Allen, Ira

Ira Allen (April 21, 1751 - January 7, 1814) was an American surveyor, land speculator, political strategist, author, and founding father of Vermont whose influence rivaled - and in statecraft perhaps exceeded - that of his better-known brother, Ethan Allen. Born in Cornwall, Connecticut, he entered the disputed New Hampshire Grants as a young man and, in 1772-73, joined his brothers and cousin Remember Baker in organizing the Onion River Land Company, through which the family accumulated vast properties along Lake Champlain. Active in resisting New York's claims, Allen became one of the principal architects of Vermont's independence, serving as state treasurer and surveyor general from 1778 to 1787, sitting on the Governor's Council, publishing defenses of Vermont's position, and representing the republic in negotiations with Congress, neighboring states, and British authorities. He played a particularly important, if controversial, role in the secret Haldimand Negotiations, which exploited British interest in reclaiming Vermont to protect the fledgling state and strengthen its bargaining position. An ambitious promoter of settlement, commerce, manufacturing, and transportation in the Champlain Valley, Allen also became the principal founder of the University of Vermont, chartered in 1791, providing much of its initial planning and financial support. In 1795, he traveled to Britain seeking backing for a proposed Lake Champlain-Richelieu River Canal, afterward proceeding to France, where he purchased some 20,000 muskets and other military supplies, ostensibly for the Vermont militia. British authorities seized the cargo aboard the Olive Branch in 1796, alleging that it was intended to support an uprising in Canada, embroiling Allen in years of litigation and detention. While in London, he published The Natural and Political History of the State of Vermont (1798), accompanied by an important map presenting Vermont within the broader geography of northeastern North America. Returning home in 1801, Allen found his commercial empire ruined and his lands entangled in debt; pursued by creditors, he withdrew to Philadelphia, where he died in 1814.