Although he won admission to Harvard University, he lacked the funds to attend, and instead began working Lynn's shoe industry.

The two men were major influences in the modernization of Norwood's civic infrastructure, spearheading a number of projects, from the construction of schools to a new hospital.

He expanded facilities to care for the sick and the indigent, and in an unusual move for the times, appointed two women to judgeships in Massachusetts.

[2] In 1930, Governor Allen was defeated for re-election by Democrat Joseph B. Ely, and returned to the Winslow Brothers & Smith Company, where he served as chairman of the board.

Allen's post-governorship leadership of Winslow Brothers & Smith was marked by declines in business, caused in part by the Great Depression.

[5] The pair had a good relationship until 1930, when Willett, who had suffered financial reverses and descended into paranoia, accused Allen of leading a conspiracy to frustrate a major residential development project in the town.