John Allen (Connecticut politician)

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John Allen
Coat of arms of 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 bySamuel W. Dana
Succeeded byBailey 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
DiedJuly 31, 1812(1812-07-31) (aged 49)
Litchfield, Connecticut, U.S.
Citizenship United States
Political partyFederalist
SpouseUrsula McCurdy Allen
RelationsElizur Goodrich
ChildrenJohn W. Allen and Ursula Allen
Alma materLitchfield Law School
OccupationLawyer, 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[edit]

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.[1] 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.[2] He served as clerk of the State House in 1796.[3] He was elected as a Federalist candidate to the Fifth Congress, serving from March 4, 1797 to March 3, 1799.[4] 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.[5] He continued the practice of law in Litchfield until his death in 1812.[6] Allen is interred in East Cemetery in Litchfield.

Personal life[edit]

Allen married Ursula McCurdy, a graduate of the Litchfield Female Academy.[7] They had two children, John W. Allen and Ursula Allen, who married to abolitionist Congressman Sherlock James Andrews.[8][9] 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.[10][11]

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.[12][13] 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[edit]

  1. ^ "John Allen". Litchfield Historical Society. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  2. ^ "John Allen House (1799)". Historic Buildings of Connecticut. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  3. ^ "Allen, John". History, Art & Archives United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  4. ^ "Rep. John Allen". Govtrack.us. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  5. ^ "Allen, John (1763–1812)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "Ursula McCurdy Allen". Litchfield Historical Society. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  8. ^ Salisbury, Edward E. (1892). Family Histories and Genealogies: A Series of Genealogical and Biographical Monographs, Volume 1, Princeton University, p. 70
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "Allen, John William (1802–1887)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  11. ^ "ALLEN, John William, (1802 - 1887)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  12. ^ "John Allen". Litchfield Historical Society. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  13. ^ "GOODRICH, Elizur, (1761 - 1849)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved January 9, 2013.

External links[edit]


U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Connecticut's at-large congressional district
1797-1799 		Succeeded by
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