The Biographical Dictionary of America/Allen, William Vincent

ALLEN, William Vincent, senator, was born at Midway, Madison county, Ohio, Jan. 26, 1847. At the age of ten he emigrated with his family to Iowa, where he attended the common schools, and for a time studied at Upper Iowa university. Soon after the outbreak of the civil war he volunteered as a private in the 32d Iowa infantry, and served till the close of the war, during the closing months on the staff of Gen. James I. Gilbert. He then read law, was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1869, and practised in Iowa until 1884, when he removed to Nebraska, where in 1891 he was elected a judge of the district court. In 1892 he was chairman of the populist state convention, and was elected to the United States senate in 1893 for the full term, succeeding Senator Paddock. He filled a vacancy in the U. S. senate by appointment from Dec. 13, 1899, to March 28, 1901.