Charles Herbert Allen (April 15, 1848 – April 20, 1934) was an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and businessman. After serving in state and federal elected positions, he was appointed as the first United States-appointed civilian

governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico ( es, gobernador de Puerto Rico) is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and commander-in-chief of the Puerto Rico National Guard. The governor has a duty ...

when the U.S. acquired it after the Spanish–American War. He previously had served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

. After returning to the U.S. from Puerto Rico, Allen headed for

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

and became a vice president of Morton Trust Company and its successor, the Guaranty Trust Company of New York. He formed the

American Sugar Refining Company American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

—a sugar syndicate which, by 1907, was the largest in the world. It owned or controlled 98% of the sugar processing capacity in the U.S. and was known as the Sugar Trust.Cesar J. Ayala, ''American Sugar Kingdom;'' University of North Carolina Press, 1999; pp. 45–47."Sold Beet Sugar Stock: President Allen Says Sugar Trust Tried to Conform to the Law," ''New York Times''; April 1, 1914. Allen was treasurer of American Sugar Refining in 1910, its president in 1913, and in 1915 he joined its board of directors. In the early 21st century, the company is known as

Domino Sugar Domino Foods, Inc. (also known as DFI and formerly known as W. & F.C. Havemeyer Company, Havemeyer, Townsend & Co. Refinery, and Domino Sugar) is a privately held sugar marketing and sales company based in Yonkers, New York, United States, that ...

Early life

Allen was born in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

, on April 15, 1848, to Otis and Louisa (Bixby) Allen. He attended public and private schools. He did his undergraduate work at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

, where he graduated in 1869.Charles Herbert Allen Congressional Bio.
/ref> He worked with his father in their company, Otis Allen and Son, a lumber business that manufactured wooden boxes and sold railroad ties, housing frames, and road building materials.

Political career

Allen joined the Republican Party and was elected to two terms in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

in 1881 and 1882; and one term in the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the ...

in 1883. He was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Congresses, serving March 4, 1885 to March 3, 1889. In 1890, Allen was nominated for governor of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

by the Republicans, but was defeated by William E. Russell. In 1884, he received the title "Colonel," when Governor

George Dexter Robinson George Dexter Robinson (born George Washington Robinson; January 20, 1834 – February 22, 1896) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Chicopee, Massachusetts. After serving in the Massachusetts General Court and United States ...

appointed him to his personal staff. He also was appointed as the Massachusetts Prison Commissioner from 1897 to 1898. In 1898 President

named Allen as Assistant

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

when

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

resigned the post to enter the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

. He held this position from 1898 to 1900.

Governor of Puerto Rico

When the war ended, President McKinley appointed Allen as the first civilian

, and he served from 1900 to 1901. Though Allen had a business background, his financial administration of Puerto Rico has been criticized by historians Thomas Aitken, Jr. and Manuel Maldonado-Denis. The

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...

for the island's government was raised internally, mostly from

tariffs A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and polic ...

sales taxes A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a gover ...

and

property taxes A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...

. During Allen's tenure this annual

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...

equaled the 4.4 million

peso The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the Dollar sign, same sign, "$", as many currencies na ...

s the Spanish had spent in 1897, but without expenses for a five-thousand man

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

or the former contributions to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church.Thomas Aitken, Jr.; ''Luis Munoz Marin: Poet in the Fortress,'' pp. 60–61; Signet Books/New American Library, 1965 Due to this reduced overhead, the island should have had a substantial budget surplus, but Allen's administration did not provide many benefits for the people. He ignored the appropriation requests of the Puerto Rican House of Delegates, and refused to make any

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, agricultural or

small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...

loans. He built roads at double the old costs. 85% of the school-age

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

did not have schools. Instead of making needed infrastructure and education investments, Allen re-directed the insular budget to

no-bid contracts Multisourcing is the concept of working with multiple suppliers who are also competitors. Large-scale buyers, such as the U.S. federal government, may want to feel assured that there is more than one supplier for an item. It has been described as ...

for U.S. businessmen,

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

subsidies for U.S.-owned sugar

plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

, and high

salaries A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. ...

for U.S.

bureaucrats A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", w ...

in the island government.Manuel Maldonado-Denis; ''Puerto Rico: A Socio-Historic Interpretation'', pp. 70–76; Random House, 1972 Allen was also listed as one of the "Politicians in the Lumber and Timber Business in Puerto Rico." By the time Allen left in 1901, nearly all of the governor's 11-member Executive Council were U.S. expatriates. Half the appointive offices in the government of Puerto Rico had been given to visiting Americans, 626 of them at top salaries.

Life after politics

After resigning as governor in 1901, Allen headed to

and joined the House of Morgan as vice-president of both the Morgan Trust Company and the Guaranty Trust Company of New York. Through these connections, he built a sugar syndicate in Puerto Rico. By 1907 this syndicate, the

, owned or controlled 98% of the sugar processing capacity in the United States and was known as the Sugar Trust. By 1910 Allen was treasurer of the American Sugar Refining Company, by 1913 he was its president, and by 1915 he sat on its board of directors. While Allen built the largest sugar syndicate in the world, his political appointees in Puerto Rico provided him with land grants, tax subsidies, water rights, railroad easements, foreclosure sales and favorable tariffs.Federico Ribes Tovar; ''Albizu Campos: Puerto Rican Revolutionary,'' pp. 122–144, 197–204; Plus Ultra Publishers, 1971 Today, the Allen sugar syndicate is known as

Private life

Allen had married Harriet C. Dean of

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Hamp ...

, in 1870, and they lived in Lowell on Rolfe Street, at their home called " The Terraces", today part of UMass Lowell. They raised two daughters, Bertha and Louise. While Allen and his family were living in Puerto Rico when he was governor, his daughter Bertha Allen married naval officer George W. Logan in 1900. Their wedding was at the Palace, the governor's residence. The second daughter, Louise Allen (1875–1953), became a sculptor and a member of many artistic societies. Her son, Allen Hobbs, was a hydrographer in the US Navy. He was appointed as the 32nd

Governor of American Samoa This is a list of governors, etc. of the part of the Samoan Islands (now comprising American Samoa) under United States administration since 1900. From 1900 to 1978 governors were appointed by the Federal government of the United States. Since ...

when it was a military position. Allen pursued a variety of leisure interests. He was an avid

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, and completed twenty-seven landscape and marine paintings. These are held in the Allen Collection of the

Whistler House Museum of Art The Whistler House Museum of Art is the birthplace of painter and etcher James McNeill Whistler. It is located at 243 Worthen Street, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA, and is open as a museum displaying works from the museum collection and shows by ar ...

in Lowell. Interested in gardens, he ensured that the grounds of his home, "The Terraces," were planted with gardens, fountains, a pergola, and a large gazebo. The latter can be seen in photographs of the Allen House Collection,

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

Center for Lowell History.Allen House Collection
University of Massachusetts, Center for Lowell History It was donated by Walter E. Hayes, his groundskeeper. Charles Herbert Allen died in Lowell and is buried in Lowell Cemetery. A memorial was created to honor his name.

Legacy and honors

* The Terraces, is now called Allen House and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. It is within the boundaries of the South Campus of the

University of Massachusetts Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Massachusetts public u ...

References

General sources

* ''Davenport's Art Reference'' 2001–2002, page 73 * ''Courier Citizen,'' April 21, 1934 * Whistler House Museum of Art files

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Charles Herbert 1848 births 1934 deaths Amherst College alumni Governors of Puerto Rico Republican Party Massachusetts state senators Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Politicians from Lowell, Massachusetts Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Republican Party (Puerto Rico) politicians United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy