Allen served as an instructor of
Greek at
Western Reserve College from 1880 to 1881. He moved to
Salt Lake City,
Utah Territory, in August 1881 and was an instructor at
Salt Lake Academy until 1886, when he resigned to engage in mining pursuits. He served as member of the
territorial House of Representatives in 1888, 1890, and 1894. Allen and his college-educated wife (of
Smith College), Corinne, both strongly supported public education. Allen is credited with authoring a bill passed by the territorial legislature in 1890 that provided free public schools for students age six to eighteen. Some have called him the "Father of Utah's Free Schools." Allen was elected
county clerk of Salt Lake County in August 1890 and served until January 1, 1893. He was
admitted to the bar in 1893 and commenced practice in Salt Lake City. He was an unsuccessful
Liberal candidate for election in 1892 as a Delegate to the
Fifty-third Congress. He served as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1892 and 1896. With the admission of Utah as a State into the Union, Allen was elected as a
Republican to the
Fifty-fourth Congress and served from January 4, 1896, to March 3, 1897. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1896. He resumed his former mining pursuits until 1922, when he retired from active business and resided in
Columbus, Ohio, until 1931. He died in
Escondido, California on July 9, 1932. His body was cremated and the ashes interred in Salt Lake City's Mount Olivet Cemetery. ==References==