William Allen (governor)
| William Allen | |
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| 31st Governor of Ohio | |
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In office January 12, 1874 – January 10, 1876 |
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| Lieutenant | Alphonso Hart |
| Preceded by | Edward F. Noyes |
| Succeeded by | Rutherford B. Hayes |
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United States Senator from Ohio |
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In office March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1849 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas Ewing |
| Succeeded by | Salmon P. Chase |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 7th district |
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In office March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835 |
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| Preceded by | Samuel Finley Vinton |
| Succeeded by | William K. Bond |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 18 or 27, 1803 Edenton, North Carolina |
| Died | July 11, 1879 (aged 75) Fruit Hill, Chillicothe, Ohio |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Effie McArthur |
William Allen (December 18 or 27, 1803 – July 11, 1879) was a Democratic Representative, Senator and 31st Governor of Ohio.
Allen was born in Edenton, North Carolina and moved to Chillicothe, Ohio in 1819, after his parents' death. He was of Quaker ancestry.
Allen and his sister Mary Granberry Allen lived in Chillicothe together. His sister married Reverend Pleasant Thurman, and their son, Allen G. Thurman, followed in his uncle's footsteps, becoming a lawyer and politician.
Allen attended Chillicothe Academy before studying law with Colonel Edward King. He was admitted to the bar in Ohio at age 21. He began his career as a politician in the Democratic Party at a young age.
Allen served as United States Representative from Ohio from 1833 to 1835, losing his bid for re-election. He served as United States Senator from Ohio from 1837 to 1849, losing a bid for a third term in 1848.
While in the Senate, Allen was one of a group of Western Democrat expansionists who asserted that the U.S. had a valid claim to the entire Oregon Country, which was an issue during the 1844 U.S. presidential election. He suggested that the United States should be prepared to go to war with the United Kingdom in order to annex the entire Oregon Country up to Russian-owned Alaska at latitude 54°40′N. This position ultimately produced the slogan "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!," coined in 1846 by opponents of such a policy (not, as popularly believed, a slogan in the 1844 Presidential campaign). Allen supported "popular sovereignty" and the presidential candidacy of fellow-Democrat Lewis Cass in 1848.
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