William Fitch Allen

William Fitch Allen

William Fitch Allen (born July 28, 1808 in Windham County , Connecticut , † June 3, 1878 in Oswego , New York ) was an American lawyer and politician ( Democratic Party ). The Lieutenant Governor of New York and New York State Comptroller Sanford E. Church was his cousin mother. Her two mothers were sisters.

Career

William Fitch Allen, eldest son of Cynthia Palmer and Abner Harvey Allen, was born in Windham County in 1808. His childhood was marked by the British-American War . Nothing more is known about his youth. He graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, in 1826 . He then studied law at John C. Wright's office in Esperance, New York and at CM and ES Lee's office in Rochester, New York. He was admitted to the bar in 1829 and then led a legal practice with George Fisher in Oswego (New York) until 1833 . He then entered into a partnership with Abraham P. Grant in 1834 , which he continued until his election to the New York Supreme Court . He was a supervisor in the town of Oswego in 1836 and 1837 . The following years were overshadowed by the economic crisis of 1837 .

Allen was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1843 and 1844 . From 1845 to 1847 he was the successor to Joshua A. Spencer United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York . During his tenure, the Mexican-American War occurred . He was a judge on the New York Supreme Court from 1847 to 1863 and an ex officio judge on the New York Court of Appeals in 1854 and 1862 . His term in office was overshadowed by the civil war. In 1863 he moved to New York City , where he continued his practice as a lawyer.

He was elected New York State Comptroller in the 1867 election and re-elected in 1869. He held the post from 1868 until his resignation in June 1870.

In a by-election for the New York Court of Appeals in 1870, he was elected judge. In July 1870 he became one of the first judges at the new court after its reorganization due to the amendment of the state constitution in 1869. He held the post of judge until his death in 1878 in Oswego.

Web links

• William Fitch Allen on the New York Courts website

• William Fitch Allen in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Johnson, Crisfield: History of Oswego County, New York , LH Everts & Co., Philadelphia ( Pennsylvania ), 1877, p. 202
2. ^ The New York civil list , Weed, Parsons and Company, 1858, p. 255
3. ^ Obituary - Judge William Fitch Allen , The New York Times, June 4, 1878