Charles Allen (Massachusetts politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charles Allen (son of Joseph Allen and grandnephew of Samuel Adams), was a United States Representative from Massachusetts.

He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on August 9, 1797; he attended the Leicester Academy (1809 - 1811) and Yale College (1811 - 1812) and studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1818 and commenced practice in New Braintree; he returned to Worcester in 1824 and continued the practice of law.

Allen was a Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1830, 1833, 1835, and 1840); he served in the Massachusetts State Senate (1836 - 1837). He was a member of the Northeastern Boundary Commission in 1842; a judge of the Court of Common Pleas (1842-1845) and a delegate to the Whig National Convention at Philadelphia in 1848. He was elected as the Free-Soil Party candidate to Congress (March 4, 1849 - March 3, 1853) and did not seek renomination in 1852.

After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law in Worcester. He was a member of the state's constitutional convention in 1853. He was Chief Justice of the Sufolk County Superior Court (1859-1867)'

He was a delegate to the peace convention held at Washington, D.C. in 1861, in an effort to devise a means to prevent the impending Civil War.

Charles Allen died in Worcester on August 6, 1869, 3 days before his 72nd birthday; he was interred in the Rural Cemetery.

[edit] Source

Preceded by
Charles Hudson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 5th congressional district

March 4, 1849March 3, 1853
Succeeded by
William Appleton