(Principal from August, 1873, to July, 1889.)    Charles H. Allen was born in Mansfield, Tioga County, Pennsylvania, February 11, 1828. He received his early education in the common schools, taking one term afterward in Condersport Academy. From here he went to Jamestown, Chautauqua County, New York, with the idea of continuing his education. He was compelled by illness to relinquish his desire for a higher education, a spinal curvature producing such serious nervous disturbance that physicians pronounced in necessary that he should give up all mental labor. Here he entered a workshop, and learned a trade. Being of a strong mechanical turn, he rapidly acquired skill in the various departments, and was soon an expert cutler. His taste for mechanics has followed him all through his life, and a “workshop” has been his principal place of amusement.
    From his place in the shop he was unexpectedly called to finish a term of school, the teacher—a former teacher of his—being compelled to resign because of ill health. Mr. Allen taught his first school here, at the early age of fifteen. With no though of becoming a teacher, he returned to the workshop at the end of the term, and resumed what he thought would be his life work. But it was ordered otherwise. His success in the school-room had been so marked that he was called back to the same school for a longer term, and at a considerable advance in the meager salary paid. During this term of school he read Abbott’s Teacher and Page’s Theory and Practice of Teaching, and from these learned that teaching is anything but drudgery. From the reading of these books, followed by “My School and Schoolmasters,” dates the     beginning of his career as a teacher.
    Mr. Allen taught in the common schools of western New York for several years, working at his trade during vacations. During this period he attended for one term a Regents, or Normal Class, in the Westfield Academy.
    While teaching in Busti, New York, he was, upon the recommendation of the County Superintendent, granted a New York State certificate, a certificate granted only upon great excellence in the art of teaching.
    He was now called to the Smethport Academy, in McKean County, Pennsylvania, where he soon became Principal, and began the training of teachers. At this period, also, began his institute work, which has continued all through his life.
    His health failing, from overwork, he became a land surveyor for a few years. He held the position of surveyor for the German colony which settled upon the tract of land first purchased by Ole Bull for a Danish colony. During this period he regained his health, and, in addition, “picked up” a fair smattering of the German language.
    From Germania he was called to Westchester, Pennsylvania, to take the position of Associate Principal of a Normal School. During the long vacation of the Normal School he went to Wisconsin, at the invitation of Chancellor Barnard, to take charge of several Teachers’ Institutes. Here he was induced to remain for several months, to complete the work and aid in compiling the proceedings. Chancellor Barnard was compelled to resign his position and give up his work in Wisconsin, upon which event Mr. Allen was elected agent of the Normal School Regents of the State, and given in charge the Institute work and the supervision and examination of the Normal classes, held then in some of the colleges, academies, and high schools. For several years he carried on this work, holding institutes in different parts of the State, and lecturing in almost every hamlet. Tiring of the perpetual strain of this severe labor, he opened a private Normal Class in the Madison High School building. At this time, also, he was made City Superintendent of Schools. The demand for a Normal School was clearly indicated by the patronage extended to this Normal Class, and before the expiration of a year the Regents of the University of Wisconsin invited Mr. Allen to take charge of a Normal Department in the University. He accepted the invitation, and entered the University as a Professor or Normal Instruction. To him belongs the credit of first opening the doors of the University to women. While holding the professorship in the University, Mr. Allen raised a company of students, and went to Memphis as Captain of the company. His company formed a part of the “Hundred day men,” of whom so much was said and written. Returning, “honorably discharged,” he resumed his work, but was again compelled to give up teaching by failing health. He resigned his position, and spent some months in a general life insurance office in Cincinnati. He was, however, soon called back, and made President of the first Normal School in Wisconsin, at Platteville. Here he organized the Normal School work of the State, and also took charge of the erection of the new building.
    A severe attack of bronchitis compelled his again to give up his work, and hoping for the benefits of a change of climate, he went to Portland, Oregon, where he opened and carried on, for eight months, the Bishop Scott Grammar School, as head master. This work was not to his liking. The climate, however, restored his health, and he returned and worked a year as Institute Agent in Wisconsin. While at work in an Institute there, he received his notification of an election as Professor of Natural Science in the Normal School at San José, California. This position he accepted, and in a short time reported for duty. After serving one year as Professor of Natural Science, he was elected, August 4, 1873, Principal of the School.
