The Biographical Dictionary of America/Allen, James Lane

ALLEN, James Lane, author, was born near Lexington, Ky., in 1849; the youngest child of Richard and Helen (Foster) Allen. He was graduated from Transylvania university with the degree of B.A., and after taking a post-graduate course was given the degree of M.A. At the age of twenty-one the death of his father necessitated his earning the support of his mother and sister by teaching in public schools, and later as a private tutor. For two years he was tutor in Transylvania university, leaving to accept the chair of Latin and higher English in Bethany college, West Virginia. There he remained two years, and then went to New York city to devote his life to literature. He became a frequent contributor to the principal magazines and reviews of the day and a well-known essayist and writer of short stories, the latter including: "Two Kentucky Gentlemen of the Old School"; "King Solomon of Kentucky"; "The White Cowl" and "Sister Dolorosa." His published works include: "Flute and Violin and other Kentucky Tales and Romances" (1891); "The Blue-Grass Regions of Kentucky, and other Kentucky Articles" (1892); "John Gray; a Kentucky Tale of the Olden Time" (1893); "A Kentucky Cardinal" (1895); "Aftermath" (1896); "A Summer in Arcady" (1896); "The Choir Invisible" (1897); "The Reign of Law" (1901); "The Mettle of the "Pasture" (1903).