Prominent Allens Of America, Past Generations
ALEXANDER VIETS GRISWOLD ALLEN: Author; b., Otis, Mass., 1841; professor of church history, Episcopalian Divinity School at Cambridge, 1867; author of several books, part constituting the Bohlen Lectures, 1884.
ANDREW: Attorney-General, 1766; b., Phila., 1740; s. William. When the royalist army took New York, he went into British lines and took oath of allegiance to the king, renouncing those to Congress; went to England and was later granted pension by British government.
REV. BENJAMIN: Clergyman; b., Hudson, N. Y., 1789; rector of St. Paul’s Church, Phila., 1821. Author of several books, including “The Parents’ Counsellor, a Narrative of the Newton Family.”
HON. CHARLES: Jurist; b., Worcester, Mass., 1797; elected to the Legislature several times, and later to the State Senate; appointed Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Suffolk Co., 1858, but resigned, 1868.
DAVID OLIVER: Missionary; b., Barre, Mass., 1800. After his health was injured by the climate at Bombay, he returned to America in 1853 and published “History of India, Ancient and Modern.” He wrote tracts in Mahratta and supervised a new translation of the Bible into that language.
MAJOR EBENEZER: Soldier; b., Northampton, Mass., 1743. As captain in Col. Herrick’s battalion of rangers in 1777, he distinguished himself at the battle of Bennington. Later he captured Mt. Defiance by assault and on the enemy’s retreat from Fort Ticonderoga took fifty prisoners. He was subsequently made major of the rangers, and was a brave and successful partisan leader.
HON. ELISHA HUNT: Statesman; b., New Salem, Mass., 1804; s. Samuel C.; served in the State Legislature as speaker, 1838, and was again elected in 1849; appointed Consul at Honolulu, and for twenty years was Chief Justice of the kingdom; at the time of his death was dean of diplomatic corps.
ELIZABETH ALSERS: Author; b., Strong, Me., 1832; author of a volume of poems entitled “Forest Buds,” which included “Rock Me to Sleep, Mother.”
LT.-COL. ETHAN: Soldier; b., Litchfield, Conn., 1737. He was Colonel of the “Green Mountain Boys,” whose gallant and adventurous exploits played so prominent a part in the Revolutionary War. Later he received the commission of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Continental Army; was a mem. of the State Legislature of Vt., special delegate to Congress, and ultimately succeeded in obtaining the recognition of Vermont as an independent state.
REV. GEORGE: Educator; b., Milton, Vt., 1808; professor of ancient languages, Delaware Coll., 1837; professor of ancient languages, Univ. of Pa., 1845, and later of Greek alone. Author of “Life of Philidor,” the chess-player.
HARRISON: Physician; b., Phila., 1841. He was an assistant surgeon in the U. S. Army during the Civil War; mem. of the faculty of the Univ. of Pa.; surgeon to Philadelphia Hospital and sec. of medical board, 1870. A mem. of numerous medical societies, he contributed to various medical journals, chiefly on human and morbid anatomy.
HON. HEMAN: Lawyer; b., Poultney, Vt., 1779; mem. Legislature, 1812-17, and was appointed quartermaster of militia with title of Brigadier-General; M. C., 1817, but resigned to accept appointment as U. S. Marshal for Vt.; Minister to Chili, 1823.
REV. HENRY: b. Newport, R. I., 1748. In and after 1774 he converted many in Nova Scotia to his peculiar mystical religious ideas, and founded the religious sect known as the “Allenites,” which dwindled away after his death.
GOV. HENRY WATKINS: Soldier and statesman; b., Prince Edward Co., Va., 1820; taught in Grand Gulf, Miss., where he was elected to the Legislature, 1846; removed to Louisiana and was elected to Legislature there, 1853; served in Civil War and later was elected to governorship of La. He played a prominent part in the political and financial affairs of the border states and of Mexico, where he settled and edited an English paper, “Mexican Times.” See “Recollections of Henry W. Allen,” by Sarah A. Dorsey (N. Y., 1867).
