John Allen | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's At-large district |
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In office March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1799 |
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Preceded by | Samuel W. Dana |
Succeeded by | Bailey Bartlett |
Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors | |
In office 1774–1776 |
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Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives | |
In office 1793-1796 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Great Barrington, Massachusetts, U.S. |
June 12, 1763
Died | July 31, 1812 Litchfield, Connecticut, U.S. |
(aged 49)
Citizenship | United States |
Political party | Federalist |
Spouse(s) | Ursula McCurdy Allen |
Relations | Elizur Goodrich |
Children | John W. Allen and Ursula Allen |
Alma mater | Litchfield Law School |
Occupation | Lawyer, Politician |
Religion | Congregationalist |
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.
Allen was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. 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.
Allen married Ursula McCurdy, a graduate of the Litchfield Female Academy. They had two children, John W. Allen and Ursula Allen. Their son John W. Allen was a U.S. Representative from Ohio from March 4, 1837 to March 3, 1841.