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John Allen

Gender:
Male
Born:
June 12, 1763
Died:
July 31, 1811
Home Town:
Great Barrington, MA
Later Residences:
Germantown, PA
New Milford, CT
Litchfield, CT
Marriage(s):
Ursula Allen Perkins (1801)
Biographical Notes:
John Allen was the only son of a joiner (furniture maker) from Great Barrington, Massachusetts. His only other sibling, a sister, married Elizur Goodrich of New Haven, Connecticut. John Allen only had a common education before attending the Litchfield Law School, but still worked as a teacher for several years. As a minor, he taught younger children in a noted establishment in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Allen then taught at New Milford, Connecticut for six months. He was admitted to the bar after attending the Litchfield Law School from 1784 until 1786. From 1793 to 1796, Allen represented Litchfield in the Connecticut General Assembly as a State Representative. In 1797, he was elected to the fifth U.S. Congress at the age of thirty-five. During his time in the House, he was an avid proponent ...
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Education
Years at LLS:
1784
Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Political Office
Admitted To Bar:
Connecticut ca. 1786
Political Party:
Federalist
Federal Posts:
U.S. Representative (CT) 1797-1799
State Posts:
State Representative (CT) 1793-1796
Judge to the Supreme Court of Errors (CT) 1800-1806
Clerk of the State House of Representatives (CT) 1796
help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
[We are currently working to update and confirm citations of attendance.]
Secondary Sources:
Boardman, David Sherman. Sketches of the Early Lights of the Litchfield Bar. J. Humphrey, Jr., 1860.
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