1848-49
HISTORY
Orlando Allen
was born in New Hartford, Connecticut on January 10, 1803. In
1819, Orlando came to Buffalo
to study medicine in family friend, Dr. Cyrenius Chapin
's, office. The following year his family moved to Fredonia,
New York.
"At the time I came to live with Dr. Chapin,
his dwelling was on the northeast corner of Swan and Pearl
Streets' his office was on the second floor of a wooden
one and a half story building, on the Main Street front
of his lot...the first floor of which was at this time occupied
by Mr. George Keese as a drug store."
Mr. Allen began by keeping track of the doctor's
accounts. Buffalo
was a small hamlet at the time, and many of the doctor's patients
could not afford to pay him. Therefore, he relied on his
more wealthy patients to keep his finances flowing. Dr.
Chapin would return from his trips and Allen would sit and
write all he told about each visit, attempting to keep track
of the accounts.
Allen soon realized he had no real desire to study
medicine and was more inclined to take on the administrative
side of the business. "He soon began relieving the
doctor of a large portion the labors and cares that lay
outside of his professional duties. He kept the doctor's
accounts, made his collections, superintended his farming
operations, gathered and drew the farm produce to the house
and kept a vigilant eye on all the doctor's interests."
"He succeeded, however, in gaining sufficient knowledge of the scalpel and prescription case to enable him to render
considerable assistance to his preceptor."
Dr. Chapin was a friend of the Indians of the area
and instructed Allen to learn their native tongue, so he
could be an interpreter. Thereafter, when Dr. Chapin was
not present, Allen would prescribe for the minor ailments
of the Indians.
In the autumn of 1820, William Keese, who occupied
the first floor of the building in which Dr. Chapin's office
was, decided to sell his business. Dr. Chapin decided to
buy it, as long as Orlando, and Hiram Pratt
would tend to it. Shortly after, Pratt became a partner in the
business with Dr. Chapin. Chapin & Pratt operated for
a year, until Pratt bought out Dr. Chapin's share.
"In the autumn of 1820, the first agricultural
fair ever held in what was then known as Niagara County,
was held in the village of Buffalo
Dr. Chapin was president of the society, and owned five
farms." Allen made sure that the doctor's animals all
arrived at the fair by personally traveling from Clarence
to Hamburg rounding them up.
In the spring of 1822 Pratt sent Allen to Detroit
to take temporary charge of a store Pratt had opened there
with a nephew of Dr. Chapin's. Allen only stayed two months.
By the time Allen turned 21 years old in 1824, Pratt
had formed a partnership with Horace Meech.
Allen was paid a salary of
$1,000 per year to act as general manager of the
store. This was the highest salary of almost every person in Buffalo
at the time. After two years, Pratt & Meech was dissolved
and Pratt, Allen & Co. came into existence.
Allen explains the early store: "For two or
three years after we commenced in the little store, our
goods were forwarded from New York to Albany in sloops,
from thence to Buffalo
by the large Cannestoga wagons, drawn by five to seven horses,
so common in those times."
Pratt retired from the business in 1821 to assume
the position of president of the Bank of Buffalo
Allen first held public office in 1834, as Treasurer
under Ebenezer Johnson
's leadership. In 1835 he held the office of alderman for
the second ward.
In the financial panic of 1836 - 37, Allen suffered
a great loss. He spent the next ten years in a "heroic,
but almost hopeless effort to extricate his affairs from
the embarrassments that had overtaken him."
Upon the death of Hiram Pratt
in 1840, Allen succeeded him as President of the Bank of Buffalo
Mr. Allen did not hold public office again until
1847 when he was elected alderman of the second ward. That
same year he was elected president of the Erie County Agricultural
Society.
LIFE AS A MAYOR
In November
1847, Mayor Elbridge Spaulding
was elected to the State Assembly, and left the office of mayor
in January 1848. Allen was elected mayor pro tem to complete
Spaulding¯s term as mayor. At the time of his appointment
he was a conservative Whig
At the end of February 1848, the meetings to nominate
candidates for local office were held. The Whigs held their
meeting on February 28, with future mayor Franklin Alberger
acting as secretary, and Allen as their choice for mayor.
The Locofoco
's held theirs on February 29 and nominated Israel T. Hatch
for mayor.
"Election day was fair and the turnout surpassed
any previously known." Allen was elected over Israel
Hatch, and Workingman's party candidate C. Coburn, by a
vote of 1,970 to 1,855, and 756, respectively. The Whig
's again dominated the results. Six Whig
aldermen, three Whig
supervisors, and justice of the peace H. B. Burt.
The old board met at 9 a.m. on March 14, 1848 to
end its session and turn over the power to the new board.
