John Delbert Van Allen was a retail dry goods merchant and department store owner who came to Clinton, Iowa

Clinton, Iowa

Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 26231as of 2010. Clinton, along with DeWitt, Iowa , was named in honor of the seventh governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton. Clinton is the principal city of the Clinton Micropolitan Statistical...

 in 1892 and established a department store that was the last surviving traditional store of its type in the city. He is most noted nationally for having hired Louis Sullivan

Louis Sullivan

Louis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism" He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an...

 to design the Van Allen Building

Van Allen Building

The Van Allen Building, also known as Van Allen and Company Department Store, is a four story building in Clinton, Iowa designed by Louis Sullivan and commissioned by John Delbert Van Allen . Constructed 1912–1914 as a department store, it now has upper floor apartments with ground floor...

 that is now listed as a National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

.

Mr. Van Allen applied for membership in the Holland Society of New York on August 10, 1908 and was admitted on October 8, 1908. He was a direct lineal descendent of Laurens Van Allen who was a resident of New Amsterdam

New Amsterdam

New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....

in 1658. (Application below)