George Allen (December 17, 1808 – May 28, 1876) was a noted college professor and clergyman.

Formative years

Born in

Milton, Vermont Milton is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,723. According to local legend, the town was named for the English poet John Milton, but the name most likely originated from William Fi ...

in 1808, George Allen was the son of U.S. Congressman

Heman Allen (of Milton) Heman Allen (June 14, 1777 – December 11, 1844) was an American lawyer and politician from Milton, Vermont. He served as a U.S. Representative. Biography Allen was born in Ashfield (now Deerfield, Massachusetts) to Enoch Allen and Mercy Bel ...

and Sarah Ann (Prentiss) Allen. A graduate of the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

in 1827, Allen became a professor of languages at that school in 1828. After leaving his position in 1830, he was admitted to the Vermont bar in 1831, and married Mary Hancock Withington, with whom he would have four children. Ordained as a minister in the Episcopal Church in 1834, Allen became professor of languages at Delaware College in 1837, remaining at that post through 1845 when he became professor of Latin and Greek at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He then published a "Life of Philidor," the chess-player (Philadelphia, 1863). Allen was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1856.

Religion

Allen converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

in 1847.

Death and interment

Allen died in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

on May 28, 1876, and was interred at Philadelphia's Old Cathedral Cemetery.

References

*''Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume, 1607-1896''. Chicago: Quincy Who's Who, 1963. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, George 1808 births 1876 deaths People from Milton, Vermont University of Vermont alumni Anglican priest converts to Roman Catholicism University of Pennsylvania faculty American Episcopal priests Members of the American Philosophical Society 19th-century American Episcopalians 19th-century American clergy