The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1873-09-04
William AIIeIi.

following reference to lew incidents
in the early life of the Bourbon can
didate for Governor
Mr.. Allen was born in North Caro-
lima, and in his younger days was q
saddler. While yet boy he walked
to Ohio, and settled in Ross county
He studied and practised law at Chill
Ecothe, and became a rising man
about 1880, when he was elected tc
the United States House Of Repre-
sentatives, as a Democrat, by ma
jority Of one vote over Gov. Duncan
Macarthur. The vote which gained
him the victory is. said to have been
cast by Wing. While travelling on
foot, in his boyhood, to Ross county,
he stopped at a farm house at time
when his pecuniary resources were
about exhausted. The lady of the
house was favorably impressed with
the young traveller, and befriended
him. During the contest with Nc
Arthur for Congressional honors, in
a speech somewhere in the district,
Mr., Allen referred to the incident
The woman who had befriended him
happened to be in the audience, and
recognized him, and pleased at his
advancement induced her husband to
vote for him.
The Congressional contest was an
exceedingly spirited one, and is noted
in the ancient political history of
Ohio. When Allen was nominated
by the Democrats for Congress,
Macarthur was Governor of Ohio, and
the Wing nominee for reelection to
the same office. There were two
Wing candidates for Congress in the
field, but they both agreed to with
draw when Macarthur consented to
withdraw from the gubernatorial con-
test and enter the lists for Congress.
To divide the Democratic vote, Gen.
Murphy was induced to come out as
q Democratic candidate, but he only
got fifty votes, and, as before stated,
Allen had majority of one over
Macarthur
The unwritten history of the old
times attaches little romance in this
connection. At the beginning of the
Congressional contest Allen was the
lover of McArthurs daughter, and
between them there was an engage
ment to be married. But it is said
that after McArthur's defeat, the
Governor broke off the matrimonial
engagement, and the lady afterward
married a Kentucky gentleman, who
died before. the expiration of Aliens
term in the House. Gov. Macarthur
died about the same time.
At this point we deem it proper to
bring in another little romance, not
entirely foreign to the main story
The bitterness of politics in those
days seems to have been carried into
social circles. 1t is stated that a
gentleman who was an ultra Demo
crat, and a great admirer of the then
rising young man, Allen G. Thurman,
had a daughter who, much to her
fathers chagrin, married Whig.-
In making his will the old gentleman
disposed of his property to his
daughter in such a way that the
Wing husband could not acquire title
in it. This lady also became widow;
she afterward met Allen G. Thurman,
the admired of her father, and is now
Mrs. Senator Thurman.
It was at the wedding of Judge
Thurman that Mr.. Allen again met
Miss Macarthur, (by this time the
widow of the Kentucky gentleman.)
The old love was renewed; they were
married and lived happily together
until the death of Mrs. Allen, which
occurred before the expiration of Mr..
Aliens Senatorial tenn. Mr.. Allen
has ever since been widower.
Mr.. Allen was elected to the United
States Senate at the Legislative ses-
sion of 1856, by majority of one
vote, and commenced his term with
Van Buren. He was reelected about
1S42. He was cotemporary with
Clay, Webster, Benton, and other
men distinguished in the councils Of
the nation, and his rank was among
the leading politicians of the day
During the administration of Presi
dent Polk, he was chairman of the
committee on Foreign Relations
When Polk repudiated the demand
'54.40 or fight" for Oregon, Allen
denounced the administration as hav.
ing deceived, and the President as
having spoken falsely to him. He
Indignantly resigned the chairman
ship, a course in which he was warmly
justified by General Cass, the mex
man on the committee, and who de
clined to succeed to the Craftsmanship
the natural Parliamentary course.
''What shall I give my boy to maxi
him honored and respected? 2? writes
an afectionate father Education
and moral precepts were once requir
ed to accomplish this purpose, but
diamond pin now covers the ground
A Pennsylvania preacher, Will
holding services recently gave thank
in a fervent prayer for the prosperou
condition of the crops, excepting
oh Lord, the corn, which is backward
and the oats, which are mighty thi.
in spots"
There is now hardly a leading cit
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