Thomas Allen | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's2nd district | |
| In office March 4, 1881 – April 8, 1882 | |
| Preceded by | Erastus Wells |
| Succeeded by | James Henry McLean |
| Member of theMissouri Senate | |
| In office 1851–1855 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1813-08-29)August 29, 1813 |
| Died | April 8, 1882(1882-04-08) (aged 68) Washington, D.C., US |
| Resting place | Pittsfield Cemetery,Pittsfield, Massachusetts |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Ann Russell |
| Signature | .png) |
Thomas Allen (August 29, 1813 – April 8, 1882)[1] was an American railroad builder and a member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromMissouri.
Allen was born inPittsfield, Massachusetts, to Jonathan and Eunice Larned Allen, and was a grandson ofRev. Thomas Allen, a noted American revolutionary. He attended Pittsfield Academy and Berkshire Gymnasium. He graduated fromUnion College in 1832, where he obtained his degree withPhi Beta Kappa honors and was an early member of TheKappa Alpha Society. He then studied law and was admitted to theNew York bar in 1835. In 1837, he moved toWashington, D.C., where he founded the newspaperThe Madisonian, aDemocratic newspaper.[2] He was the printer of the United States House of Representatives from 1837 to 1839, and printer to theUnited States Senate from 1839 to 1842.
In 1842 Allen married Ann Russell and moved toSt. Louis, Missouri. His father-in-law, William Russell, gave him land in south St. Louis, which he developed as residential property attractive for working-class immigrants. It was the largest tract in St. Louis developed by a single person.[3]
He was a slave owner; an advertisement for a reward for the return of escaped slaves by a "Thomas Allen, Esq." of St. Louis, Missouri, was published in newspapers in 1847.[4][5]
He was elected to theMissouri State Senate in 1850, remaining a member of that body through 1854. Also in 1850, Allen was elected president of thePacific Railroad with the support ofThomas Hart Benton. With his political connections, he arranged for loan guarantees and land grants that helped to start the company.[3] In 1852 he took the first steam locomotive to cross theMississippi River.[1] Following a series of financial crises for the railroad, Allen resigned from the company and returned to land-development.[3] In 1858 he was the organizer of the banking house Allen, Copp & Nisbet. He subsequently sold his railway interests and retired from business. After an unsuccessful run for Congress in 1862, he returned to the railroad business in 1867 with theSt. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway. He was the founder of the Allen professorship of Mining and Metallurgy atWashington University in St. Louis and in 1876 he donated theBerkshire Athenaeum to his hometown ofPittsfield, Massachusetts.
Allen was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives from Missouri in 1881. He sold railroad holdings to fellow railroad developerJay Gould.[3]
In April 1882, Allen died in Washington, D.C., before his first and only term as a member of Congress was complete.[1] He was buried in Pittsfield Cemetery,Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Allenville, Missouri is named after him.[6]
"Allen, Thomas (financier)".The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. 1906. pp. 89–90.| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's 2nd congressional district March 4, 1881 – April 8, 1882 | Succeeded by |
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