Biography

02/04/1835 - 09/23/1904

Brevet Brigadier General Harrison Allen (R28) Mercer, Venango and Warren Counties 1870-1871 (R30) Erie and Warren Counties 1872 

Early Life:

Brevet Brigadier General Harrison Allen, born December 4, 1835, Russellburg, Warren County, Pennsylvania; son of Samuel P. and Mary Thompson Allen; rural schools education, Jamestown Academy, New York, Randolph Academy, New York, and Fredonia Academy; brevet brigadier general, Civil War, 1861-1865; lawyer; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1865-1866; at large delegate, Soldier’s National Convention, 1868; delegate, Republican National Convention, 1868; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1870-1872; elected, Auditor General, 1872-1875, unsuccessful campaign, reelection, Auditor General, 1874; Delegate, Chicago National Republican Convention, 1880; unsuccessful campaign, United States Congress, 1882; appointed, United States Marsha, Dakota Territory, 1882-1886; elected, chair, Republican Central Committee of the Dakota Territory; 1886-1888; Commander, Grand Army of the Republic, 1887; Unsuccessful campaign, United States Congress, 1888; appointee, President Theodore Roosevelt, deputy auditor, Office of the Auditor, United States Post-Office Department, 1901-1904; married twice, first to Anna Elizabeth Page Allen (d.1896), daughter, Maude B. Allen, then Susanna C. Wade Allen; died, mitral insufficiency with heart failure, September 23, 1904, Washington, District of Columbia; interment, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia. 

Early Career:

Major, 39th Regiment, 10th Pennsylvania Volunteer Reserve, Civil War, 1861-1862; colonel, 151st Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, 1862-1863; engaged in action, Drainesville, Union Mills; Belle Plain; Point Conway diversion; Fredericksburg-Chancellorsville; Pollock’s Mill Creek; Gettysburg; and Williamsport, Maryland; Funkstown, Maryland, Falmouth (Fredericksburg), Virginia; brevet brigadier general, United States Volunteers, Civil War, 1865. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1865-1866; not a candidate for reelection, 1867.  

At large delegate, Soldier’s National Convention, Chicago, 1868; delegate, Republican National Convention, 1868, Ulysses Grant.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 28th district, Mercer, Venango and Warren Counties, 1870-1871; member, Estates and Escheats, Election Districts, Education, Public Buildings and New Counties and County Seats. 

Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 30th district, Erie and Warren Counties, 1872; committee assignments, Congressional Apportionment, Estates and Escheats, Judiciary Local, Military Affairs, Public Printing. 

Elected, Republican, Auditor General of Pennsylvania, 1872-1875. 

Unsuccessful campaign, reelection, Auditor General, 1874.   

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Delegate, Chicago National Republican Convention, 1880.  

Unsuccessful campaign, United States Congress, 1882.

Appointed, President James A. Garfield, President Chester A. Arthur, United States Marshal, Dakota Territory, 1882-1886. 

Elected, chair, Republican Central Committee, Dakota Territory, 1886-1888. 

Commander, Grand Army of the Republic, 1887. 

Unsuccessful campaign, United States Congress, 1888. 

Appointee, President Theodore Roosevelt deputy auditor, Office of the Auditor, United States Post-Office Department, 1901-1904. 

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Official Website - PA House Archives Official Website (state.pa.us) 

Legacy: 

Great grandnephew of General Anthony Wayne. 

Brother, Orrin C. Allen, Pennsylvania State Senate, Venango and Warren Counties, 1887-1890.

Orrin C. Allen  - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

First wife, Anna Page, widow, Colonel George Cobham, killed, Battle of Peach Tree Creek, 1864. 

Cited: 

Cox, Harold. Senate Members "A" (wilkes.edu). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1870). Smull, J.A., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 433, 438-440.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1872). Smull, J.A., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 502, 506-508.

List of American Civil War brevet generals (Union) - Wikipedia

Warren To Dakota To DC | News, Sports, Jobs - Times Observer 

Harrison Allen (1835-1904) - Find a Grave Memorial