Allen French

Allen French
Born(1870-11-28)November 28, 1870
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedOctober 6, 1946(1946-10-06) (aged 75)
Concord, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupations
  • Historian
  • fiction writer
Spouse
    Ellen Dorrance
    ​
    (died 1918)​
    Aletta Lillibridge
    ​
    (m. 1922)​
Academic background
Alma mater
Academic work
DisciplineHistory
Sub-discipline
InstitutionsHarvard University

Allen French (November 28, 1870 – October 6, 1946) was an American historian and fiction author. He wrote several books on the history of the American Revolution, including The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775 (1928), General Gage's Informers (1932), The First Year of the American Revolution (1934), and Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval (1955), as well as children's stories and historical fiction. He also edited the diary A British Fusilier in Revolutionary Boston (1926).

Biography

Early life and education

Allen French was born on November 28, 1870, in Boston.[1] His parents were Frances Maria (née Stratton) and wholesale paint salesman John James French.[1][2] He attended grade school in Boston, going to Rice Primary and Grammar Schools and the Boston Latin School, before graduating from The English High School.[3]

French obtained a Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1892.[1] After two summers studying abroad at the University of Berlin in 1892 and 1893, he attended Harvard University for his undergraduate education, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree.[1][3] Invested in learning grammar, he would often use a dictionary or encyclopedia even during meals.[3]

Academic and writing career

French wrote several books on the history of the American Revolution, particularly such events in his native Massachusetts.[1] These include The Siege of Boston (1911), Old Concord (1915), The Day of Concord and Lexington (1925), and The First Year of the American Revolution (1934).[1] In 1926, he published A British Fusilier in Revolutionary Boston, an edited volume showing the diary of Lieutenant Frederick Mackenzie (the pre-1775 portion of which is nearly lost).[a] One of his visits included heading to the United Kingdom to access the documents of Massachusetts colonial governor Thomas Gage, as well as obtaining photocopies of 1770s documents within the Earl of Dartmouth's family papers.[3][1] In a 1946 Concord Journal article, T. Morris Longstreth called French "a born source-seeker and prospector for original documents".[3] He produced a guidebook named Historic Concord (1924).[1]

French often wrote children's stories and historical fiction,[1] having started his career in the former.[4] Some of his children's books were illustrated by painter Andrew Wyeth.[5] He also wrote several books about Iceland, as well as a 1907 book on gardening and a history article on the Île de Ré.[3] Overall, he wrote more than two dozen titles throughout multiple genres and audiences.[6]

French taught at Harvard as a history instructor (1908–1913; 1919–1920).[4] He chaired the Concord Free Public Library's library committee.[7] He was a member of several academic societies, national and local.[1] He was a co-founder and eventually president of the Concord Antiquarian Society.[3][1] He was a founding member and vice-president of the Thoreau Society.[1]

Personal life and death

French was twice married, first to Ellen Dorrance until her death in 1918, then to Aletta Lillibridge from 1922.[3] He had three daughters with his first wife.[1] He had lived in Concord since 1898,[1] having moved to the small town due to "its fine library and its moderate scale of living".[3] Allan Forbes reported that "though it takes three generations to make a real "Concord man," it has been said that French shared Old Concord with Emerson, Buttrick, Judge Hoar, and others."[3] He also briefly lived in Petersham, where he remained known by the time of his death.[7]

French was active in the American Unitarian Association,[7] working at the First Parish in Concord as deacon and as Sunday school superintendent.[7] He briefly volunteered as a police officer during a labor strike.[3]

French died on October 6, 1946, in his home in Concord.[4][1] Following a funeral at the First Parish, he was interred in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.[4] Decades after his death, the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library republished two of his books: Historic Concord in 2003[1] and The Day of Concord and Lexington in 2010.[8]

