Allen, William, 1784-1868

Dates

• Existence: 1784 - 1868

Biography

William Allen was born in Pittsfield, MA. on January 2, 1784. After graduating from Harvard University in 1802, he studied ministry for two years with his father, Rev. Thomas Allen, and the Rev. Dr. John Pierce of Brookline, MA. In 1804, Allen became licensed to preach. In 1805, he received his AM from Harvard and became Harvard University's assistant librarian and regent, a position he held until 1810. In 1810, he succeeded his father as pastor of the First Congregational Church of Pittsfield, MA. where he remained for seven years. In 1812, he received an honorary AM from Dartmouth College and in 1817, became Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at the newly established Dartmouth University under the presidency of his father-in-law John Wheelock (DC Class of 1771), former President and Trustee of Dartmouth College. After Wheelock’s death, Allen became the executor of the John Wheelock estate and succeeded his father-in-law as President of Dartmouth University in 1818. However, in 1819, Dartmouth University was disbanded by the Supreme Court ruling. Allen accepted the position of President of Bowdoin College in 1820 and moved to Brunswick, ME. As president of Bowdoin, he established a medical school at the college. In 1831, he was ejected from the presidency as a result of a Maine State Act, but was restored to office two years later. He resigned from Bowdoin in 1838 and retired to Northampton, MA. While at Northampton, he published the third edition of his "American Biographical and Historical Dictionary" (1857). Other works by Allen include "Junius Unmasked" (1828), a memoir of Eleazar Wheelock (1838), and two books of verse: "Wunnissoo, or the Vale of Hoosatunnuk, a Poem" (1856) and "Poems of Nazareth and the Cross" (1.866). William Allen died in Northampton, MA on July 16, 1868.

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