Roger Allin is Born

Today in Masonic History Roger Allin is born in 1848.

Roger Allin was a British born American politician.

Allin was born in Bradworthy, Devonshire, England on December 18th, 1848. When his father passed away, his family moved to Ontario, Canada. He was educated in public schools in Canada.

Allin was married twice. He married Isabella McKensie on March 22nd, 1881. He later, in 1918, married Anna McKensie, his first wife's niece.

After his marriage to Isabella, Allin served in the Dakota Territorial Council from 1887 to 1889. Also in 1889 he served as a delegate to the North Dakota Constitutional Convention. At the convention there were seventy-five delegates, of those, twenty-three, including Allin, were foreign born. There were no members of the Convention who were born in the North Dakota territory. The primary purpose of the convention was to authorize North Dakota's statehood.

Allin went on to serve, also in 1889, in the North Dakota Senate. He served two years until 1891. In 1891 he was elected lieutenant Governor. He served in the office until 1893.

In 1894, Allin was elected by popular vote to be the fourth Governor of North Dakota. He served in the office until 1897. During his tenure as Governor, largely he had to deal with the fallout from the Panic of 1893, a serious economic depression in the United States. In 1898, he lost his bid for re-election, he retired from politics and returned to his farming interests.

Allin passed away on January 1st, 1936.

Allin was a member of Golden Valley Lodge No. 6 in Park River, North Dakota.

This article provided by Brother Eric C. Steele.