History of Cornwall, (Litchfield County) Connecticut United States of America

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Biographies:

Ira Allen, statesman, was born in Cornwall, Conn., April 21, 1751, the youngest son of Joseph and Mary Baker Allen, and brother of Ethan, Heman, Hebar, and Levi Allen. He received a good English education, and was a practical land surveyor when very young. He came with his brothers to Vermont in 1771, and in one year was an extensive proprietor of land in Burlington and Colchester, and, with his brothers and Remember Baker, rounded the Onion river land company, the largest landed concern in the state. This ownership brought him in opposition to the claims of New York to the territory, and he served as secretary of the committee of safety from its formation to its close. He was lieutenant in Colonel Warner's regiment in the Canada campaign and a trusted confidant of General Montgomery. In the formation of the new state in 1778 he was a member of its council and its secretary. He was also its first treasurer, serving as such nine years, besides being surveyor-general until 1786. About this time a determined opposition to his holding so many offices resulted in his defeat at further elections. He served as captain, colonel, and major-general of the state militia and as a member of the board of war during the revolution. He was prominent in the Haldiman negotiations, and while his conduct bordered on disloyalty to the colonies, and gave color to the charge that he was ready to surrender the territory of Vermont to the crown, the fact remains that his action delayed the consummation of an agreement, and saved the territory to the United States. In 1786, with his brother Levi, he was commissioned to negotiate a treaty of commerce with Canada, and proposed and urged the cutting of a canal to connect Lake Champlain with the St. Lawrence river, offering to cut it at his own expense if the British would allow him to collect tonnage. He at this time (1786) was an enthusiastic promoter of the plan to cut a canal between the southern waters of the lake and the head waters of the Hudson river. His official connection with the state closed in 1790 with the settlement of the controversy with New York. In 1789 he presented to the legislature a memorial for the establishment of the Vermont university, and with it a subscription list of ?5643, of which he contributed ?4000; the charter being granted Nov. 3, 1790. In 1795 he went to Europe in the interest of his canal project and with a commission from the governor to purchase arms for the state. The British cabinet treated his project with scant encouragement, and he went to France. After purchasing the arms for the State he sent them to the United States. The ship was captured by the British, and the cargo confiscated. He was eight years abroad seeking redress in the British courts. During this time he wrote his "History of Vermont." Meanwhile his landed property had suffered. Harassed by creditors and lawsuits he fled to Philadelphia. He married Jerusha, daughter of General Roger Enos, and died January 7, 1814.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Heman Allen, diplomat, was born at Cornwall, Ct., Oct. 15, 1740, second sun of Joseph and Mary (Baker) Allen. His father died in 1755, and he, after going with his brothers to the New Hampshire grants, returned and became a merchant at Salisbury, Ct., where he was living when the war of the revolution broke out. He was largely interested in Vermont and owned considerable property there. He was a delegate from Rutland, Vt., to the convention of January, 1777, that declared for independence, and again from Colchester, Vt., to the Windsor convention that framed the state constitution. He was also agent from Dorset convention of January, 1776, to present the cause of the people of Vermont to Congress, petitioning to be allowed to serve in the common cause, under officers to be named by Congress. This was a very successful effort, and he reported on the mission, July 22, 1776. In all the conventions looking to the affairs of Vermont, save two, his name appears as a delegate, and in the two he served as delegate at large or counsellor. He represented Middlebury in the state legislature one term. He was captain of a company in the regiment of Green Mountain Boys in their expedition to Canada. At the battle of Bennington he was present as one of the committee of safety, and there contracted a cold which led to decline and death in May, 1778.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Ebenezer Porter, educator, was born in Cornwall, Conn., Oct. 5, 1772; son of Judge Thomas (1734-1833)and Abigail (Howe) Porter, and a descendant of Thomas Porter, who emigrated from England to America about 1640 and was a proprietor of Farmington, Conn. He was graduated at Dartmouth college, A.B., 1792, A.M., 1795; was ordained to the Congregational ministry, Sept. 6, 1796; was paster at Washington, Conn., 1796-1812; professor of sacred rhetoric at Andover Theological seminary, 1812-32, and president of the seminary, 1827-34. He was married in May, 1797, to Lucy Pierce, daughter of the Rev. Noah Mervin. He declined the presidency of the University of Vermont in 1815, the chair of divinity at Yale in 1816, and the presidency of the University of Georgia in 1818. He was also consulted in regard to his possible acceptance of the presidency of Hamilton, Middlebury, South Carolina and Dartmouth colleges. He received the honorary degrees A.M. from Yale in 1795, D.D. from Dartmouth in 1814, and became a member of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1809. He is the author of: The Young Preacher's Manual (1819); An Analysis of the Principles of Rhetorical Delivery (1827); Syllabus of Lectures (1829); Rhetorical Reader (1831); The Revivals of Religion (1832); The Cultivation of Spiritual Habits and Progress in Study (1833); Homiletics, Preaching and Public Prayer (1834); Eloquence and Style, revised by Lyman Matthews (1836), and many sermons. See memoir by the Rev. Lyman Matthews (1836). He died in Andover, Mass., April 8, 1834.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor