John Allen | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's at-large district | |
In office March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1799 | |
Preceded by | Samuel W. Dana |
Succeeded by | Bailey Bartlett |
Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors | |
In office 1774–1776 | |
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives | |
In office 1793-1796 | |
Personal details | |
Born | (1763-06-12)June 12, 1763 Great Barrington, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America |
Died | July 31, 1812(1812-07-31) (aged 49) Litchfield, Connecticut, U.S. |
Citizenship | United States |
Political party | Federalist |
Spouse | Ursula McCurdy Allen |
Relations | Elizur Goodrich |
Children | John W. Allen and Ursula Allen |
Alma mater | Litchfield Law School |
Occupation | Lawyer, Politician |
John Allen (June 12, 1763 – July 31, 1812) was an eighteenth-century lawyer and politician. He served as a United States representative from Connecticut and as a member of the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors.
Early life and career
Allen was born in Great Barrington in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He attended the common schools and taught school in Germantown, Pennsylvania and New Milford, Connecticut, before studying law at the Litchfield Law School from 1784 to 1786. Allen was admitted to the bar in 1786 and began the practice of law in Litchfield, Connecticut.
Allen began his political career as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, serving in the State House from 1793 to 1796. He served as clerk of the State House in 1796. He was elected as a Federalist candidate to the Fifth Congress, serving from March 4, 1797, to March 3, 1799. He was a proponent of the Alien and Sedition Acts. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1798.
He was a member of the State council and of the Supreme Court of Errors from 1800 to 1806. He continued the practice of law in Litchfield until his death in 1812. Allen is interred in East Cemetery in Litchfield.
Personal life
Allen married Ursula McCurdy, a graduate of the Litchfield Female Academy. They had two children, John W. Allen and Ursula Allen, who married to abolitionist Congressman Sherlock James Andrews. Their son John W. Allen was a U.S. Representative from Ohio from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1841, and previously, an Ohio State Senator.
Allen's sister, Annie Willard Allen Goodrich, was married to Elizur Goodrich, a U.S. Representative from Connecticut, serving from March 4, 1799, to March 3, 1801, and brother of U.S. Senator Chauncey Goodrich. They were members of the family of socialite Mary Ann Wolcott Goodrich, Founding Father Oliver Wolcott, and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott Jr., among others.
References
- "John Allen". Litchfield Historical Society. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- "John Allen House (1799)". Historic Buildings of Connecticut. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- "Allen, John". History, Art & Archives United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- "Rep. John Allen". Govtrack.us. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- "Allen, John (1763–1812)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- Lanman, Charles (1876). Biographical annals of the civil government of the United States: during its first century. From original and official sources. J. Anglim. pp. 5.
john allen Great Barrington, Mass.
- "Ursula McCurdy Allen". Litchfield Historical Society. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- Salisbury, Edward E. (1892). Family Histories and Genealogies: A Series of Genealogical and Biographical Monographs, Volume 1, Princeton University, p. 70
- Harrold, Stanley (2019). American Abolitionism: Its Direct Political Impact from Colonial Times into Reconstruction, Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, Library of Congress, Chapter 4.
- "Allen, John William (1802–1887)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- "ALLEN, John William, (1802 - 1887)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- "John Allen". Litchfield Historical Society. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- "GOODRICH, Elizur, (1761 - 1849)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
External links
- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: ALLEN, John, (1763 - 1812)
- John Allen at Find a Grave
- The Political Graveyard: Allen, John (1763–1812)
- Strangers to Us All: John Allen
U.S. House of Representatives | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded byZephariah Swift | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's at-large congressional district 1797-1799 |
Succeeded byJohn Davenport |
- 1763 births
- 1812 deaths
- People from Great Barrington, Massachusetts
- People from colonial Massachusetts
- American people of English descent
- Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut
- Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives
- Members of the Connecticut General Assembly Council of Assistants (1662–1818)
- Connecticut state court judges
- Litchfield Law School alumni
- Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court
- 18th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
- 18th-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly