The Base Plate of this gun says “Taken from the Spanish Cruiser, Vizcaya, after the naval battle at Santiago July 8, 1898 presented by Charles Allen, Assistant Secretary of the US Navy June 1899”
The base of the gun is engraved on the bronze ring – “trophy” “Maria Teresa” “Battle of Santiago” July 3rd, 1898. The damage that can be seen on the gun’s shield is from the fire of the American guns. The shot came from behind, so it is assumed that the gun may have been on the ship’s starboard side, which is the side that faced away from the American squadron. The damage appears to be from a shell approximately the size of a 5-inch projectile. We are not sure which ship is correct, but both the Spanish cruisers Vizcaya and Maria Teresa are listed.
This item was originally housed in Memorial Hall
Charles Allen was born in Lowell, MA in 1848. A graduate of Amherst College, he worked with his father in their company, Otis Allen and Son, a lumber business that manufactured women boxes, railroad ties, housing frames, and road building materials. Allen was a two-time member of the MA House of Representatives and a one term member of the MA Senate. He served in various civic capacities on both the state and federal levels. He was appointed as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy when Teddy Roosevelt resigned the post to enter the Spanish-American War, a position which he held from 1898 to 1900. He then was appointed as the first United States born-civilian governor of Puerto Rico after the Spanish American War. After resigning as governor, he headed to Wall Street where he built up a sugar syndicate. By 1907, his syndicate, The American Sugar Refining Company, owned or controlled nearly 98% of the sugar processing capacity in the United States and was affectionately known as the Sugar Trust, which is now known as Domino Sugar. Allen passed away in 1934 at the age of 86 and is buried in Lowell Cemetery. His home, “The Terraces” is now called the Allen House. It is listed on the National Register for Historic Places and it is on the South Campus of the University of Massachusetts Lowell.