Governor Roger Allin

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Roger Allin, was born in Devonshire, England, on this date in 1848. Three years later, his family emigrated to Ontario, where he eventually went into farming. Allin moved to Dakota Territory in 1881 and filed a 160-acre claim in Walsh County. The following year he was elected justice of the peace, and in 1886, he was elected to the first of two terms on the Territorial Council. He took part in the Constitutional Convention and then served in the newly formed ND state senate.

Allin became the Lieutenant Governor in 1891, and four years later, he became North Dakota’s fourth governor. His two-year tenure was tainted by an economic depression. He gained many enemies when he cut funding for the colleges in Grand Forks, Mayville and Valley City in order to pay for governmental operating expenses.

Source:
North Dakota Governors. State Historical Society of ND. <http://www.state.nd.us/hist/ndgov1.htm#allin>

Dakota Datebook written by Merry Helm