John William ALLEN, Congress, OH (1802-1887)

ALLEN, John William, (son of John Allen), a Representative from Ohio; born in Litchfield, Conn., in August 1802; attended preparatory schools; moved to Chenango County, N.Y., in 1818, where he received a classical education and studied law; moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1825 and continued the study of law; was admitted to the bar in 1826 and commenced practice in Cleveland; president of the village 1831-1835; member of the board of directors of the Commercial Bank of Lake Erie upon its reorganization in 1832; one of the incorporators of the Cleveland & Newburg Railroad Co. in 1834 and an organizer of the Ohio Railroad Co. in 1836; served in the State senate in 1836 and 1837; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1837-March 3, 1841); was not a candidate for reelection; elected mayor of Cleveland in 1841; elected president of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad in 1845; delegate to the first convention on river and harbor improvement, held in Chicago in 1847; appointed postmaster of Cleveland by President Grant on April 4, 1870, reappointed April 4, 1874, and served until his resignation January 11, 1875; one of the first bank commissioners of Ohio; died in Cleveland, Ohio, October 5, 1887; interment in Erie Street Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present