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Clarence Emir Allen

8 September 1852—8 July 1932

Born 8 September 1852 in Girard, Erie County, Pennsylvania.1 Son of Edwin R. Allen and Helen M. Anderson.2 Attended Western Reserve College, in Hudson, Summit County, Ohio, 1873–1877.3 Pitched semiprofessional baseball with the Erie Keystones, summer 1876.4 Played collegiate baseball for Western Reserve College, where he is credited with being one of the first collegiate players to use the curveball, 1876.5 Married Corinne M. Tuckerman, 28 November 1877, in Austinburg, Ashtabula County, Ohio.6 Taught Greek at Western Reserve College, 1880–1881.7 Moved to Salt Lake City, 1881.8 Employed as an instructor at Salt Lake Academy, 1881–1886.9 Worked in the mining industry, with short breaks to pursue other opportunities, 1886–1922.10 Served as a member of the Utah territorial legislature, 1888, 1890, 1894.11 Introduced a bill providing free public school education, 1890.12 Served as clerk of Salt Lake County, Utah Territory, 1890–1893.13 Supported a bill that would help the silk industry in Utah, 1894.14 Served as Utah’s first congressman, January 1896–March 1897.15 Died 8 July 1932 in Escondido, San Diego County, California; buried in Salt Lake City.16

Footnotes

  1. 1 U.S. Passport Application for Clarence E. Allen, issued 12 May 1924, no. 412892, U.S., Passport Applications, 1795–1925, ancestry.com.

  2. 2 History of Erie County, Pennsylvania [. . .] (Warner, Beers, 1884), part 6, 53; 1860 U.S. Census, Girard, Erie Co., PA, p. 49.

  3. 3 “Hon. Clarence E. Allen,” Spanish Fork (Utah Territory) Herald, 11 Oct. 1895, [4]; “Allen, Clarence Emir,” in Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774–1949 (United States Government Printing Office, 1950), 772; Catalogue of Officers, Graduates and Students of Western Reserve College and of Adelbert College, 1826–1916 (Western Reserve University Press, 1916), 30. 

  4. 4 “First Curve Ball,” Kent (OH) Stater, 28 Apr. 1927, 3.

  5. 5 James M. Egan Jr., Base Ball on the Western Reserve: The Early Game in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, Year by Year and Town by Town, 1865–1900 (McFarland, 2008), 75; “First Curve Ball,” 3.

  6. 6 Ashtabula Co., OH, Marriage Records, 1812–1951, microfilm 890266, vol. G, p. 493, 28 Nov. 1877, FamilySearch Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (FamilySearch Library hereafter cited as FSL); “Golden Wedding Is Celebrated by Ex-Salt Lakers,” Salt Lake Telegram, 4 Dec. 1927, 5; 1900 U.S. Census, Salt Lake City Ward 15, Salt Lake Co., UT, enumeration dist. 46, p. 215A.

  7. 7 Catalogue of Officers, 12.

  8. 8 “Allen, Clarence Emir,” 772.

  9. 9 “Salt Lake Academy Congregational,” Rocky Mountain Christian Advocate (Salt Lake City), Sept. 1881, 6; “Utah Association,” Salt Lake Daily Tribune, 3 Apr. 1885, [4]; “Allen, Clarence Emir,” 772; “Hon. Clarence E. Allen,” [4].

  10. 10 “Represnntative Mining Men,” Salt Lake Herald, 23 May 1899, 6; “Allen, Clarence Emir,” 772; “Golden Wedding Is Celebrated by Ex-Salt Lakers,” 5; “Democrats Can’t Register,” Salt Lake Herald, 25 Oct. 1900, 6.

  11. 11 Utah State Archives staff, comp., Territory of Utah: Legislative Assembly Rosters, 1851–1894 (Utah State Archives, 2007), 52–56, 61–62; “Allen, Clarence Emir,” 772; “Represnntative Mining Men,” 6.

  12. 12 “The Free School Bill,” Utah Enquirer (Provo, Utah Territory), 28 Jan. 1890, [2]; “For Utah’s Children,” Salt Lake Times, 10 July 1890, 8.

  13. 13 “Are in the Harness,” Salt Lake Herald, 2 Sept. 1890, 3; “Allen, Clarence Emir,” 772; “Hon. Clarence E. Allen,” [4]. 

  14. 14 Emmeline B. Wells, Diary, 7 and 16 Feb. 1894, Diaries of Emmeline B. Wells, Church Historian’s Press, churchhistorianspress.org/emmeline-b-wells.

  15. 15 James Vear Hansen, Congressmen of the First District of Utah, 1994, [1], Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City; “Allen, Clarence Emir,” 772; “Represnntative Mining Men,” 6; Wells, Diary, 6 and 19 Nov. 1895; “Mr. Allen in Congress,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 6 Jan. 1896, 5.

  16. 16 “Clarence E. Allen,” 8 July 1932, 84, California, U.S., Death Index, 1905–1939, ancestry.com; Death Records of Salt Lake City, UT, 1849–Sept. 1950, microfilm 26566, register 1135, 8 July 1932, FSL.