HON. IRA: Soldier; b., Cornwall, Conn., 1751; filled many important political and military positions in the State of Vermont. Author of “The Natural and Political History of Vermont” (London, 1798), etc.
HON. ISAAC: Canadian jurist; b. 1741; Loyalist officer of Rev., holding rank of Colonel when war ended; deported to New Brunswick with Tories, obtaining grant of 2000 acres above Fredericton; one of first judges appointed in the province.
REV. JAMES: Clergyman; b., Roxbury, Mass., 1692; first minister of Brookline and author of various volumes of sermons.
JOEL ASAPH: Naturalist; b., Springfield, Mass., 1838; studied under Agassiz, at Lawrence Scientific School of Zoology, and was a mem. of various scientific expeditions; author of numerous scientific papers and mem. of many learned societies, including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Academy of Sciences.
JOHN: Soldier; b., Rockbridge Co., Va., 1772; s. of early settler in Ky.; began practice of law at Shelbyville; k. in action while fighting with regiment he raised, River Basin, 1813.
JOSEPH: Merchant; b., Boston, 1749; engaged in trade in Leicester and Worcester, Mass.; held various county and state offices; M.C., 1811-13; Counsellor, 1815-18.
REV. JOSEPH: Clergyman; b., Medfield, Mass., 1790; pastor Congregational Church at Northborough, 1816 until his death, 1873; delegate to Peace Congress of Paris, 1849, and author of various books.
REV. MOSES: Clergyman; b., Northampton, Mass., 1748; in 1777 took charge of the Midway, Ga., church which was burnt when the British devastated the district; officiated as chaplain to the Georgia brigade, was captured when Savannah was reduced by the British, and was killed in an attempt to escape from military prison.
NATHAN: Physician; b., Princeton, Mass., 1813; acquired a large practice in Lowell, Mass.; mem. of state board of charities; appointed examining supervisor of pensions, 1862; author of many articles on social and physiologica subjects.
OSCAR DANA: Ph.D.; b., Hebron, Me., 1836; professor of analytical chemistry and metallurgy, 1873; mem. of numerous scientific societies; author of many scientific articles.
PAUL: Editor; b., Providence, R. I., 1775; edited a “History of the Revolution,” and published several volumes of poems, one of which was “Noah” (1821); d., Baltimore, 1826.
GOV. PHILIP: Statesman; b., Providence, R. I., 1785; elected to State Legislature, 1819, and served as one of commissioners for settlement of state debt; elected Governor of R. I., 1851, and re-elected in 1852 and 1853; U. S. Senator, 1853-59; d. in Providence, 1865.
REV. RICHARD: Clergyman; b. 1760; in 1793, at Phila., organized first church for colored people in U. S.; ordained in Methodist ministry in 1799 and elected bishop of newly-formed A. M. E. Church in 1816; d. in Phila., 1831.
RICHARD L.: Agricultural writer; b., Hampton Co., Mass., 1803; founder and editor of “American Agriculturist.” Author of several books, including a valuable treatise on “The Diseases of Domestic Animals” (1848); d., Stockholm, Sweden, 1869.
COL. ROBERT: Soldier; b., Augusta Co., Va., 1777; served with distinction as colonel under Jackson in the War of 1812; M.C., 1819-27; d. near Carthage, Tenn., 1844.
MAJOR-GEN. ROBERT: Soldier; b., Ohio, about 1815; grad., West Point, 1836; 2nd Lt. in Seminole war; received brevet rank of major for gallant conduct in the Mexican war; chief quartermaster of Mississippi Valley, 1863-66, and of Pacific, 1866-78; received brevet rank of major-general, 1865; d., Geneva, Switzerland, 1886.
SAMUEL: Patentee of New Hampshire; b., England, 1636; London merchant; in 1691 he purchased from heirs of John Mason their grant of land from the English crown, which included Portsmouth, Dover and a great part of what is now N. H., but lost his claim through the litigation which followed; d., Newcastle, N. H., 1705.