    Of Mr. Allen’s work in California, both as the head of the Normal School and in Institutes, little need be said. His educational ability may be best estimated by a study of the growth of the School, and his method of work, by the extracts from his reports, to be found in the body of this work. That his duties have been various and heavy, no one can doubt. In addition to the labor of Principal, he has had charge of the completion of the old building, the erection of the present building, the improvement of his grounds, and the erection of the building at Los Angeles; and the Normal School building at Chico has had also a share of his time and attention.
    The wonder is not that, after nearly seventeen years of work in California, his health should give way, but rather, considering the nature and amount of work he has accomplished, that it has not give way before.
    With an experience that few men have had, Mr. Allen retires to his mountain ranch, to enjoy the evening of a busy life.
    This sketch of the life and work of Mr. Allen cannot be more fittingly closed, than by giving in full the official resolutions unanimously adopted by the Board of Trustees, on accepting his resignation:
    Among the customs or rules that a refined civiliation has given us, none is imbued with more gravity than that which is devolved upon collective bodies, both public and private, of expressing, upon the death or retirement of a fellow member or employé, the regard and esteem in which he is held, and to which he is entitled by reason of his mental and moral worth, and his faithful, valuable, and long-continued services.
    This custom is sanctioned by the most elevated sentiments that find lodgment in the human breast; and the outward expression, while exhibiting the gratification of conscientious duty in a worthy personal cause, is yet tinged with the sorrow and regret of a personal loss.
    The Board of Trustees of the State Normal School, at San José, are called upon to avail themselves of this custom, to discharge themselves of this trust.
    We have made it our duty--pleasant in that which affects a knowledge of the past, unpleasant in that which looks toward the narrow line dividing the past from the future, and which shows a vacuum that can never be filled while old associates hold a place in our memories--to say for you all what individually we know you would say, and much better, for yourselves.
    Professor Charles H. Allen is about to leave us. His connection with the shcool is soon to be closed. We have been compelled, sorrowfully, to accept his resignation, on account of his continued ill health, a long abstinence from work being imperative. In a word, he asks us for his life; and, as physicians, who are his friends, we are obliged to present the only prescription that will meet his case. And we do this in the sincere and earnest hope that rest and relaxation may bring back the strength he has lost, and that his future days may be long and happy.
    For seventeen years he has been connected with the school, sixteen as Principal; seventeen years of faithful, conscientious, laborious work. His influence has been deep, strong, far-reaching. By his teaching, by his management, by his labors on the State Board of Education, by his personal advice and counsel, and by his example, he has shaped the destinies of hundreds of men and women, many of whom are now highly honored by the State, and are the pillars of its present strength, and the hope of its future prosperity. His guidance has ever been in the line of truth and right, as well as purely intellectual application, and the power of his kindly Christian mind has been exerted upon all whose good fate has led them, as seekers for knowledge, within the portals of this gran educational edifice.
    California--the whole coast, in fact--owed him a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.
    In view of all these facts, it is meet that this Board should give its appropriate and emphatic expression of its sentiments; therefore, be it
    Resolved, That in the retirement, on acount of ill health, of Professor Charles H. Allen, the State Normal School at San José is deprived of the services of a competent and faithful educator, a wise counselor and friend, a conscientious, painstaking, and talented fellow laborer, and an honest, large hearted, Christain [sic.] gentleman; that we part with him in unfeigned sorrow and regret, not only on account of personal esteem and regard for his many able qualities, but also by reason of the vast scope, important, and high moral and intellectual character of the work that he has accomplished during his connection with the school, the Board, and the educational affairs of the State generally; that the State ought not to forget, as it assuredly never will, one who has done such grand work in her moral and intellectual behalf.
    Resolved, That the foregoing preamble and resolutions be spread upon the records of the Board, and that an engrossed copy be preparted under the direction of the
Executive Committee, and presented to Professor Allen.

