The Biographical Dictionary of America/Allen, John Henry

ALLEN, John Henry, mariner, was born at St. Andrews, West Indies, in 1836. In 1861 he joined the navy as an ensign, and served in the western gulf blockading squadron, winning for his gallant action in the battle of Mobile the command of the Selma. At the close of the war he became a ship-master and owner. From 1880 he resided in Brooklyn, N.Y. He published "The Fruits of the Wine Cup: a Drama in Three Acts"; "Decline of American Shipping: its Cause and Remedy" (1884); "The Spanish-American Reciprocity Treaty" (1885); and "The Tariff and Its Evils; or, "Protection Which Does Not Protect" (1888). On Dec. 8, 1889, he sailed for Queenstown in his ship Bridgewater, and was drowned on the voyage, probably in January, 1890.