William Allen (loyalist)
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For other people named William Allen, see William Allen (disambiguation).
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| Born: | 5 August 1704 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
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| Died: | 6 September 1780 Mount Airy, Pennsylvania |
| Occupation: | Merchant, Jurist |
| Spouse: | Margaret Hamilton |
William Allen (August 5, 1704 – September 6, 1780) was a weathly merchant, Chief Justice of the Province of Pennsylvania and former mayor of Philadelphia.
At the time of the American Revolution, Allen was one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Philadelphia. A loyalist, Allen believed the best course of action for the colonies was to redress their grievances with Parliament through constitutional means, not through outright rebellion, and he refused to take up arms against a sovereign to whom he had sworn allegiance.[1]
Born in Philadelphia in 1704, Allen was the son of William Allen, Sr., a successful Philadelphia merchant of Scotch-Irish descent who had emigrated to America from Dungannon, County Tyrone, Ireland. As a youth, Allen spent much of his time in England. In 1720, he was admitted to the Middle Temple in London to study law, and later became a pensioner at Clare Hall, Cambridge. Upon his father's death in 1725, Allen returned to Philadelphia to manage the family's business interests.
In 1730, he purchased, at his own expense, the property on which the Pennsylvania State House was to be erected.
He was made mayor of the city of Philadelphia in 1735, and celebrated the opening of the nearly complete State House the following year by having a feast for all citizens and guests of the city—a celebration that was described as "the most grand, the most elegant entertainment that has been made in these parts of America." [1]
Allen served as Chief Justice of the colony's Supreme Court from 1750 to 1774, at which time he resigned due to increasing tensions resulting from his loyalist beliefs and health concerns. He was succeeded by Benjamin Chew.
Allen was a Freemason and a member of St. John's Lodge No. 1, "Moderns," Philadelphia. He was appointed Provincial Grand Master of Pennsylvania, "Moderns" on June 24, 1731, and is recognized not only as the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, but also the youngest (he was 26 years old when installed). Allen served two terms as Grand Master, the first from 1731-1732, the second from 1747-1761.[2]
A loyalist, he went in 1774 to England, where he published The American Crisis, which proposed a plan for restoring the American colonies to crown rule. Allen returned to Philadelphia in 1779, and died at Mount Airy, his mansion outside Philadelphia, the following year.
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[edit] Family
In 1734, Allen married Margaret Hamilton, daughter of Andrew Hamilton, famed defense lawyer in the John Peter Zenger case of 1735, and brother of James Hamilton. William and Margaret had six children: John, Andrew, James, William, Anne and Margaret. Like their father, all of Allen's sons were loyalists opposed the violent overthrow of British rule in the American Colonies.
John was elected to the Provincial Congress of New Jersey in 1776, but left over his opposition to the war. He died in Philadelphia in 1778.
Andrew became Attorney-General of Pennsylvania, was a member of Pennsylvania's delegation to the Continental Congress, and served on the Council of Safety. Upon his resignation from the Continental Congress, he joined Howe's army as a non-combatant, and returned to Philadelphia during the British occupation. His estate was confiscated as a result of the Pennsylvania Attainder Act of 1778. In 1792, he was pardoned, and unsuccessfully attempted to recover some of his assets under the Jay Treaty of 1794. He left for England, and died in London in 1825.
James was a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly of 1776, representing Northampton County. During the war, he retired to his home in Northamptontown (present-day Allentown) and lived as a non-combatant. He was a guest of Washington at Harlem Heights in November, 1776, and was summoned before the Committee of Public Safety for "disaffection." He died at Trout Hall, his residence in Northampton County, in 1778.
William was one of the first officers commissioned by the Continental Congress, and served under Montgomery in the 1775 Canadian campaign. Immediately after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, however, he resigned his officer's commission in the Continental Army, and became the Lieutenant-Colonel of a regiment called the "Pennsylvania Loyalists," which he commanded throughout the war. He left for London at the war’s end, and died there in 1838.
In 1766, Anne married John Penn, the last proprietary governor of Pennsylvania. In 1771, Allen's daughter Margaret married the son of James DeLancey, former governor of New York.
[edit] Founding of Allentown, Pennsylvania
William Allen founded the city of Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1762.
Originally called Northamptontown (or Northampton Towne), the property in Northampton County, Pennsylvania on which the town was established was part of a 5,000-acre estate purchased by Allen in 1735. He hoped that Northamptontown would displace Easton as the seat of Northampton County and become a commercial center of its location on the Lehigh River and its proximity to New York and Philadelphia. Allen gave the property to his son, James, who built a summer residence there in 1770, on the site of one of his father's hunting lodges. This building, Trout Hall, survives today, the city's oldest building.
In 1811, the town was incorporated as a borough. In 1812, Lehigh County was formed from the western half of Northampton County, and Northamptontown was selected to be the county seat. The borough was officially renamed "Allentown" in 1838, after years of popular usage and in honor of Allen. Today, Allentown is the third largest city in Pennsylvania.
Allentown's William Allen High School, one of Pennsylvania's largest public high schools, is named in his honor.
| Legal Offices | ||
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| Preceded by: Jeremiah Langhorne |
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania 1750–1774 |
Succeeded by: Benjamin Chew |
| Political Offices | ||
| Preceded by: Thomas Lawrence |
Mayor of Philadelphia 1735–1736 |
Succeeded by: Clement Plumsted |
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b De Lancey, Edward F. "Chief Justice William Allen." The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 1877: 202-210.
- ^ The Past Grandmasters Gallery - Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, accessed September 19, 2006
