Augustus Chapman Allen
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the founder of Houston, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. For the Virginia politician and lawyer, see Augustus A. ChapmanAugustus A. ChapmanAugustus Alexandria Chapman was a 19th century politician and lawyer from Virginia.-Biography:Born in Union, Virginia , Chapman studied law as a young adult. He was admitted to the bar in 1825 and commenced practice in Union...
.
Augustus Chapman Allen (1806–1864), along with his younger brother, John Kirby Allen
John Kirby Allen
John Kirby Allen was born in Canasareaugh, near Syracuse in the U.S. state of New York. He, along with his older brother, Augustus Chapman Allen, founded Houston, Texas in 1836. John Kirby Allen was never married...
, founded the City of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. He was born on July 4, 1806, in Canasareaugh, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, to Sarah (Chapman) and Roland Allen.
Early years
Not long after turning seventeen, Augustus graduated from the Polytechnic Institute at Chittenango, New YorkChittenango, New York
Chittenango is a village located in Madison County, New York, in the United States. The village is in the south part of the Town of Sullivan. The population was 5,081 at the 2010 census.- History :...
and started teaching mathematics there. In 1827, he changed careers and resigned his professorship. He then went to work as bookkeeper for the H. and H. Canfield Company, New York. After two years, he and his brother John bought an interest in the business. In the summer of 1832, the Allen brothers left Canfield to move to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, where they settled in San Augustine. By June 1833, the brothers had moved to Nacogdoches.
In Texas
The Allen brother arrived first in Galveston, TexasGalveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
and then moved to the small town of Saint Augustine. In 1833, Augustus Allen and his brother associated with a group of entrepreneurs in Nacogdoches and started operating a business as land speculators.
During the Texas Revolution
Instead of joining the army when the Texas War of Independence started, Augustus and his brother engaged in the business of keeping supply channels open. At their own expense they outfitted a ship, the BrutusTexan schooner Brutus
The Texan schooner Brutus was one of the four ships of the First Texas Navy that wreaked havoc on towns along the coast of Mexico, blockaded Mexican ports, and captured ships bound for Mexico with goods and munitions of war during the Texas Revolution.Her final, and most controversial, voyage was...
, for the purpose of protecting the Texas coast and assisting troops and supplies from the United States to arrive safely in Texas.
Nevertheless, some members of the Texas provisional government objected to the Allen brothers' activities, and there were rumors that they were engaged in privateering. In January 1836, they sold the Brutus to the Texas Navy, and it became only the second ship in the fledgling Texas navy. Augustus and John Allen continued to raise money and operate as receivers and dispensers of supplies and funds for the war effort without charge. In spite of the brothers' services, gossip and censure were aimed at the Allens because they were not in the armed services.
After the Revolution
Financed by an inheritance received by Augustus's wife, Charlotte, on August 26, 1836, the Allen brothers purchased 6,600 acres (27 km²) along the Buffalo BayouBuffalo Bayou
Buffalo Bayou is a main waterway flowing through Houston, in Harris County, Texas, USA. It begins in Katy, Fort Bend County, Texas and flows approximately east to the Houston Ship Channel and then into Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico...
for $5,000, for the purpose of establishing a new city. At the suggestion of Charlotte, they named their townsite for the hero of the time, General Sam Houston
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
.
In the years after his brother John's death in 1838, the Allen family grew apart and began to squabble about the family's various businesses and finances, which had been somewhat commingled. These family disputes eventually led to Allen's separation with his wife in 1850.
Later life and legacy
Soon, Allen's health began to fail, and he decided to leave Houston, signing over to his wife, whom he had never divorced, most of what remained of his many enterprises. Augustus Allen relocated to MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to tend to his health and a new start in life.
In 1852, Augustus was appointed United States consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
for the port of Tehuantepec
Tehuantepec
Tehuantepec is a city and municipality in the southeast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the Istmo Region. The area was important in pre Hispanic period as part of a trade route that connected Central America with what is now the center of...
on the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, and in 1858 he was given the same position for the port of Minotitlán. These offices gave him control of the consular affairs of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for the entire Isthmus of Tehuantepec
Isthmus of Tehuantepec
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, and prior to the opening of the Panama Canal was a major shipping route known simply as the Tehuantepec Route...
, a commercially important position.
Allen, in partnership with an Englishman named Welsh, developed an extensive private shipping business. He was never able to recover his health, however, and realized, in 1864, that he was critically ill. Augustus then closed his business and went to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to resign his consulships. Soon after arriving there he contracted pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, from which he would not recover.
Augustus Allen died on Monday, January 11, 1864 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and was buried in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Several Houston landmarks, including Allen Parkway
Allen Parkway
Allen Parkway is an arterial road west of Downtown Houston, Texas. It has a distance of approximately 2.3 miles , running from Interstate 45 west to Shepherd Drive, where it becomes Kirby Drive...
, Allen Center as well as Allen's Landing
Allen's Landing
Allen's Landing is the birthplace of the city of Houston—the largest city in the U.S. state of Texas. In August 1836, just months after the Republic of Texas won its independence from Mexico, two brothers from New York—John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen—purchased 6,642 acres in...
Park, immortalize Augustus and his brother, the city's two founders.
New York Times (New York, NY), Fri., 15 Jan 1864, p. 5, c. 3
New York Herald (New York, NY), Fri., 15 Jan 1864, p. 8, c. 3
DIED - ALLEN - In Washington, D.C., on Monday, Jan. 11, Augustus C. Allen. His friends are invited to attend his funeral, which will take place from the Church of the Transfiguration, 29th st., this day (Friday) 15th inst., at 10 A.M.
External links
- Augustus Chapman Allen at findagrave.com