Allen, George T.
Born: 1812-09-09 New York, New York
Died: 1876-12-05 Saint Louis, Missouri
George T. Allen was a physician, surgeon, state legislator, and army surgeon. Allen moved with his parents from his native New York City to Edwardsville, Illinois, in December 1817. In 1827, he returned to New York City for his education, and in 1833, he began studying medicine. While studying to become a physician, Allen served as an assistant physician at Bellevue Hospital. He matriculated to the College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating with his medical degree in March 1838. Returning to Illinois, he opened a medical practice in Marine. In addition to his medical practice, Allen had substantial land holdings, having purchased 200 acres of public land near Marine during his years studying in New York City. In October 1847, he married Maria Blakeman. In 1850, Allen owned real estate valued at $5,600. Ill health forced him to scale back his medical practice, and he became interested in politics. In 1854, Allen won election to the Illinois House of Representatives, serving from January to February 1855. Allen was one of five legislators who insisted on voting for Lyman Trumbull in the election for U.S. Senate, denying Abraham Lincoln's bid for a senator seat in 1855. In 1860, he was practicing medicine in Alton, Illinois and had a personal estate of $1,000. Upon commencement of the Civil War, Allen became a surgeon with the Fourteenth Illinois Infantry Regiment with the rank of major. In April 1862, he received appointment as brigade surgeon, and in June he received promotion to lieutenant colonel and medical inspector in the U.S. Army. After the war, Allen resumed his medical practice in Springfield, Illinois.
W. T. Norton, ed., Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois and Its People 1812 to 1912 (Chicago: Lewis, 1912), 1:388-89; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Madison County, 343:83, 119, 154, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Madison County, 24 October 1847, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Marine, Madison County, IL, 556; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 1, Alton, Madison County, IL, 120; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 220; Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Gravestone, Marine Cemetery, Saint Jacob, IL.