Oscar Kelly Allen, Governor of Louisiana 1932


Oscar Kelly Allen 43rd Governor of Louisiana
Preceded by	Thomas O. Moore
Governor by	Election
Served from	January 25, 1864
Served to	June 2, 1865
Rank Date	Brigadier General August 1863
Left Office by	Fled to Mexico at war end
Succeeded by	Confederacy ended

Born Location	April 29, 1820 Prince Edward Co, Virginia
Died Location	April 22, 1866 Mexico City
Age	46
Cause	Stomach Disorder
Education	Marion College
Profession	Lawyer

Spouse	Salome Ann Crane
Children	0
Plantation
Religion	Presbyterian
Burial	Mexico City
Reintered Location 1	Washington Street Cemetery - 1867 New Orleans
Reintered Location 2	Lafayette Cemetery New Orleans
Reintered Location 3 Date	Old State Capitol Baton Rouge July 4, 1885

1864 - 1865 (CSA)

Henry Watkins Allen was the 2nd Confederate Governor of Louisiana.

Allen was in the Mississippi State Legislature and then the Louisiana State Legislature. He became a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army and served as the military governor of Jackson, Mississippi before being elected Confederate Governor of Louisiana in 1864.

Allen served as Governor of Confederate Louisiana while Michael Hahn was military Governor of the Union held territories of Louisiana. Allen urged continued fighting even after General Lee surrendered. He escaped to Mexico to avoid arrest and died in exile in Mexico City on April 22, 1866.

His body was returned from Mexico City to New Orleans in 1867, where it was temporarily entombed in Washington Street Cemetery while a suitable monument was erected for his remains in Lafayette Cemetery on Washington Avenue in New Orleans. Remembrances and celebration were held to a minimum by the military Govenor Wells administration.

By 1885, the legislature appropriated money to remove the remains of Governor Allen and his large monument from New Orleans to the State House grounds in Baton Rouge.

On July 4, 1885 the remains of the governor were taken from the Washington Artillery Hall in New Orleans, where they had spent the night under military protection, to Baton Rouge.

Final interment was in the large monument which had also been relocated. The relocated remains and monument were presented to the State by the Allen Monumental Association.

The large monument stands on the Capitol grounds of the Old State Capitol building. The larger than life statue stands inside the new State Capitol building in Baton Rouge.

Engraving on the base of the monument:

To The Memory Of
Governor Allen
This Last Memorial of Love and Respect Is Erected By An
Association of His Friends

Jno. M. Sandidge,
W. I. Hodgson,
Harry T. Hays,
Al H. Isaacson,
W. S. Pike,
W. C. Black,
Horace Carpenter,
J. S. Copes,
A. W. Roberts,
J. H. Wingfield

HENRY WATKINS ALLEN

Brig. General
In the Confederate Army and Last Governor
of Louisiana Under the Old Regime
BORN
In Prince Edward County, Virginia 29 April 1820
DIED
In the City of Mexico 22 April, 1866

GOV. ALLEN In a letter from the City of Mexico 25th Dec. 1865 to a friend In Louisiana -
When It Shall Please God To Consign This Mutilated Body To It's Last Resting Place,
Be It Among Strangers In Mexico Or Friends In LA, I Should Desire No Better Epitaph
Inscribed On My Tomb Than The Sentiment In The Closing Part Of Your Letter.

"Your Friends Are Proud To Know That Louisiana Had A
Governor Who With An Opportunity of Securing Millions of Dollars in Gold,
Preferred Being Honest In A Foreign Land Without One Cent."

And finally, on the outside of the new State Capitol building is this Allen image:

Biographies

National Governors Association

News

Allen's Friends Try to Quell Post War Candidacy for Governor
Annual Message of Governor (1864-1865 : Allen)
Death Notice
Eulogy
Governor Allen's Remains - 1885
Preparations for Transferring the Remains - 1885
Rebel Flag Attempt for His Coffin
Removal of Remains of Gov. Allen - 1885
Wikipedia