Works

Fiction

  • The Junior Cup (1901)[6]
  • The Colonials[9] (1902)[6]
  • Sir Marrok: A Tale of the Days of King Arthur (1902)[10]
  • The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow (1904)[6]
  • The Barrier (1904)[6]
  • Heroes of Iceland (1905)[6]
  • The Reform of Shaun (1905)[6]
  • Pelham and His Friend Tim[11] (1906)[6]
  • The Story of Grettir the Strong (1908)[6]
  • The Runaway (1914)[6]
  • At Plattsburg (1917)[b]
  • The Golden Eagle (1917)[6]
  • The Hiding Places (1917)[6]
  • The Red Keep (1938)[6]
  • The Lost Baron (1940)[6]

Non-fiction

  • How to Grow Vegetables (1911)[6]
  • The Siege of Boston (1911)[3]
  • The Beginner's Garden Book[14] (1914)[6]
  • Old Concord (1915)[3]
  • Historic Concord (1924; re-published 1942 and revised 2003)[1]
  • The Day of Concord and Lexington (1925)[3]
    • Historic Concord and the Lexington Fight (2010; revised by Leslie Perrin Wilson)[8]
  • (ed.) A British Fusilier in Revolutionary Boston (1926; by Frederick Mackenzie)[a]
  • The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775 (1928)[c]
  • General Gage's Informers (1932)[d]
  • The First Year of the American Revolution (1934)[e]
  • The Drama of Concord (1935)[6]
  • Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval (1955)[f]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Reviews of this book: [15][16][17][18][19]
  2. ^ Reviews of this book: [12][13]
  3. ^ Reviews of this book: [20][21][22][23]
  4. ^ Reviews of this book: [24][25][26]
  5. ^ Reviews of this book: [27][28][29][30]
  6. ^ Reviews of this book: [31][32][33][34][35][36]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "ALLEN FRENCH PAPERS, 1898-1957". Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  2. ^ "200 Commonwealth". Back Bay Houses. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Forbes, Allan (1947). "Allen French". Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 69: 416–419. ISSN 0076-4981. JSTOR 25080424.
  4. ^ a b c d "Allen French". The Boston Globe. October 10, 1946. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Yesterday's Authors of Books for Children. Vol. 1–2. 1977. p. 133.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. 34. 1948. p. 75.
  7. ^ a b c d "Former Petersham Resident Dead". Athol Daily News. October 7, 1946. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b Wood, David (2011). "Historic Concord and the Lexington Fight: A Review". The Thoreau Society Bulletin (273): 10–10. ISSN 0040-6406. JSTOR 23402899.
  9. ^ "Review of THE COLONIALS". The Journal of Education. 55 (21 (1380)): 335–335. 1902. ISSN 0022-0574. JSTOR 44055089.
  10. ^ "Sir Marrok: A Tale of the Days of King Arthur". Malory and his Followers. Bangor University. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  11. ^ "Review of PELHAM AND HIS FRIEND TIM". The Journal of Education. 64 (22 (1607)): 625–625. 1906. ISSN 0022-0574. JSTOR 42815278.
  12. ^ "Tells of Plattsburg Life". The Boston Globe. June 30, 1917. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ ""At Plattsburgh"". The Times-Picayune. October 14, 1917. p. A8 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Review of THE BEGINNERS' GARDEN BOOK". The Journal of Education. 80 (5 (1991)): 133–133. 1914. ISSN 0022-0574. JSTOR 42798282.
  15. ^ Brown, George W. (1927). "Review of A British Fusilier in Revolutionary Boston". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 14 (2): 251–253. doi:10.2307/1895957. ISSN 0161-391X. JSTOR 1895957.
  16. ^ "Review of A British Fusilier in Revolutionary Boston". The Catholic Historical Review. 13 (3): 543–544. 1927. ISSN 0008-8080. JSTOR 25012468.
  17. ^ M., D. S. (1927). "Review of A British Fusilier in Revolutionary Boston, Being the Diary of Lieutenant Frederick Mackenzie, Adjutant of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, January 5-April 30, 1775, with a Letter describing the Voyage to America". The American Historical Review. 32 (4): 882–883. doi:10.2307/1837893. ISSN 0002-8762. JSTOR 1837893.
  18. ^ "Review of A BRITISH FUSILIER IN REVOLUTIONARY BOSTON. The Day of Concord and Lexington". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 6 (25): 174–178. 1927. ISSN 0037-9700. JSTOR 44232230.
