Oscar K. Allen, Governor of Louisiana.  Winn Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies
120 Ted Price Lane
Winnfield, LA  71483
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Governor Oscar K. Allen


Oscar Kelly Allen, forth-sixth governor of the State of Louisiana, was the 
son of Asa L. and Sophronia Perkins.  His parents were substantial citizens 
of Winn Parish.  Governor Allen amassed a sizable fortune in his career as 
a school teacher, cotton planter, merchant, and oil operator.  He attended 
the public schools of Winn Parish and later went to a normal school in 
Springfield, Missouri, completing his education at Trinity University, 
Waxahachie, Texas.

The Allen family were early pioneers in Winn Parish.  Josiah Allen, 
grandfather of the governor, originally settled at Flat Creek, about 
seventeen miles northeast of Winnfield, prior to the War For Southern 
Independence.  Oscar's early career included his assisting his father in 
the operation of a freight wagon from Winnfield to Columbia.  He married 
Miss Florence Love of Parish, Texas in 1912, and they had three children:  
Joyce Love, O. K., Jr., and Asa Benton.  


Allen was always active in civic and political matters in Winn Parish and 
was elected parish assessor in 1916.  He later served as clerk of the Winn 
Parish Police Jury.  In 1928 he was elected State Senator from the 30th 
Senatorial District, representing Winn, Caldwell, LaSalle, and Grant 
Parishes.  Running on the Huey P. Long ticket, he defeated incumbent Henry 
Hardtner, known as the father of reforestation.  Eventually, Governor Long 
appointed Senator Allen Chairman of the Louisiana Highway Commission.  Allen 
was elected governor following Governor Long's election to the U. S. Senate, 
and was elected Democratic nominee overwhelmingly to succeed Long in the U. S.
Senate following Long's assassination, but died suddenly January 28, 1936 at 
Baton Rouge before ever serving in the upper chamber.  He is buried in a 
memorial plot at the Winnfield City Cemetery.  At the time of his death, 
Governor Allen was survived by his wife and three children, brothers Ira 
Allen, A. Leonard Allen (later a U. S. Congressman), and sisters Mrs. J. 
Ira Abrams, and Mrs. A. H. Broyles.

Governor Allen was an active Baptist, Mason, and Knight of Pythias.  

(Source:  Winn Parish Enterprise, January 31, 1936.  Submitted by Greggory 
Ellis Davies, Winnfield, Winn Parish, LA.)