Santa
Clara County
Biographies
PROF.
CHARLES H. ALLEN
PROF. CHARLES H. ALLEN. The patriotic spirit which has characterized
the Allen family ever since the first of the name in America crossed the ocean
to the colonial possessions of England, inspired a father to leave his family
at the outbreak of the Revolutionary war and suffer all the hardships incident
to exposure, scanty food, insufficient clothing, forced marches and frequent
attack from a powerful enemy until finally he fell on the battlefield, a victim
of the cause of liberty and independence.
In the family of this Revolutionary soldier was a son, Col. Almon Allen, who was born in Pennsylvania and there served
as colonel of the state militia. Many
vicissitudes at times threatened his large business interests; three times his
woolen factory in Massachusetts burned to the ground and twice water wrecked
the entire plant, but in spite of these discouragements he achieved more than
ordinary commercial success. His wife,
who bore the maiden name of Polly Bates, was the daughter of a Revolutionary
soldier. They became the parents of
seven children, all of whom attained mature years, Charles H. being the
fourth of the number. One of the sons,
Darwin D., now deceased, was a talented inventor. As indicative of their inheritance of
patriotism, it may be stated that one son, Fordyce (now deceased), served in a
Pennsylvania regiment during the Civil war; George, a resident of Syracuse,
N.Y., was a member of a New York regiment, while Charles H. held the
office of captain in Company D, Fortieth Wisconsin Infantry.
The life which this narrative outlines
began at Mansfield, Tioga county, Pa.,
February 11, 1828. It was the
desire of the parents to give their children every advantage for starting in
life, and hence Charles H. Allen was sent to local schools, also attended
Coudersport Academy for a term, and later was a student at Jamestown, N.Y. However, a spinal curvature affected his
nerves to such an extent that physicians counseled him to abandon all mental
labor and give his attention to a trade.
Following this suggestion, he took up mechanical work and soon became an
expert cutler. Fate, however, had other
purposes in view for him and called him out from his workshop while he was
still a mere boy. At the age of fifteen
he was called to finish a term of school, the teacher having been compelled to
resign owing to sickness. At the end of
the term, such had been his success that he was chosen for the same position at
a larger salary than the meagre wages previously paid him. While teaching he became interested in
Abbott’s “Teacher,” Page’s “Theory and Practice of Teaching,” and “My School
and Schoolmasters.” From the reading of
these works he dates his interest in educational work. For the first time he began to look upon the
teacher’s life as something besides the hardest drudgery. The shaping of the mind of the child, the
impressing upon youth habits of study, training them into a love for the best
in reading and preparing them for useful positions wherever destiny might lead
them, all these things assumed their due importance in his mind. Realizing that no career
could surpass in value that of a teacher, he resolved to fit himself for the
profession as a life occupation.
To secure needed money, he taught in common schools during winters and
worked at his trade in summers, utilizing his means to continue his studies in
Westfield Academy.
While teaching at Busti,
N.Y., Professor Allen was granted a New York state teacher’s certificate, and
soon afterward became an instructor in Smethport Academy, in McKean county, Pa., where he soon became principal. About the same time he began institute work,
in which later he achieved wide success and a national reputation among
educators. However, his constitution,
none too robust, was undermined by his arduous mental labors, and he regained
his health only by taking up work in the open air. As a surveyor he aided in laying out a tract
of land first purchased by Ole Bull for a Danish colony, but afterward bought
by a German colony. On resuming
educational work he became associate principal of a normal school at
Westchester, Pa., and during the vacation he went to Wisconsin to take charge
of several institutes. Upon the
resignation of Chancellor Barnard, as agent of the Normal School Regents of
Wisconsin, Mr. Allen was elected to the position, and placed in charge of
the institute work and the supervision and examination of normal classes. During the next few years he held institutes
in almost every part of the state, after which he opened a private normal class
in the Madison high school building, and at the same time accepted the position
of city superintendent of schools.