San José, California, June 24, 1889.
Ralph Lowe,
T.H. Laine,
Ira G. Hoitt,
Committee on Resolutions.
Source: Historical Sketch of the State Normal School at San Jose, California, with a Catalogue of Its Graduates and a Record of Their Work for Twenty-Seven Years [1862-1889]. State Office, J.D. Young, Supt. State Printing. Sacramento, California. 1889.
copyright © 1996-2004 Pamela Storm Wolfskill & Ron Filion. All rights reserved.

JAMES MONROE ALLEN

James Monroe Allen practiced law in San Francisco for more than forty years, and was one of the Superior Court judges and one of the ablest corporation lawyers on the coast. However the bar and the public learned to esteem him chiefly for his lofty ideals, integrity of character, and the uplifting influence he exercised in and out of his profession.

Judge Allen was born in Bethlehem, Ohio, March 14,1844, son of John and Lavinia (Teel) Allen. His great-grandfather, Adam Link, was a Revolutionary soldier, and his paternal great-grandfather, Allen was also was in the same war. Judge Allen had one sister, Mrs. Harriet Griswold. John Allen was a captain in the Union army during the Civil war, and is buried in the military cemetery at Chattanooga.

James M. Allen received his early education in Ohio, Illinois and Connecticut, graduated from a high school at Chicago, and in 1863 entered Yale College, where he was graduated in 1867. He was a member of the Alpha Delta Theta fraternity, the Scroll and Key and other college societies. He was also the spoon man of his class. He was admitted to the Illinois bar, practiced about a year in Chicago, and for three years at Carthage, Missouri. In December 1874, Judge Allen located at San Francisco, and soon became associated with Francis Newlands and subsequently with the firm Lloyd & Newlands. On January 1,1880, Judge Allen was elected one of the judges of the new Superior Court in San Francisco, and held that office for three years. After retiring from the bench he was associated in practice with Edgar F. Preston until 1884, in which year the firm Newlands & Allen was formed and soon afterward became Newlands, Allen and Herrin by the admission of William F. Herrin. This was one of the notable law firms of the city until 1891,when Mr. Newlands went to Washington as a member of Congress and Mr. Herrin became head of the legal department of the Southern Pacific Company. Following that Judge Allen practiced for the most part alone. His work was confined to corporation and probate cases, and he never figured in a criminal trial. Among other clients he was attorney for the Bank of California for over thirty years. Judge Allen died May 6, 1913. He was devoted to his home and his profession, and never held membership in any church or secret order.

At San Jose, California December 29, 1881, he married Miss Ida M. Davis, a native of Ohio. Mrs. Allen survives. She is a member of the Catholic Church. Five children were born to them: Harriet Elizabeth, wife of John Otis Burrage, of San Francisco; Ruth M., wife of Lucius H. Allen; Francis Frederick, who is connected with the shipping business in San Francisco: James Kirk; and Clara Adelaide, who is a nun of the Helpers of Holy Souls, a French order with only three convents in the United States.

Source: "The San Francisco Bay Region"by Bailey Millard Vol. 3 page 104-107. Published by The American Historical Society, Inc. 1924.

Fisher AMES

Fisher AMES. For nearly half a century Fisher AMES stood as one of the leading representatives of the San Francisco bar. He was singularly devoted to the practice of his profession, and while he accumulated a fortune and was identified with a number of business enterprises, his heart and soul were in the law.

He represented an old New England family of Colonial ancestry, and was born in New Hampshire, February 8, 1844. He was reared on a farm, was educated in Plymouth Academy and Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire, was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1869, and in 1870 finished his law course at Albany, New York, and was admitted to the New York bar May 10, 1870. Mr. AMES arrived in California in 1871, and was engaged in the practice of law steadily in San Francisco until his death forty-six years later, on December 8, 1917. He brought to his profession unusual talent, though when he located in San Francisco he was comparatively unknown and without influential friends. During 1872-74 he was assistant to W.C. Burnett, city and county attorney. He was engaged in general practice, though he represented a number of business interests. At one time he was a director of the Sutter Street Railroad Company, and was also a director of an insurance company.

He was one of the ablest leaders of the democratic party in California for a number of years. He was a member of the San Francisco Board of Education from 1875 to 1877, and in 1874 was appointed special counsel by the Board of Supervisors. He was a member of the Board of Freeholders, which framed a city charter in 1883, and from 1887 to 1892 was a member of the Board of Fire Commissioners.

Mr. AMES married Miss Emilie N. MORRISON, a native of Plymouth, New Hampshire. Mrs. AMES resides in San Francisco, at the Colonial Hotel. The two children of their marriage are both deceased.

Source: "The San Francisco Bay Region"Vol. 3 page 262-263 by Bailey Millard. Published by The American Historical Society, Inc. 1924.

HON. FRANK M. ANGELLOTTI

Hon. Frank M. Angellotti began the practice of law more than forty years ago, and his career brought him advancement to the post of chief justice of the California Supreme Court. He has spent all of his life in the San Francisco Bay District. He was born at San Rafael, California, September 4, 1861, son of Giuseppe and Frances L. Osgood Angellotti. His father was a native of Italy, and his mother from the State of Maine. Judge Angellotti attended private school and the Lowell High School in San Francisco, graduating in 1879. He studied law with Judges Darwin and Murphy of San Francisco, and also attended the Hastings Law School, from which he graduated Bachelor of Laws in 1882. Admitted to the bar by the State Supreme Court, he began practice in his native Town of San Rafael. In November, 1884, he was elected district attorney, filling that office six years, and in November, 1890, was chosen judge of the Superior Court of Marin County, one of the youngest men ever chosen to this responsible office. He served on the Superior bench for twelve years, until 1903. In January, 1903, he went on the Supreme bench as an associate justice, and in 1915 became chief justice of the California Supreme Court. Judge Angellotti resigned November 15, 1921, and has since been engaged in private practice. His learning and practical wisdom has been written into many of the most important decisions of the Supreme Court. Judge Angellotti is general counsel for the Western Pacific Railroad Company. He is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, and was grand master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of California in 1898 and 1899.

He married, December 27, 1884, Miss Emma C. Cearley, of California. Their daughter, Marion Polk Angellotti, a native of San Rafael, has earned some notable distinction as one of California’s authors. She served as a volunteer canteen worker with the American Red Cross, 1918-19, being with an evacuation hospital during the Saint Mihiel offensive, and with the Army of Occupation in Germany. Her best known books are "Sir John Hawkwood," "The Burgundian," "Harlette," "The Fire-Fly of France" and "The Three Black Bags."

Source: "The San Francisco Bay Region"Vol. 3 page 311-312 by Bailey Millard. Published by The American Historical Society, Inc. 1924.