On January 1, 1868, Mr. Hillhouse gave way to William F. Allen, a distinguished lawyer and a Democrat, of Oswego. Mr. Allen served as Member of Assembly from Oswego in 1843 and 1844, and was appointed United States District Attorney in 1845, and was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court in the fifth district in 1847, and elected to the same position in the fall election of 1855. He was re-elected Comptroller in November, 1869, but resigned June 14, 1870, to accept an appointment as Judge of the Court of Appeals. This latter place he held with great distinction until his death, in June, 1878. In 1864 he was the slated Democratic candidate for Governor. Horatio Seymour was then Governor, and Mr. Allen's friends at least understood that Mr. Seymour wished a renomination as a compliment, but would decline. To their consternation, however, Mr. Seymour came before the convention, thanked its members for the honor done him, and accepted. It was during Mr. Allen's administration that the Comptroller was authorized to appoint an agent to examine into the reports submitted to him by the various charitable institutions. By chapter 281 of the Laws of 1870, the Comptroller was made, _ex-officio_, a member of the State Commission of Public Charities. Judge Allen was distinguished by talents of the highest order, and his long public career was a useful one to the State. [Illustration: W F Allen (signature) _21st COMPTROLLER_] It is an interesting political fact that in the campaign of 1869 Judge Allen had as his opponent in the run for Comptroller Horace Greeley. Mr. Greeley's election was earnestly opposed by many of the leading Republicans of the State. A letter of Thurlow Weed was made public, in which he appealed very strongly to the people of the State to vote against Mr. Greeley. He based his opposition quite largely upon the fact that Mr. Greeley's time would have to be divided between his editorial duties in New York and the Comptroller's office in Albany. He then went on to say: "The office of Comptroller is most laborious and responsible. I have known its incumbents for considerably more than half a century. Among them were Archibald McIntyre, John Savage, William L. Marcy, Silas Wright, Jr., Azariah C. Flagg, John A. Collier, Washington Hunt, Philo A. Fuller, James M. Cook, Thos. Hillhouse and others, distinguished for ability and industry, not one of whom have attempted to attend to any other business, and all of whom found constant and full occupation, physical and mental, in the discharge of their public duties. Without regard to other reasons for withholding my vote from Mr. Greeley, I consider those which I have stated sufficient. In his opponent, William F. Allen, I found a capable and enlightened man, with some experience, much industry and peculiar fitness for the duties of the office. I have known him first, as an able and useful member of our Legislature, and next as an eminently upright judge."