Augustus Chapman Allen - Later Life and Legacy

Later Life and Legacy

Soon, Allen's health began to fail, and he decided to leave Houston, signing over to his wife, whom he had never divorced, most of what remained of his many enterprises. Augustus Allen relocated to Mexico to tend to his health and a new start in life.

In 1852, Augustus was appointed United States consul for the port of Tehuantepec on the Pacific Ocean, and in 1858 he was given the same position for the port of Minotitlán. These offices gave him control of the consular affairs of the United States for the entire Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a commercially important position.

Allen, in partnership with an Englishman named Welsh, developed an extensive private shipping business. He was never able to recover his health, however, and realized, in 1864, that he was critically ill. Augustus then closed his business and went to Washington, D.C. to resign his consulships. Soon after arriving there he contracted pneumonia, from which he would not recover.

Augustus Allen died on Monday, January 11, 1864 in Washington, D.C. and was buried in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Several Houston landmarks, including Allen Parkway, Allen Center as well as Allen's Landing Park, immortalize Augustus and his brother, the city's two founders.

New York Times (New York, NY), Fri., 15 Jan 1864, p. 5, c. 3
New York Herald (New York, NY), Fri., 15 Jan 1864, p. 8, c. 3

DIED - ALLEN - In Washington, D.C., on Monday, Jan. 11, Augustus C. Allen. His friends are invited to attend his funeral, which will take place from the Church of the Transfiguration, 29th st., this day (Friday) 15th inst., at 10 A.M.