John Allan (colonel)

Colonel John Allan
Born	January 3. 1746 Edinburgh Castle, Scotland
Died	February 7. 1805 Lubec, Maine
Buried at	Treat Island
Allegiance	United States of America
Battles/wars	Battle of Machias
Memorials	Cenotaph on Treat Island
Spouse(s)	Mary Patton (1743 –1819)
Relations	Children: William Allan; Mark Allan; John Allan; Isabel Maxwell Allan; George Washington Allan; Horatio Gates Allan; Winckworth Sargent Allan
Other work	Superintendent of Eastern Indians

Colonel John Allan M.P. J.P. (January 3, 1746 – February 7, 1805) was a Canadian politician who became an officer with the Massachusetts Militia in the American Revolutionary War. He served under George Washington during the Revolutionary War as Superintendent of the Eastern Indians and Colonel of Infantry, and he recruited Indian tribes of Eastern Maine to stand with the Americans during the war and participated in border negotiations between Maine, and New Brunswick.

Allan was born in Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, the son of Major William Allan (1720 –1790), 'a Scottish gentleman of means and an officer in the British Army', and his wife Isabella, daughter of Sir Eustace Maxwell. The Allan family temporarily resided in Edinburgh Castle where they had sought refuge during the Jacobite Rising of 1745, under the Deputy Governor, General George Preston, Commander-in-Chief of Scotland.

After the end of the War of the Austrian Succession, many British officers including Colonel Allan's father were discharged from service. William Allan was then offered a position in the British colony of Nova Scotia, which had previously been in French possession and he moved there with his family in 1749. William Allan arrived in the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in a military capacity, where the family remained for ten years before moving to Fort Lawrence. The fall of French Quebec and the arrival of British officers like William Allan displaced French Acadians and Native American tribes, creating violence and conflict. The British took land away from Native Americans and French Acadians and gifted it to people like William Allan. French Acadians probably worked menial jobs on William Allan's large farm for little pay.

Given William Allan's background, it is surprising that his son became such an advocate for American independence. Several factors in young John Allan's childhood may have contributed to his patriotic views. John Allan was sent to Massachusetts to receive an education, as were many young sons of wealthy British officers and landowners, because Nova Scotia was still relatively unsettled. He learned as a child both French and some Native American dialects. Both of these language skills would prove crucial for success in his later endeavors. Colonel John Allan's education in Massachusetts was likely a large factor in his support for the American patriots over the British, because at that time, Boston, Massachusetts was arguably the center of patriotic fervor. Another factor is that after the Proclamation of 1763, many New Englanders migrated to areas in Nova Scotia, such as Fort Lawrence, where Colonel John Allan grew up. Patriotic sentiment among his Bostonian neighbors in Nova Scotia could have influenced his political leanings. Also, Nova Scotia was geographically close to New England, which was the center of patriotic resistance. It was also dependent on New England for many supplies and ammunition. Regular contact with New Englanders imbued with patriotic fervor could have caused Allan to differ so strongly from his father's views. Colonel John Allan eventually became estranged from his father. This estrangement was likely due to an irreconcilable difference of view concerning the Revolutionary War.

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