William Allen

William Allen 1704-80, American jurist, b. Philadelphia. He and his father-in-law, Andrew Hamilton, decided the choice of Philadelphia instead of Chester as provincial capital, and he helped finance the building of Independence Hall. Allen was (1750-74) chief justice of Pennsylvania, secured (1763) postponement of the sugar duties, and helped (1765) Benjamin Franklin in his efforts to have the Stamp Act repealed. He wrote The American Crisis (1774), containing a plan for colonial reconciliation with England. When it was not accepted, he made his home in England. Allentown, Pa., was named for him.

Butler, William Allen (1825–1902), lawyer, teacher, and leader in New York civic affairs, was noted for his biographies, novels, and society verse. His best‐known work was the satirical poem Nothing To Wear, published anonymously in Harper's Weekly (1857) and reprinted that year in book form without Butler's authorization. It was so popular that several claimants to its authorship appeared, and it was imitated, parodied, and frequently reprinted in the U.S., England, and France. This satire of Flora M'Flimsy, a society lady who claimed she had nothing to wear to parties, captured the public imagination at a time when social climbers were making themselves strenuously felt. Among the books it inspired were Nothing To Do: A Tilt at Our Best Society (1857) by Horatio Alger, and Nothing To Say: A Slight Slap at Mobocratic Snobbery, Which Has “Nothing To Do” with “Nothing To Wear” (1857) by Mortimer Thomson.