William Allen portrait

This is a photograph of a portrait of William Allen (1803-1879), who served as governor of Ohio from 1874 to 1876. As governor, Allen worked to reduce the state government's budget and was able to lower taxes in 1875. However, his support of the printing of greenbacks (money without backing in gold or other precious metals), which he believed would help alleviate the economic problems that Ohio was facing, cost him public support, and he lost his second gubernatorial run to Rutherford B. Hayes