of celebration he was frequently chosen orator of the occasion. On the occasion of his last visit to Europe for travel in an effort to restore his failing health, the students of Rush College rained down dollars on the floor of the class room until more than four hundred were gathered up, with which a handsome watch was purchased and presented to him as a loving testimonial of their high regard.
Allen, Jonathan Moses (1815–1867)
Jonathan Moses Allen was born at Princeton, Worcester County, Massachusetts, April 30, 1815, the son of Moses Allen, a farmer, and Mehitable Oliver. Receiving a common school education in his native place, he went on to Amherst Academy and in 1884 entered Yale but did not graduate. In 1838 he went to Philadelphia, entered the University of Pennsylvania, graduated M.D. in 1840, and immediately became a teacher and lecturer in a private institution.
Later, for several years, he was demonstrator of anatomy, then passed to professor of anatomy and physiology, at the Pennsylvania Medical College, a post held for about eight years. During this time he wrote "The Practical Anatomist; or, The Student's Guide in the Dissecting-Room," 631 pp. (1856).
He married Louisa Kedsly, of Wilmington, Delaware; they had no children. His health broke down from excessive application, a long illness followed and he never fully recovered. He went to Lowell, Massachusetts, to visit his brother, Nathan Allen, and died there of pneumonia, April 7, 1867.
Allen, Nathan (1813–1889)
Nathan Allen was born in Princeton, Massachusetts, April 13, 1813. His parents, Moses and Mehitable Oliver Allen, were both born in Barre, Massachusetts, the great ancestor of this family of Allens having been Walter Allen, one of the original proprietors of Old Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1648.
Nathan Allen graduated from Amherst College in 1836, received his M. D. from the Pennsylvania Medical College in 1841, and settled in Lowell the same year. Here he practised until his death, January 1, 1889, the result of a fall down stairs.
He received the honorary M. D. from Castleton (Vermont) Medical College in 1847, and LL. D. from Amherst in 1873.
Dr. Allen devoted himself to the study of physical culture, degeneracy, insanity, heredity, hygiene, education, and intemperance. In 1856 he was chosen a trustee of Amherst College, and in 1864 Governor John A. Andrew appointed him a member of the State Board of Charities. He served on the board for fifteen years. In 1872 he visited Europe as a delegate appointed by Governor Washburn to the international congress of prison reform in London.
His published writings comprise over one thousand octavo pages. Some of the more noted are: "Physical Culture in Amherst College," "Intermarriage of Relatives," "Physiological Laws of Human Increase," "Normal Standard of Women for Propagation," "Report on Lunacy to the Massachusetts Legislature," and his best known work, "Change in the New England Population."
He married first, September 24, 1841, Sarah H. Spaulding, of Wakefield, Massachusetts. She died without children and he married a second time, May 20, 1857, Annie A. Waters, of Salem, Massachusetts, by whom he had four children.
He was for a long time connected with St. John's Hospital, Lowell, and always labored to secure a better esprit de corps in the medical profession.
Allen, Peter (1787–1864)
Peter Allen, of Norwich, Connecticut, was born on July 1, 1787, the son of John Allen and Tirzah Morgan. He was descended from Samuel Allen, who came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England in 1630. His preliminary education was received at the Academy in Norwich, and he later conducted this school as a teacher for two years, obtaining his medical education with Dr. Phineas Tracy, of his native town. In 1838 Jefferson College conferred upon him her honorary M. D.
Dr. Allen removed from Norwich, Connecticut, in 1808 and became one of the early pioneers in Kinsman, Ohio, having made the journey thither on horseback by way of Philadelphia and Pittsburg. The nearest point at which medicines could be obtained was Pittsburg, and here he secured the supplies with which to begin practice. It was from this source he also ordered medical books.
