Frederick Hobbes Allen

Frederick Hobbes Allen (May 30, 1858 – December 3, 1937) was an American international lawyer and naval aviator during World War I who was prominent in New York Society during the Gilded Age.

Early life Allen was born on May 30, 1858. He was the son of Elisha Hunt Allen and Mary Harrod Hobbes. His father was a former U.S. representative from Maine who was the United States minister to the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1850 to 1853. Elisha Hunt Allen subsequently became an official of the Hawaiian government, serving as minister from Hawaii to the United States from 1856 until his death in 1883, as well as becoming Chief Justice of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

His paternal grandfather was Samuel Clesson Allen, a lawyer who was Senator from Massachusetts, and his maternal grandfather was Frederick Hobbs, a former Maine legislator. He was descended from Edward Allen, who came to Colonial America in 1661,

Allen was a Democrat, serving both locally and nationally, including as Chairman of the Democratic County Committee for Westchester County, New York, and Mayor of Pelham Manor, New York. In 1912, 1920 and 1924, he was a member of the Democratic National Finance Committee.

During World War I, Allen served on Gen. John J. Pershing's staff as a Lt. Commander, with the Naval Reserve Flying Corps. In 1913, he was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson's to his Peace Commission that toured Europe "to study agriculture production, distribution and rural credits".

Society life In 1888, Ward McAllister chose Allen to lead the cotillion at a Patriarchs Ball, bringing him firmly into New York Society. In 1924, they gave a party for Prince Valdemar and his son, Prince Viggo of Denmark at their home in Pelham Manor. The estate was a wedding present to his wife from her mother as she lived there as a student when the home was a school.

"The engagement has been cabled from Paris of Frederick H. Allen and Miss Daisy Stevens, a daughter of Frederick H. Stevens. Mr. Allen, who is a native of Boston, has lived in New-York for some years, but has never occupied a very prominent position in society, although popular among his friends. Miss Stevens has not the gift of beauty, but has always been liked for her simplicity of manner and good spirits." She was the daughter of Frederick William Stevens and Adele Livingston (née Sampson) Stevens. Her brother was Joseph Stevens, a Rough Rider, and her sisters were Mabel Ledyard Stevens (1872–1959), who married Count Micislas Orlowski, a polish noble, and Frances Stevens, who married the Count de Gallifet, and later, Count Maurice des Monstiers de Mérinville. Her parents had a home on Bellevue Avenue in Newport called "the Cedars." ) divorced her father and married Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1843–1917). When the Marquis' uncle abdicated his title, Maurice became the 4th Duc de Dino and her mother became the Duchess of Dino. In 1903, the Duke and Duchess also divorced, and the Duchess kept her title. During World War I, she joined the American Committee for Devastated France led by Anne Morgan, serving in France from 1917 to 1918, eventually becoming the head of the Committee's motor department, for which she received the Croix de guerre from France. Joan Livingston Allen (1898–1964), who married Goodhue Livingston Jr. (1897–1994), son of society architect Goodhue Livingston Sr. (1867–1951), in 1919.

Honours and awards Foreign honours Czechoslovakia: Commander of the Order of the White Lion (1931)