Charles Herbert Allen | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 8th district |
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In office March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1889 |
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Preceded by | William A. Russell |
Succeeded by | Frederic T. Greenhalge |
1st appointed U.S. civil governor Governor of Puerto Rico | |
In office May 1, 1900 – September 15, 1901 |
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Preceded by | George Whitefield Davis |
Succeeded by | William Henry Hunt |
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives | |
In office 1881–1882 |
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Member of the Massachusetts Senate | |
In office 1883 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Lowell, Massachusetts |
April 15, 1848
Died | April 20, 1934 Lowell, Massachusetts |
(aged 86)
Political party | Republican |
Charles Herbert Allen (April 15, 1848 – April 20, 1934) was an American politician and businessman. After serving in state and federal elected positions, he was appointed as the first United States-appointed civilian governor of Puerto Rico when the U.S. acquired it after the Spanish–American War. He previously had served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley.
After returning to the U.S. from Puerto Rico, Allen headed for Wall Street and became a vice president of Morton Trust Company and its successor, the Guaranty Trust Company of New York. He formed the American Sugar Refining Company—a sugar syndicate which, by 1907, was the largest in the world. It owned or controlled 98% of the sugar processing capacity in the U.S. and was known as the Sugar Trust. Allen was treasurer of American Sugar Refining in 1910, its president in 1913, and in 1915 he joined its board of directors. In the early 21st century, the company is known as Domino Sugar.
Allen was born in Lowell, Massachusetts to Otis and Louisa (Bixby) Allen. He attended public and private schools. He did his undergraduate work at Amherst College, where he graduated in 1869. He worked with his father in their company, Otis Allen and Son, a lumber business that manufactured wooden boxes and sold railroad ties, housing frames, and road building materials.
Allen joined the Republican Party and was elected to two terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1881 and 1882; and one term in the Massachusetts Senate in 1883. He was elected as a Republican to the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Congresses, serving March 4, 1885 to March 3, 1889. In 1890, Allen was nominated for governor of Massachusetts by the Republicans, but was defeated by William E. Russell.