He was the son of Amos H. Allen and Emily J.
He graduated from Columbia University in 1892, and then engaged in the book-publishing business with the Macmillan Company.
On October 3, 1894, he married Blanche Rebekah Percy (1870–1949), and they had three children.
He was President of the Taconic Valley Bank, of Berlin, New York.
He died on September 25, 1916, in Saranac Lake, New York; and was buried at the Meadowlawn Cemetery in Petersburgh.