William Vincent Allen (January 28, 1847January 12, 1924) was an American jurist and twice a
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
from
Nebraska.
Early life
Allen was born in
Midway, Ohio
Midway (also called Sedalia) is a village in Range Township, Madison County, Ohio, United States. The population was 269 at the 2020 census.
Midway is also called "Sedalia" by some sources. Addresses with its ZIP code, 43151, are officially ...
. He moved with his parents to
Iowa in 1857, where he attended the common schools and
Upper Iowa University
Upper Iowa University (UIU) is a private university in Fayette, Iowa. It enrolls around 6000 students and offers distance education programs that include 15 centers in the U.S., an online program, an independent study program, and centers in ...
at
Fayette, Iowa
Fayette is a city in Fayette County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 1,256. It was named after the Marquis de la Fayette, French hero of the American Revolutionary War. Fayette is the home of Upper Iowa Univ ...
.
[Marquis Who's Who, Inc. ''Who Was Who in American History, the Military''. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1975. P. 8 ]
He married Blanche Mott, born in Tidionte, Warren county, Pennsylvania, though most of her life was spent in Iowa. Her parents moved to that state when she was ten years old. Here she was educated, and married at Fayette, Iowa, to Hon. William V. Allen, May 9, 1870. Four children, three daughters (Lulu, Willa and Edith) and one son.
He served as a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
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* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
with the
32nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 32nd Iowa Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Service
The 32nd Iowa Infantry was organized at Camp Franklin, Dubuque, Iowa and mustered in for three years of Federal service ...
during the
Civil War.
Political and legal career
He then studied law at
West Union, Iowa
West Union is a city in Fayette County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,490 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Fayette County.
History
Originally called Knob Prairie, the community was founded by William Wells ...
and was admitted to the
bar
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* Candy bar
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* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
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* Bar (u ...
in 1869. Allen practiced in Iowa until 1884 when he moved to
Madison, Nebraska. He served as
judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
of the district court of the ninth judicial district of Nebraska from 1891 to 1893.
Allen was the permanent chairman of the
Populist State conventions in 1892, 1894 and 1896. Allen was elected as a Populist to the
United States Senate by the Nebraska State Legislature and served from March 4, 1893, to March 3, 1899. During his term, he served as the chairman of the Committee on Forest Reservations and Game Protection (
Fifty-fourth and
Fifty-fifth Congresses). Allen championed various bills for public buildings and drought relief along the
Missouri River Valley and authored the bill that would establish the 1898
Trans-Mississippi Exposition in
Omaha, Nebraska.
Allen was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1899. After that, he was appointed and subsequently elected judge of the district court of the ninth judicial district of Nebraska and served from March 9, 1899, to December 1899, when he resigned to return to the Senate, because he was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his successor,
Monroe L. Hayward. He served from December 13, 1899, to March 28, 1901, when a successor was elected; he was not a candidate for election to the vacancy.
Allen then resumed the practice of law in
Madison Madison may refer to:
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* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
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* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
, where he was again elected judge of the district court of the ninth judicial district of Nebraska in 1917 and served until his death.
Committee assignments
At various times during his tenure as a United States Senator, Allen served on 10
standing committees and 3
select or special committees.
During his first term in the Senate, he chaired the
Select Committee on Forest Reservations, and retained his chairmanship when the committee became the standing
Committee on Forest Reservations and the Protection of Game during the
54th Congress
The 54th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1895, ...
. When he returned to the Senate for his second term during the
56th Congress
The 56th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1899, ...
, he was again appointed to this committee, but did not serve as chairman.
[Official Congressional Directory. 56th Congress, 1st session. 2nd edition. Page 134 (1900)]
Death
He died in
Los Angeles, California on January 12, 1924, and was interred in Crown Hill Cemetery at
Madison, Nebraska.
Works
"Necessity of the People's Party,"''The Arena,'' vol. 30, no. 4 (Oct. 1903), pp. 410–414.
References
;Other sources used
* ''American National Biography''
* ''Dictionary of American Biography''
* at the
Nebraska State Historical Society
* Coletta, Paolo E. "A Tempest in a Teapot? Governor Poynter's Appointment of William V. Allen to the United States Senate." ''Nebraska History,'' vol. 38 (June 1957), pp. 155–163.
* Hoelscher, David W. "Genuine Populist: William V. Allen in the United States Senate, 1893-1901." M.A. thesis, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2003.
External links
1898 bio w/photo*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, William Vincent
1847 births
1924 deaths
People from Madison County, Ohio
People's Party United States senators from Nebraska
Nebraska Populists
Upper Iowa University alumni
Nebraska state court judges
People from West Union, Iowa
People from Madison, Nebraska