The Biographical Dictionary of America/Allen, William (governor of Ohio)

ALLEN, William, governor of Ohio, was born, at Edenton, Chowan county, N. C, in 1807, and being orphaned in the first year of his life was taken by his sister, Mrs. Thurman, mother of Allen G. Thurman, to Lynchburg, Va., where he received his education at a private school and at the Chillicothe academy. He studied law with Edward King, by whom he was taken into partnership on his admission to the bar in 1827. His forensic ability early brought him into prominence at the bar, and his success as a political speaker gave him a nomination for representative in Congress when only twenty-three years old. In 1833 he was elected as a democratic representative to the 23d Congress, where he took a leading part in the prominent discussions, making a notable speech on the Ohio boundary line question, in which he antagonized John Quincy Adams. In 1837 he was elected to the U. S. senate to succeed Thomas Ewing. Before the close of his first term he was re-elected and held his seat until March 4, 1849; was chairman of the committee on foreign relations, and distinguished himself in the dispute, between Great Britain and America in regard to the Oregon boundary; he was the originator of the phrase, "Fifty-four forty or fight." In 1873 he was elected governor of Ohio, the first democrat elected to that office for many years. He was in favor of the strictest economy in the administration of the affairs of the state, and of reduction in taxation. He was re-nominated in 1875, but having espoused the greenback cause he failed of election. He died July 11, 1879.