author
Allen Ripley Foote
1842–1921
A Civil War veteran who later became a prolific writer on taxes, municipal government, and public policy, this late-19th- and early-20th-century author brought a practical, reform-minded voice to American civic debates. His work ranges from personal war recollections to detailed studies of public finance and city administration.
1 Audiobook
Some of My War Stories A Paper Read before the Ohio Commandery of the Loyal legion
by Allen Ripley Foote
About the author
Born in Olcott, New York, on January 26, 1842, Allen Ripley Foote grew up in Michigan and served in the Civil War, first with the 3rd Michigan Infantry and later as a second lieutenant in the 21st Michigan Infantry. That experience stayed with him for life and eventually shaped Some of My War Stories, a memoir drawn from his service.
After the war, he built a career as an editor and public-policy writer. His books and pamphlets focused on taxation, municipal powers, utilities, currency, and government reform, including works such as Prosperity and Politics, Municipal Public Service Industries, and Public Policy Editorials. He is also identified in reliable historical sources as a founder and first president of the National Tax Association, serving from 1907 to 1913.
Foote died on January 17, 1921. Today he is remembered less as a literary celebrity than as a thoughtful, industrious public thinker whose writing captures both the lived memory of the Civil War and the reform energy of the Progressive Era.