Ethan Allen

Ethan Allen’s first marriage was in July 1762 to Mary Brownson, a woman five years senior to him. Allen and Mary had five children together (Loraine, Joseph, Lucy, Mary, and Pamela) of who only two reached adulthood. His first marriage was an unhappy one; however, it lasted till Mary’s death in 1783.

He met his second wife, Frances "Fanny" Montresor Brush Buchanan, a young widow in early 1784 and married her the same year. The couple had three children: Fanny (1784–1819), Hannibal Montresor (1786–1813), and Ethan Alphonso (1789–1855). This marriage proved to be a happy one.

Ethan Allen travelled to South Hero, Vermont, on February 11, 1789 and suffered an apoplectic fit during his return journey. He did not gain consciousness after that and died several hours later in Burlington. He was buried in Green Mount Cemetery in Burlington.

Ethan Allen was born on January 21, 1738 in Litchfield, Connecticut and was the first child of Joseph and Mary Baker Allen. He had five brothers (Heman, Heber, Levi, Zimri, and Ira) and two sisters (Lydia and Lucy).

His family moved to Cornwall soon after his birth. Allen began his studies under a minister in the town of Salisbury and aspired to join Yale College. With his father’s death in 1755, Allen took over the family landholdings.

He volunteered for militia service in 1757 during the early phases of the French and Indian war. He became a part owner of an iron furnace in Salisbury in 1762.

Ethan Allen first visited New Hampshire Grants in 1757 and acquired land in the area. A dispute over the land in the Champlain Valley arose between New York and New Hampshire and the New York Supreme Court passed an order in 1770 stating that New Hampshire’s claims were invalid. Thus Allen became the Colonel Commandant of a local group called Green Mountain Boys that initiated a campaign against the New Yorkers to leave their land.

Allen, along with a group of Boys, drove off a group of Scottish settlers near Rupert in October 1771. New York’s Governor, William Tryon issued warrants against the ones responsible including Allen. A reward of £20 which was later increased to £100 was put up on Allen and company by March 1774.

He spent the summer of 1774 writing a pamphlet titled ‘A Brief Narrative of the Proceedings of the Government of New York Relative to Their Obtaining the Jurisdiction of that Large District of Land to the Westward of the Connecticut River’. He began selling and giving away copies in 1775.

On March 13, 1775, a small riot broke out in the shire town of Westminster resulting in the death of two men. Allen along with his committee travelled to Westminster and started working on a petition to the king to remove them "out of so oppressive a jurisdiction." The American Revolutionary War began less than a week after that.

Ethan Allen led 60 men from Massachusetts and Connecticut along with 130 Boys at Castleton to capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British soldiers in May 1775. Soon Benedict Arnold also joined them, and from then the mission was jointly led by Allen and Arnold. The troop began with the capturing of Fort Crown Point and St. John followed by Fort Ticonderoga.

Ethan Allen is best known as an American Revolutionary War hero and key founder of the Republic of Vermont. He led several campaigns with the local group called the Green Mountain Boys and also captured Fort Ticonderoga from British soldiers.

Allen published his book ‘A Narrative of Colonel Ethan Allen's Captivity’ in 1779 which became an instant bestseller. The book described his time and struggles in prison along with the struggles of his fellow prisoners.