Biography of Louis Albert Allen, Dade County, FL

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Transcribed from:  The History of Florida:  Past & Present, The Lewis Publishing Co., Vol III, 
page 46, 1923.

ALLEN, LOUIS ALBERT is a sheriff of Dade County.  He came into this office with its varied 
and important responsibilities, after previous service as a deputy United States marshal.  
Still earlier he was actively engaged in business with several Florida firms, and has a wide 
acquaintance over the state, while in Dade County his personal popularity is on a par with 
his recognized efficiency.

Mr. ALLEN was born at Brooksville, Hernando County, Florida, in 1884, son of HENRY N. and 
MARY (BROWN) ALLEN, natives of Georgia.  His father was one of six brothers who served the 
Confederate Army from Georgia in the war between the states.  Only three of them returned 
home alive.

LOUIS ALBERT ALLEN had to confront the serious duties of life at an early age.  For several
years he contributed to the support of his widowed mother.  He left school at the age of 
thirteen, and his education since then has been gained by private study and an active contact 
with men and affairs.  At the age of fourteen he was put to work packing oranges for Walker 
Brothers in Orlando.  He performed that and other duties so well that at the age of sixteen 
he was made manager of the local plant.  For a number of years Mr. ALLEN was a traveling man, 
acting as buyer and solicitor for the H. C. Schrader Company of Jacksonville.

About the beginning of the World war he resigned to become deputy marshal at Miami, and 
continued in the Federal service until he was promoted by popular vote in November, 1920, 
to the office of sheriff of Dade County.  He received a total of 5,000 votes for that office.
While sheriff a large part of his duty has been in suppressing bootlegging, and he has 
figured in several sensational cases of that kind.

Mr. ALLEN is affiliated with James Carnell Lodge, A. F. and A. M., with the Scottish Rite 
and Shrine, the Elks, is a member of the Miami Motor Club and Chamber of Commerce, the 
International Sheriffs Association and the International Association for Identifications.

Sheriff ALLEN married Miss MARY LOUISE JENKINS, a native of Habersham County, Georgia, and 
member of two old and distinguished families of Upper Georgia.  Her father was a gallant 
Confederate officer in General Pickett's division and was in Pickett's famous charge at 
Gettysburg.  On her mother's side she is a member of the McCROSKEY family of Scotch ancestry,
long prominent in North Georgia.  Mrs. ALLEN is a member of the Eastern Star, the Southern 
Presbyterian Church and is a leading spirit in the Miami Chapter of the United Daughters of
the Confederacy.  The three children of Sheriff and Mrs. ALLEN are LOUIS ALBERT Jr., WILLIAM 
HUGH and GERALDINE LOUISE.