William G. Allen

William G. Allen (1820–?) was an African-American abolitionist, scholar, and author.

Early life

Allen was born to a mixed-race parent and a white father in Virginia, who died early in Allen's life. Allen was adopted by a free black couple who owned a business at Fort Monroe.[1] Allen attended the Oneida Institute, a multiracial college, graduating in 1844.[2] settled in Troy, New York, co-editing the abolitionist newspaper National Watchman. Allen moved to Boston in 1847, working as a clerk at a law firm run by the abolitionist lawyer Ellis Gray Loring.[3] In Boston, Allen lectured on racial equality, abolitionism and argued for "amalgamation", or interracial relationships. While working under Loring, Allen was appointed a professor of the Greek language and literature at New York Central College (NYCC) in McGrawville.

Relationship with Mary King

While visiting Fulton, New York for a series of lectures in spring 1851, Allen spent an evening at the home of Reverend Lyndon King, an advocate for the social and political rights of blacks.[3]:31 Here, Allen met King's daughter, then Mary E. King, who was beginning a term at NYCC. They quickly formed a relationship, which Allen described as "much more significant than that of teacher and pupil." The two became engaged, and while Rev. King was initially supportive of their union, the combined opposition of Mary's stepmother and brother led him to bar Allen from the household. One supportive couple, the Porters, lived in the nearby Phillipsville; while visiting the Porters, a mob formed around the house. A group within the mob, hoping to calm anger, negotiated with Allen, King and the Porters, and King ultimately left the village, promising to visit Allen the following day in Syracuse. Other members of the group took Allen to the village hotel to avoid damage to the Porter household. Allen traveled by sleigh to Syracuse, and stayed at the Globe Hotel for around a week; Mary took several days to elude her parents, and secretly met with Allen at a trusted friend's house.[3]:33

Later life and death

Mary traveled to Pennsylvania, telling her parents she intended to teach school there, and wrote letters to Allen stating she intended to join him. By arrangement, they married in New York City on March 30, 1853, and traveled to Boston, where they sailed to Liverpool, England.[3]:38 In England, Allen published two autobiographical novels detailing his experiences in America: The American Prejudice Against Color: An Authentic Narrative, Showing How Easily the Nation Got into an Uproar (1853) and A Short Personal Narrative (1860).[4] Allen traveled across the United Kingdom, moving to Dublin in 1856, where he had three children with Mary. In 1863, Allen became director of the New Caledonian Trading School in Islington, the first African-American to direct an English school, but Allen attempted to make a living through his lectures, but the couple was often close to poverty. In 1860, they moved back to England. By 1878, they were living in a boarding house in West London, where they survived largely on the financial support of friends.[3]:39 The Allens died in obscurity, and no records of Allen's death exist.[4]

The relationship between Allen and Mary King was the basis of Louisa May Alcott's 1863 story M.L.[3]:20

References

  1. ↑ Allen, William G. (1860). A Short Personal Narrative. University Press of New England. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-55553-545-2. Reprinted by University Press of New England in The American Prejudice Against Color: William G. Allen, Mary King, Louisa May Alcott.
  2. ↑ Allen, William G. (1853). American Prejudice against Color; an authentic narrative, showing how easily the nation got into an uproar. W.&F. G. Cash. p. 2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Elbert, Sarah (2002). "An Inter‐Racial Love Story in Fact and Fiction: William and Mary King Allen's Marriage and Louisa May Alcott's Tale, ‘M.L.’". History Workshop Journal. 53 (1). JSTOR 4289772. doi:10.1093/hwj/53.1.17.
  4. 1 2 McClish, Glen (2005). "William G. Allen's "Orators and Oratory": Inventional Amalgamation, Pathos, and the Characterization of Violence in African-American Abolitionist Rhetoric". Rhetoric Society Quarterly. 35 (1): 49. JSTOR 40232452.
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