Thomas Allen (August 29, 1813 – April 8, 1882) was a slave owner, railroad builder and later a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri. Allen was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to Jonathan and Eunice Larned Allen, and was a grandson of Rev. Thomas Allen, a noted American revolutionary. He attended Pittsfield Academy and Berkshire Gymnasium. He graduated from Union College in 1832, where he obtained his degree with Phi Beta Kappa honors and was an early member of The Kappa Alpha Society. He then studied law and was admitted to the New York bar in 1835. In 1837, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he founded the newspaper The Madisonian, a Democratic newspaper. He was the printer of the United States House of Representatives from 1837 to 1839, and printer to th