Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/73

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ALLEN
ALLEN
51

Christ" (1823-'24); "The Parent's Counsellor, a Narrative of the Newton Family," and a "Sketch of the Life of Dr. Pilmore," his predecessor in St. Paul's church (1825). See Memoirs by his brother (Philadelphia, 1832).


ALLEN, Charles, jurist, b. in Worcester, Mass., 9 Aug., 1797; d. there, 6 Aug., 1869. He was admitted to the bar in 1821. He was elected to the legislature in 1829, 1834, 1836, and 1840. In 1835, 1838, and 1839 he sat in the state senate. He was a commissioner to negotiate the Ashburton treaty in 1842, and judge of the court of common pleas from 1842 to 1844. He was active in the free-soil movement, and was elected to congress in 1848 and reelected in 1850. In 1849 he edited the Boston "Whig," afterward called the "Republican." He was appointed chief justice of the superior court of Suffolk county in 1858, which office he resigned in 1807.

ALLEN, David Oliver, missionary. b. in Barre, Mass., 14 Sept., 1791); d. in Lowell, 17 July, 1863. He was graduated at Amherst college in 1823, taught in Lawrence academy, and then entered Andover theological seminary, which he left in 1827 to go as a missionary to Bombay. He established schools and preached in that province, and made extensive tours in western India. In 1844 he took charge of the Bombay printing establishment. He wrote tracts in Mahratta, and supervised a new translation of the Bible in that language. Injured in health by the Indian climate, he returned to America in 1853. After his return he published a "History of India, Ancient and Modern, Geographical, Historical, Political, Social, and Religious" (Boston, 1856).

ALLEN, Ebenezer, soldier, b. in Northampton, Mass., 17 Oct., 1743; d. in Burlington, Vt., 26 March, 1806. In 1771 he emigrated to Poultney, Vt.. and became a lieutenant in Col. Warner's regiment of Green Mountain boys. He removed to Tinmouth in 1775, and was a delegate from that town to the several conventions in the New Hampshire grants in 1776, and to those that declared the state independent and formed the state constitution during the following year. He was appointed a captain in Col. Herrick's battalion of rangers in July, 1777, and distinguished himself at the battle of Bennington. In September of the same year he captured Mt. Defiance by assault, and on the retreat of the enemy from Port Ticonderoga made fifty of them prisoners. Subsequently he was made major in the rangers, and showed himself a brave and successful partisan leader. In 1783 he removed to South Hero, where he resided until 1800, when he went to Burlington and remained there until his death.

ALLEN, Elisha Hunt, statesman, b. in New Salem, Mass., 28 Jan., 1804; d. in Washington, D. C., 1 Jan., 1883. He was graduated at Williams college in 1823, and studied law under his father, Samuel C. Allen, and Charles Adams. In 1826 he was admitted to the bar, and began to practise at Brattleboro, but he soon removed to Bangor, Me., where he was elected to the state legislature and served continuously from 1834 to 1841, being speaker in 1838. In 1841 he was elected a representative to congress, but he was defeated by Hannibal Hamlin when a candidate for reelection. He removed to Boston in 1847, where he practised law, and in 1849 was elected to the legislature. During the same year he was appointed consul at Honolulu, and subsequently he became prominent in the affairs of the Hawaiian government. He was minister of finance, and for twenty years was chief justice of the kingdom. In 1856, 1864, 1870, and 1875 he was the accredited minister to the United States. At the time of his death he was dean of the diplomatic corps.

ALLEN, Elizabeth Akers, author, b. in Strong, Me., 9 Oct., 1832. Her maiden name was Chase. She married Paul Akers, the sculptor (see Akers), who died in 1861, and in 1865 she married E. M. Allen, of New York. She began to write at the age of fifteen, under the pen name of "Florence Percy," and in 1855 published under that name a volume of poems entitled "Forest Buds." In 1858 she became a contributor to the "Atlantic Monthly," and in 1866 a collection of her poems was published in Boston. It included the poem "Rock me to Sleep, Mother," which has been set to music as a song by thirty composers. A dispute as to the authorship of the words attracted wide attention. Mrs. Allen wrote them in Portland, Me., early in 1859, and sent them from Rome in May, 1860, to the Philadelphia "Saturday Evening Post." That she was the author was shown by William D. O'Connor in a long article in the New York "Times" of 27 May. 1867. She was for several years literary editor'of the Portland, Me., "Advertiser." Mrs. Allen is a frequent contributor to periodical literature, and the author of "Queen Catharine's Rose" (Dublin, 1885); "The Silver Bridge, and Other Poems " (Boston, 1886); "The Triangular Society" (Portland, 1886); "Two Saints" (1888); "The High-Top Sweeting " (New York, 1891); and "The Proud Lady of Stavoren " (1897).


ALLEN, Ethan, soldier, b. in Litchfleld, Conn., 10 Jan., 1737; d. in Burlington, Vt., 13 Feb., 1789. In early life he removed to Bennington, Vt., which at that time was disputed territory, known as the New Hampshire grants, claimed by the colonies of New York and New Hampshire. In 1770 he was appointed agent to represent the settlers at Albany, where litigation on the claims was pending. A decision adverse to them was rendered, and resistance to the New York authorities followed. Allen was made colonel of an armed force known as the “Green Mountain boys,” raised in order to protect holders of land granted by New Hampshire. He was declared an outlaw, and £150 was offered for his capture by Gov. Tryon, of New York. When hostilities with Great Britain began, after the Green Mountain boys had proved their patriotism and efficiency by the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, the continental congress granted them the same pay that was received by the soldiers of the continental army, and, after consulting Gen. Schuyler, recommended to the New York convention that they should be employed in the army to be raised in defence of America under such officers as they (the Green Mountain boys) should choose. Allen and Warner went where the New York assembly was in session, and requested an audience. Many members objected to holding a public conference with proclaimed felons. Yet there was a large majority in favor of admitting Ethan Allen to the floor of the house, on the motion of Capt. Sears. The assembly resolved, in accordance with the recommendation of congress, that a regiment of Green Mountain boys should be raised, not to exceed 500 men; and Allen, in a letter of thanks to the assembly, pledged his word that they would reciprocate the favor by boldly hazarding their lives in the common cause of America. In seizing the British fortresses the Green Mountain boys forestalled the action of congress, who ordered Arnold to raise troops for the purpose; but before that a force was collected at Castleton, Vt., and placed under the command of Allen. At daybreak, May 10, he effected the capture of the entire British