Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/93

ALLEN.ALLIBONE. closing months on the staff of Gen. James I. Gilbert. He then read law, was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1869, and practised in Iowa until 1884, when he removed to Nebraska, where in 1891 he was elected a judge of the district court. In 1892 he was chairman of the populist state convention, and was elected to the United States senate in 1893 for the full term, succeeding Senator Paddock. He filled a vacancy in the U. S. senate by appointment from Dec. 13, 1899, to March 28, 1901. ALLEN, Willis Boyd, author, was born at Kittery Point, Me., July 9, 1855, son of Stillman B. and Harriet (Seaward) Allen, and grandson of Horace Allen. He was graduated at Harvard in 1878, and at Boston university law school in 1881. He engaged in practice in Boston, Mass., in 1881. He made a reputation as a writer of children's stories. He is the author of: "Pine-Cone Stories" (6 vols., 1885-'91); "The Red Mountain of Alaska" (1886); "In The Morning," verse (1890); "A Son of Liberty" (1896); "The Great Island" (1897); "Around the Yule Log" (1898); "Navy Blue" (1898); "Cleared for Action" (1899); "The Head of Pasht," and about twenty others. ALLEN, Zachariah, manufacturer, was born in Providence, R. I., Sept. 15, 1795. In 1813 he was graduated from Brown university, and after studying law and medicine was, in 1815, admitted to the bar. He engaged in manufacturing in 1822, and his genius and mechanical skill contributed greatly to develop and advance the industries of Rhode Island. He invented many ingenious applications of motive power, in steam and other machinery, and devised the mutual insurance plan afterward generally adopted by New England manufacturers. He is the author of several practical volumes on science. He calculated the mechanical force of the fall at Niagara to be equal to seven million horse-power. Among his inventions were, in 1821, the first furnace for heating dwellings, and in 1833, an automatic cut-off valve for steam engines, extension rollers, an improved fire-engine, and a storage reservoir for water-power. He was for many years president of the Rhode Island historical society, and a trustee of Brown university for fifty-six years. His family connections, the strong regard cherished for his upright and attractive character, and his many distinguished public services, made him for years to be looked upon as the most prominent and representative person in his state. He was the adviser and benefactor of all educational, charitable, and religious efforts. He published "The Practical Tourist"; "Practical Mechanics"; "Philosophy of the Mechanics of Nature" (1851); "Solar Light and Heat" (1879), and other valued works. Brown university conferred on him the degree of LL.D. in 1851. (See memoir by Amos Perry.) He died March 17, 1882. ALLERTON, Isaac, pilgrim, was born in England about 1583, and embarked in the Mayflower in 1620. He signed the Compact; was a man of property, and accompanied Myles Standish on his visit to Massasoit. He became an agent of the colonists; was sent to England several times, but had a quarrel with them and was dismissed in 1631. He tried to establish himself as a trader on the Kennebec grant and at Penobscot; but his station at the latter post was destroyed by the French. He made several unsuccessful attempts at Machias in 1633, and in 1634 lost a vessel and valuable cargo, when returning from France. He was forced to leave Marblehead in 1635, and was chosen first a burgher, and afterward a member of the council of New Amsterdam in 1643. He resided in New Haven from 1643 until his death in 1659. ALLEY, John Buffum, representative, was born in Lynn, Mass., Jan. 7, 1817. He learned the trade of shoemaker and engaged in the manufacture of shoes until 1886, when he retired. He was one of the originators of the Free-soil movement; a member of Governor Boutwell's council, 1851; state senator, 1852, and chairman of the committee on railroads; member of the state constitutional convention, 1853; represented his state in the 36th-39th congresses, 1859-'67, and served as chairman of the committee on post-offices and post roads. During the civil war he contributed largely to the support of the war and was financial manager of the Union Pacific railroad. He died in Lynn, Mass., Jan. 19, 1896. ALLIBONE, Samuel Austin, author, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., April 17, 1816. He received a liberal education, and was a man of literary taste, but at first did not confine his attention to literature, being in business in his native city. Gradually his leisure hours were spent in literary labor, and, as an amateur, he began the great work with which his name is so widely associated and to which he devoted many years of his life. His home was a fine old colonial mansion, situated on Arch street above Ninth, in Philadelphia, and here he had collected a very large library. He was a devout member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and an earnest Sunday school worker. He published some contributions relating to theological controversy, but eventually concentrated his attention on the "Critical Dictionary of English Literature, and British and American Authors," which, a vast undertaking, gave him little time for other employments. In 1854 the first volume was published and its author became an acknowledged authority on the subjects of which it treated. It was seventeen years before the second and third volumes appeared. His dictionary contains critical and biographical notices of 46,000 British and