  19. ^ Wicker, J. F. (1928). "Review of A British Fusilier in Revolutionary Boston". The Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association. 9 (1): 74–75. ISSN 0146-3519. JSTOR 43565153.
  20. ^ Eriksson, Erik McKinley (1929). "Review of The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775: The British Story". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 15 (4): 537–538. doi:10.2307/1897890. ISSN 0161-391X. JSTOR 1897890.
  21. ^ "Review of The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775: The British Story". The Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association. 9 (4): 415–415. 1928. ISSN 0146-3519. JSTOR 43566048.
  22. ^ Pell, John (1929). "Review of The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775: The British Story". The New England Quarterly. 2 (1): 163–168. doi:10.2307/359831. ISSN 0028-4866. JSTOR 359831.
  23. ^ Purcell, Richard J. (1929). "Review of The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775: The British Story". The Catholic Historical Review. 14 (4): 610–611. ISSN 0008-8080. JSTOR 25012574.
  24. ^ Murdock, Harold (1933). "Review of General Gage's Informers: New Material upon Lexington and Concord; Benjamin Thompson as Loyalist and the Treachery of Benjamin Church, Jr". The New England Quarterly. 6 (2): 401–402. doi:10.2307/359142. ISSN 0028-4866. JSTOR 359142.
  25. ^ "Review of GENERAL GAGE'S INFORMERS: New Material upon Lexington and Concord. Benjamin Thompson as Loyalist and the Treachery of Benjamin Church Jr". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 12 (47): 181–181. 1933. ISSN 0037-9700. JSTOR 44220549.
  26. ^ Stevens, Wayne E. (1933). "General Gage's Informers: New Material upon Lexington and Concord. Benjamin Thompson as Loyalist and the Treachery of Benjamin Church, Jr". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 20 (3): 407. doi:10.2307/1886852.
  27. ^ Barck, O. T. (1935). "Review of The First Year of the American Revolution". New York History. 16 (4): 477–480. ISSN 0146-437X. JSTOR 23135139.
  28. ^ Carter, Clarence E. (1935). "Review of The First Year of the American Revolution". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 22 (1): 86–87. doi:10.2307/1897060. ISSN 0161-391X. JSTOR 1897060.
  29. ^ Curtis, Edward E. (1935). "Review of The First Year of the American Revolution". The American Historical Review. 41 (1): 156–158. doi:10.2307/1839382. ISSN 0002-8762. JSTOR 1839382.
  30. ^ Lundin, Charles Leonard (1935). "Review of The First Year of the American Revolution". The New England Quarterly. 8 (1): 123–125. doi:10.2307/359437. ISSN 0028-4866. JSTOR 359437.
  31. ^ Campbell, Mildred (1956). "Review of Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval: A Study of the Causes of the Great Migration". The American Historical Review. 62 (1): 119–120. doi:10.2307/1848534. ISSN 0002-8762. JSTOR 1848534.
  32. ^ D., H. (1956). "Review of Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval. A Study of the Causes of the Great Migration (Charles Ier et le soulèvement puritain. Etude des causes de la Grande Emigration)". Archives de sociologie des religions. 1 (2): 148–148. ISSN 0003-9659. JSTOR 30119848.
  33. ^ Homans, George C. (1956). "Review of Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval: A Study of the Causes of the Great Migration". The Economic History Review. 9 (1): 144–145. doi:10.2307/2591551. ISSN 0013-0117. JSTOR 2591551.
  34. ^ Powell, Sumner Chilton (1956). "Review of Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval". The New England Quarterly. 29 (2): 282–284. doi:10.2307/362205. ISSN 0028-4866. JSTOR 362205.
  35. ^ Thompson, Ernest Trice (1956). "Review of Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval: A Study of the Causes of the Great Migration". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 64 (4): 478–479. ISSN 0042-6636. JSTOR 4246255.
  36. ^ Walker, Franklin A. (1957). "Review of Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval. A Study of the Causes of the Great Migration". The Catholic Historical Review. 42 (4): 516–517. ISSN 0008-8080. JSTOR 25016143.
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