Allen G. Thurman

Allen Granberry Thurman (November 13, 1813 – December 12, 1895) was a Democratic Representative, Ohio Supreme Court justice, and Senator from Ohio, as well as the nominee of the Democratic Party for Vice President of the United States in 1888.

Early years

He was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, to Pleasant Thurman and Mary Granberry Allen Thurman. Both his parents were teachers; his father also a Methodist minister. In 1815, his parents emancipated their slaves and moved to Chillicothe, Ohio. He attended Chillicothe Academy, an academy run by his mother, and then studied law as an apprentice to his uncle, William Allen (who later became a Senator from Ohio). At the age of eighteen, Thurman worked on a land survey, and at twenty-one became private secretary to the Governor of Ohio, Robert Lucas. In 1835 he was admitted to the Ohio bar and became his uncle's law partner. In 1837 his uncle entered the Senate. On November 14, 1844, Thurman married Mary Dun Thomplins (or Tompkins), and they were the parents of three children.