Before the expiration of a year the university regents invited him to
take charge of a normal department in the state university. Accepting the invitation, he became an
instructor in the normal department.
Against much opposition he succeeded in getting the regents to permit
women to attend the university, and the credit for this most important work
belongs to him. During the Civil war he
raised a company of students, with whom, as captain, he went to Memphis,
serving until the expiration of the one hundred days of enlistment.
Failing health again compelled Professor
Allen to relinquish educational work and for a time he engaged in the life
insurance business in Cincinnati. On
returning to Wisconsin he served as president of the normal school at
Platteville, the first institution of the kind in the state. When his health again became undermined he
came west, hoping to be benefited by a change of climate. At Portland, Ore., he opened the Bishop Scott
grammar school, of which he was headmaster for eight months and which is now
conducted as an academy. On becoming
stronger he returned to Wisconsin and remained a year as institute agent. While there he was elected professor of natural
sciences in the normal school at San Jose, and after a year in that capacity,
August 4, 1873, he was elected principal of the institution. In addition to the work of principal he had
charge of the completion of the old building, the erection of a new building
and the improvement of the grounds. For
one year he was principal of the Los Angeles Normal School and had charge of
the erection of a building there. The
normal school building at Chico also received a share of his attention. After seventeen years of the most arduous
work in California, he retired from his position owing to another failure of
health. The board of trustees of the San
Jose institution regretfully accepted his resignation, in view of the fact that
a long absence from work was imperative for the preservation of his life. Desiring to give appropriate and emphatic
expression of their appreciation of his labors, the members of the board passed
the following resolution:
“Resolved,
That in the retirement, on account of ill health, of Prof. Charles H.
Allen, the State Normal School at San Jose is deprived of the services of a
competent and faithful educator, a wise counselor and friend, a conscientious,
painstaking and talented fellow-laborer, and an honest, large-hearted Christian
gentleman; that we part with him in unfeigned sorrow and regret, not only on
account of personal esteem and regard for his many able qualities, but also by
reason of the vast scope, important and high moral and intellectual character
of the work that he has accomplished during his connection with the school, the
board, and the educational affairs of the state generally; that he goes from
among us with our best wishes and deepest sympathies, and that the state ought
not to forget, as it assuredly never will, one who has done such grand work in
her moral and intellectual behalf.”
After his resignation in 1889 Professor
Allen turned his attention to horticultural work and ranching in the Santa Cruz
mountains, where the change of occupation, rest from
metal cares and dry mountain air restored him to health. For eight months, during 1893, he had charge
of the California educational exhibit at the World’s Fair in Chicago, and there
also assisted in the horticultural department of the California exhibit. In March, 1899, he was appointed assistant
postmaster at San Jose, which position he has since filled. From the organization of the Republican party to the present time he has never swerved in his
allegiance to its principles, yet politics in his life has always been
secondary to patriotism. He is a member
of John A. Dix Post, G.A.R. In
religion an Episcopalian, for thirty years he has officiated as a senior warden
in his denomination. While making
Wisconsin his hone he was elected president of the State Teachers’ Association,
and a similar honor was conferred upon him after his removal to
California. Initiated into Masonry in
Madison, Wis., and raised to the Chapter degree in that state, he is now
connected with Friendship Lodge No. 10, F.&A.M.,
and the San Jose Commandery, K.T. His marriage, which was solemnized in New
York, united him with Miss Abbie A. Phelps, a native of Marshall,
Mich., and a daughter of Judge Phelps, of Calhoun county.
During her girlhood Mrs. Allen had
the advantage of attending Leroy Seminary in New York, of which institution she
is a graduate. The children comprising
their family are named as follows:
Jessie G., Mrs. Pascoe, of San Jose; Carl H., who is with
the Wells-Fargo express Company in Alameda, this state; Mrs. Harriet Ray
and Mrs. Dora L. Moore, both of Alameda.
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 402-403. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Donna Toole.