MAJOR SOLOMON: Preacher; b., Northampton, Mass., 1751; major in Rev. Army; suppressed Shay’s rebellion; he became a missionary preacher at fifty years of age; d., N. Y., 1821. See J. N. Danforth’s “Sketch of the Last Hours of Solomon Allen.”
REV. THOMAS: Clergyman; b., Northampton, Mass., 1743; for 46 years pastor at Pittsfield; volunteer chaplain during Rev. War; d., Pittsfield, Mass., 1810.
DR. TIMOTHY FIELD: Physician; b., Westminster, Vt., 1837; professor of materia medica in N. Y. Homeopathic Medical Coll., 1867, and later served as its dean. Author of several books, including a 10-volume “Encyclopedia of Materia Medica” (N. Y., 1874-79).
HON. WILLIAM: Jurist; b., Phila., about 1710; Chief Justice of Penna., 1750-74; he was a loyalist, and went to England in 1774, where he published “The American Crisis”; d., England, 1780.
REV. WILLIAM: Clergyman and author; b., Pittsfield, Mass., 1784; regent and assistant librarian, Harvard Coll.; pres. of Dartmouth Coll., 1817, and of Bowdoin Coll., 1820-39. Author of several books and numerous pamphlets, and edited 1st edition of “American Biographical and Historical Dictionary.” See his “Life, with Selections from His Correspondence” (Phila., 1847); d., Northampton, Mass., 1868.
GOV. WILLIAM: Statesman; b., Edenton, N. C., 1806; removed to Ohio, where he was admitted to the bar at the age of 21 and became associate in the law firm of Colonel King; M.C., 1833; Senator from Ohio, 1837, and re-elected in 1843; Governor of Ohio, 1873. He is said to have originated the famous campaign slogan, “Fifty-four forty, or fight!”
WILLIAM FREDERICK: Meterologist; b., Bordentown, N. J., 1846; s. of Joseph Warner; in 1873 he became editor-manager of the National Railway Publication Co., and in 1875 was made secretary of the General Time Convention. He labored for the adoption of standard time, which went into effect in 1883, and is generally recognized as the one to whom credit for its universality is due. He was a delegate to various congressional conferences in the U. S. and abroad; a mem. of numerous learned societies, including the American Statistical Society, and was made Chevalier of the Order of Leopold by the Belgian government; d., South Orange, N. J., 1915.
MASTER-COM. WILLIAM HENRY: Naval officer; b., Providence, R. I., 1784. He entered the Navy in 1800, was a 3rd Lt. of the “Chesapeake” when she struck her colors to the British frigate “Leopard” in 1807, and served with distinction in the War of 1812; k. in action, 1813.
WILLIAM HENRY: Educator and author; b., Readfield (now Manchester), Me., 1808; professor and acting president at Dickinson Coll., Carlisle, Pa.; president of Girard Coll., 1850-52, and again from 1867 until death (d., Phila., 1882); president of Pa. Agricultural Coll., 1865-66, and of American Bible Society, 1872.
LIEUTENANT WILLIAM HOWARD: Naval officer; b., Hudson, N. Y., 1790; k. in action, 1822; entered the Navy, 1808; was 2nd lieut. of the “Argus” and commanded in the fight with the “Pelican” off the coast of England after Captain William Henry Allen and the 1st officer were disabled. He met death while attempting to board a piratical vessel near Matanzas, Cuba.
ZACHARIAH: Inventor; b., Providence, R. I., 1795; descended from one of the early settlers of Providence and was heir of a wealthy merchant; grad. from Brown, 1815; admitted to Bar, 1817; after 1822 engaged in manufacturing. As a capitalist he promoted R. I. industries. Invented the automatic cutoff valve for the steam-engine, and many other valuable mechanical devices. For many years was president of the R. I. Historical Society. Author of several books, including “Solar Light and Heat” (1879). See his “Memorial” by Amos Perry (1883).