HENRY WARE ALLEN, president of the First National Bank of Troy, Miami County, Ohio, was born in Pembroke, Mass., April 6,1822, a son of the Rev. Morrill Allen. The family to which he belongs on the paternal side came from England in the first quarter o f the seventeenth century. Rev. Morrill Allen was a man of superior education and a minister of the Unitarian church. Beginning his pastoral services at the early age of twenty-two, he labored as a faithful shepherd for nearly four-score years, preaching a sermon on his ninetieth birthday. He was for the most part of his time engaged in agriculture, being the owner of a good farm in the vicinity of Pembroke.

Henry Ware Allen, after laying the foundation of his education in the common schools of his home neighborhood, pursued further literary studies in the academy at Hanover, Mass., and the normal school at Bidewater, that state. In 1848, when twenty-six years of age, he came to Ohio and settled in Troy, with the interests of which city he has since been so closely and prominently identified. His first investment was in a mill property, with which business he was connected for many years, meeting with a very satisfactory degree of success. His operations brought him into touch with the leading business men of the city and county and led to his becoming one of the prime movers in the organization of the First National Bank, of which he has ever since been the efficient president. He has kept in close touch with the various interests of the county ever since his early manufacturing days, and perhaps no man is better informed as to general business conditions. In 1855, taking advantage of a favorable opportunity, he erected a fine block, and he has since at different times added to his real estate holdings until at the present time he is a large property holder. The financial institution of which he is the head was founded in 1847 and has a capital and surplus of over $270,000. It is numbered among the safe and conservative institutions of the state. D. W. Smith is the cashier. As a far-seeing, capable and energetic business man, Mr. Allen easily stands in the very first rank among the citizens of this part of the state. His ability is reflected in the management of bank and its prosperity and sound commercial standing is the result in large measure of his guiding hand.

Mr. Allen's first marriage was with Mrs. Mary Smith, in January, 1851. She died in July of the same year and Mr. Allen subsequently married for his second wife, Pamela Hale, a daughter of Dr. Asa Coleman. Of this union there were ten children, seven of whom are now living. Mr. Allen has a commodious and tasteful residence at the corner of Simpson and Market Streets.  

obit