Representative Alfred Gaither Allen

Alfred Gaither Allen (July 23, 1867 – December 9, 1932) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served three terms as a U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1911 to 1917. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, and as a member of the House of Representatives he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his constituents in Ohio.

Allen was born on a farm near Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio, on July 23, 1867. He attended the public schools of Wilmington and completed his secondary education at Wilmington High School, from which he graduated in 1886. Raised in a rural setting, he benefited from the expanding system of public education in late nineteenth-century Ohio, which prepared him for advanced legal study and a professional career.

Following high school, Allen pursued legal education in Cincinnati. He enrolled in the Cincinnati Law School, where he was a member of the legal fraternity Phi Delta Phi, and graduated in 1890. In the same year he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Cincinnati, Ohio. Establishing himself in the city’s legal community, he built a professional reputation that would support his later entry into public office.

Allen’s early public service began with his appointment as a United States commissioner, a position he held from 1896 to 1900. In this federal role he performed various judicial and administrative functions associated with the federal courts. Active in Democratic Party politics, he served as a delegate to the Democratic state conventions in Columbus in 1901 and 1908. At the municipal level, he was elected to the Cincinnati city council, serving from 1906 to 1908, and subsequently was a member of the board of sinking-fund trustees of Cincinnati from 1908 to 1910, overseeing aspects of the city’s financial obligations and bonded indebtedness.

On December 10, 1901, Allen married Clara B. Forbes in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the daughter of M. S. Forbes, president of the Forbes Brothers’ Tea and Spice Company, and a graduate of Smith College. The couple had two children and were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, reflecting both their social standing and religious affiliation within the community.

Allen was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-second, Sixty-third, and Sixty-fourth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1911, to March 4, 1917. During these three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, he contributed to the legislative process at a time marked by Progressive Era reforms and the approach of American involvement in World War I. As a Representative from Ohio, he participated in the democratic process and worked to represent the interests of his district’s constituents. After three consecutive terms, he declined renomination in 1916.

Upon leaving Congress, Allen resumed the practice of law in Cincinnati, returning to the profession in which he had been engaged before his election to federal office. He remained active in Democratic Party affairs and served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention held in San Francisco in 1920. Within the legal community, he attained a leadership role as president of the Cincinnati Bar Association in 1925 and 1926, reflecting the esteem in which he was held by his professional peers.

Allen continued to reside in Cincinnati until his death on December 9, 1932. He died in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his remains were interred in Sugar Grove Cemetery in Wilmington, Ohio, returning him to the community near where he had been born and educated.