1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Allen, William Francis

ALLEN, WILLIAM FRANCIS (1830–1889), American classical scholar, was born at Northborough, Massachusetts, on the 5th of September 1830. He graduated at Harvard College in 1851 and subsequently devoted himself almost entirely to literary work and teaching. In 1867 he became professor of ancient languages and history (afterwards Latin language and Roman history) in the university of Wisconsin. He died in December 1889. His contributions to classical literature chiefly consist of schoolbooks published in the Allen (his brother) and Greenough series. The Collection of Slave Songs (1867), of which he was joint-editor, was the first work of the kind ever published.