Allen, Ira, 1751-1814

Ira Allen was born in Cornwall, Connecticut on April 21, 1751, the sixth and youngest son of Joseph and Mary (Baker) Allen. Moving to Vermont around 1770, Allen entered into various land speculations and became a member of the Onion River Land Company with his brothers Heman, Zimri, and Ethan and his cousin Remember Baker. During the Revolution he was a member of the Green Mountain Boys and he played important roles in the Canadian Campaign of 1775-1776 and in the recapturing of Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Allen married Jerusha Enos (1764-1838), daughter of General Roger Enos of Simsbury, CT in 1789.

Dedicated to the interests of Vermont, Allen wrote frequently in defense of the state and became its greatest diplomat. He held numerous offices in the early stages of Vermont's formation including Treasurer and Surveyor-General from 1778 to 1787 and Secretary of the State Council upon state independence. He held a leading role in drawing up the State Constitution and wrote its preamble. He was a member of the Governor's Council from 1784 to 1785 and he represented Colchester eight times in the General Assembly. In 1789 Allen pledged 4000 pounds to the Legislature for the establishment of a college which resulted in the chartering of the University of Vermont in November of 1791.

In 1795 Allen travelled to Europe with hopes of a commercial treaty with Canada which included plans of building a canal connecting Lake Champlain with the St. Lawrence River. Allen was also on commission from Governor Chittenden to purchase arms for the State. Failing in his attempt to secure approval for his commercial plans in Britain, Allen did succeed in obtaining arms from France. Allen secured two dozen cannons and some fifteen thousand muskets on board the ship "Olive Branch" and set sail for Vermont. En route, Allen's ship was captured by the British who believed the arms were to aid the rebellion in Ireland or in Canada. Held by the British for a year (1797), Allen left England whereupon he returned to France only to be imprisoned as a spy. After sustained deliberation and nearly two years in French prisons (1798-1800), Allen was finally able to leave Europe. Upon his return to Vermont in 1801 Allen found antagonisms against him high and his assets dissolved. After numerous lawsuits and threatened with imprisonment, Allen in 1803 left Vermont for Philadelphia where he died destitute on January 15, 1814.