J. Frank Allee - Party Chairman

Party Chairman

Allee was chairman of the Republican Party State committee from 1886 until 1896 and was a State Senator for three sessions from the 1899/1900 session through the 1903/04 session.

Elections at this time were often decided by which candidate was best able to assist certain voters in the payment of their poll tax. This was especially true in 1894, as the country was in the midst of an economic depression, the effects of which were particularly bad in Delaware, and comparable to the Great Depression of the 1930s. As chairman of the Republican Party State committee, Allee sought funding to support Republican candidates. He naturally went for help to the only statewide Republican officeholder, U.S. Senator Anthony Higgins. Higgins had the kind of ties to the wealthy New Castle County Republican establishment that could have found the cash necessary. Unfortunately, as New Castle Republicans were prone to do, Higgins dismissed the request in such a manner that Allee, and his downstate associates, never forgot, and promptly sought assistance elsewhere.

The help was at hand in the person of J. Edward Addicks. Addicks was a wealthy gas company industrialist from Philadelphia, who had established a residence in northern Delaware. He had contributed some money to both parties over the years, but now worked out an arrangement with Allee that sent massive amounts of cash to the downstate Republicans in return for their support for Addicks' candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat of Anthony Higgins. This arrangement continued for a decade and was enormously beneficial in the rebuilding of the Republican Party in Kent and Sussex County, as a progressive alternative to the established political order.

There was a negative side to the arrangement, however. Higgins and the New Castle Republicans despised Allee, and the "carpetbagger" Addicks, and refused to support them in any way. While the 1894 elections brought a Republican majority to the General Assembly, only six were aligned with Allee and Addicks. Six was enough to prevent Higgins from gaining a majority, but not enough to elect Addicks. The General Assembly was deadlocked, and the U.S. Senate seat remained vacant for nearly two years, until the Democrats regained the majority two years later.

In the meantime Allee and Addicks’ efforts continued to bear fruit to the extent that their supporters became a majority at the 1896 Republican State Convention. This development triggered a walkout by the New Castle Republicans, who promptly labeled themselves the "Regular Republicans" or "Regulars." The Allee and Addicks faction became known as "Union Republicans." The split continued as long as Addicks pursued his dream of a seat in the U.S. Senate.