"That the thanks of the Council are hereby tendered
to Orlando Allen
, Esq., for the dignified manner in which he has presided
over their deliberation during the time he has held office
of Mayor pro tem of this city."
Mayor pro tem Allen thanked the Council, and stated
that the "demand upon our treasury, the drafts upon
the general fund have not...exceeded the receipts, and the
public debt has not been increased."
The new board convened at 10 a.m. of the same day.
Judge Frederick P.Stevens (future mayor) administered the
oath in the absence of ex-Mayor Spaulding
who was in the Assembly.
Allen then addressed the Council: "I shall briefly
allude to such subjects as seem to me to demand your immediate
attention. Some important improvements commenced by your
immediate predecessors...I hope will be carried forward
to a successful completion."
He referred to the pending bill by Assemblyman Spaulding
in Albany for $150,000 that would be used for harbor and
Buffalo
Creek
improvements. "The limited capacity of our harbor calls
loudly upon the Common Council
..and I trust that there will be no lack of prompt and efficient
action on your part."
Allen was especially concerned with the construction
of the city's sewer system, better city lights, paving of
streets, and public schools.
"The finances of the city are in a favorable
condition and we must preserve the credit of the city unimpaired."
On February 1, 1849 Allen presided at a meeting to
consider supplying Buffalo
with pure water by the erection of suitable works. "The
traveling public had begun to ask for baths. Buffalo
had no baths." Philadelphia was beginning a company, so
a committee was formed to look into the matter.
The new medical college
was opened at Main and Virginia streets in February, 1849.
Sometime during the year of 1849 the Buffalo
City Waterworks company was incorporated. It did not begin service,
though, until January 2, 1852.
Allen did not run for a second term in 1849. On March
13, 1849 the Common Council
met for the last time to swear in their new officers.
"Resolved, that the thanks of this board are
cordially tendered to the Hon. Orlando Allen
for the very able, impartial and dignified manner in which he
has presided over its deliberations during the past year."
Mayor Allen thanked the Council for their "zeal
and fidelity" during his term, and said:
"Our duties have been arduous. I hazard nothing
in saying that in no preceding year, since the organization
of the city, has there been a greater variety of business
or more important matter submitted to its Council for consideration.
All of these subjects have been acted upon with a single
eye to the present and future wants, advancement and prosperity
of our city, and it may well be a source of pride and gratification
to us that we have been permitted by the suffrage of our
fellow-citizens to take so large a part in carrying forward
the important improvements now in progress."
PERSONAL LIFE
Orlando Allen
was married on November 20, 1826 to Marilla A. Pratt, Hiram
Pratt
's sister. They had six children, four of which died before
their father. The Allen home was located at 73 Swan Street,
at the corner of Center Street. Their home was often the
"scene of delightful entertainment," as were the
homes of many of Buffalo
's prominent citizens. They also owned a country home out
Seneca Street, now called Allendale, and a farm at Seneca
and Babcock Street.
In 1848 Allen was elected a Member of the Council
at the University at Buffalo
Medical Department. He held that position until 1875.
In 1850 Allen was elected a member of the Assembly,
and re-elected in 1850. He was member of the Committee on
Canals both years.
While in Assembly he procured a charter for the Western
Savings Bank
He was later a trustee, and chairman of the committee for
the construction of their building. Additionally, he helped
secure a bill to enlarge the Erie Canal
In 1851 Allen was the chairman of the Committee of
Vegetables for the Buffalo
Horticultural
Society.
In 1852 he was a Member of the Council for the University
at Buffalo
The following year he was a member of the convention that
revised the city charter.
From 1856 - 57 Allen was on the board of supervisors
in Buffalo
for the second ward.
Mr. Allen was chosen to serve in the Assembly again
in 1860. By this time in Allen's life, he had become a member
of the Republican party
He was one of the people who wanted to build the
Buffalo
& Pittsburgh
Railroad, intended to open communication with the coal fields
of Pennsylvania. But the idea was ahead of its time and
didn't materialize until December 1872, as the Buffalo
, New York
& Philadelphia Railway.
Orlando Allen
was always involved in the cultural organizations in the city.
He was a leader in the formation of the Old Settler's Society
, serving as chairman; trustee of the Buffalo
Insane Asylum
; a founder of the Orphan asylum; a founding member of the
Young Men's Association
, and its treasurer; the Fine Arts Academy
; and other literary and benevolent societies. Through his
and other citizens efforts, the Buffalo
Historical Society
was able to stay financially sound for its first 25 years. He
was one of the first presidents of the Historical Society
On September 4, 1874, at 74 years of age, Allen died.
He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and was buried
in Forest Lawn Cemetery
.
"Orlando Allen
was a man
of great power and untiring activity. Could anyone doubt that
in God's amazing universe of spirits, that active, earnest
soul would find an exalted place, where its energies would
be eternal?"
