Allen, Andrew, 1740-1825

Andrew Allen (June 1740 – March 7, 1825) was a lawyer and official from the Province of Pennsylvania. Born into an influential family, Allen initially favored the colonial cause in the American Revolution, and represented Pennsylvania in the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1776. Like many other wealthy elites in Pennsylvania, however, he resisted radical change, and became a Loyalist after the Declaration of Independence and the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776.

Born in Philadelphia, Allen graduated from the College of Philadelphia in 1759, read law under Benjamin Chew, and then went to London to complete a legal education at the Inner Temple. He returned to Philadelphia in 1765, was admitted to the bar, and began to practice law. That same year Allen was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly. When tensions increased before the American Revolution, Allen was one of those critical of the Intolerable Acts passed by the British Parliament in 1774. He signed the non-importation agreement boycotting British goods in protest of the Boston Port Act, and helped form an independent militia unit, the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, on November 2, 1774. On June 30, 1775, he was appointed to the Committee of Safety by the Assembly.

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