdom Chief justices of the Hawaiian Kingdom Ambassadors of the Hawaiian Kingdom Speakers of the Maine House of Representatives Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Bangor City Council members Lawyers from Brattleboro, Vermont Williams College alumni Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery