WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1838
183
more perplexing problem arose. Much of the money that A. C., and John K. Allen had invested in their early enterprises was the inheritance of Charlotte (Baldwin) Allen. She became dissatisfied with the methods being employed in the settlement of the Allen Brothers' business, and this dis- satisfaction resulted in a separation without divorce from her husband in 1850, both parties pledging to keep the details of their troubles secret from the world. Allen's health, undermined by the strain of work and trouble, failed; so, signing over to his wife the bulk of what remained of his enterprises, he went to Mexico to seek health and a new start in life. During the early years of the 1840's he had had business relations with Benito Juarez, and in Mexico, the two men became personal friends. In 1852 A. C. Allen was appointed United States consul for the port of Tehuantepec on the Pacific, and in 1858 was given the same position for the port of Minotitlan on the Gulf coast. Thus, he had control of the consulate affairs for the United States for the entire Isthmus of Tehuantepec, an important position, finan- cially, for a man engaged in trade, for a trade route-possibly a canal- through that region was engaging the public mind. On January 19, 1858, Juarez assumed power as President of Mexico. Before this time, however, A. C. Allen in partnership with an Englishman named Welsh, had developed an extensive private business. After Juarez came to power, he granted to this firm many valuable trade concessions in the matter of the control and shipping of certain Mexican products-vanilla, cochineal, dyewoods, and mahogany. Allen and Welsh carried on a trade from Minotitlan to the northeastern United States, and to Europe in fast sailing vessels in the ownership of which they held large interest; and from this trade they made rich profits. Although Allen travelled extensively in the West Indies and elsewhere, he was never able to recover the much-sought health. In 1864 he realized that he would not live much longer, so he closed out his private business and returned to VVashington to resign his consulship. Soon after arriving in the city he contracted pneumonia, and died there, June 11, 1864, in the old Willard Hotel. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York. In appearance, A. C. Allen is described as a small, reserved man, full of energy which was always directed by a clear head. He was cordial and kindly in manner and made many friends; but he was not a leader of men. As has been said he was a cordial friend to Sam Houston; but he had equally friendly relations with most of the public men of his day. He had only one child, a daughter, Eliza Allen. In the late fifties she became the wife of Frank P. Chase, the first conductor to run on the Houston & Texas Central Railroad. Chase died a short time after his marriage, and his widow married Major James Converse. James Pierce Converse, the only child of this marriage, lives in Houston, Texas (1039). See William C. Binkley (ed.), OfficicLl Correspond<;nce of the Texan Revolution, 1835-1836, 7-8, 179, 233, 323, and passim. E. C. Barker (ed.), Austin Papers, III, 312. Wooten (ed.), A Co1nvrehensive History of Tex«.~, I, 308. John Henry Brown, Indian TYars ancl P·io11eers of Texas, 357-359. Lamar Papers, I, 267, 296; II, 195-196. Homer Thrall, A Pictorial History of Texas, 477. 0. F. Allen, The City of Ho11ston from Wilderness to Wouder. See also pages 100-101 above.
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