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 st ...

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 (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the population was 127,657. Its county seat is Mayville, New York, Mayville, an ...

, 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 in Buffalo on May 5, 1869. Allen moved first to Missouri, and then moved to

Pleasanton, Kansas Pleasanton is a city in Linn County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,208. History In 1864, General Alfred Pleasonton defeated the Confederates in the Battle of Mine Creek near present-day Pleasant ...

, 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. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...

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 language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

Death

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