Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

ALLEN, Lauren M.,
Physician.
A physician who for twenty-seven years
has practiced successfully, in the same
community becomes so inseparably asso-
ciated with its most vital interests as to
render the narrative of his career almost
identical with a history of his home town.
This is especially true of Dr. Allen, whose
professional reputation, high as it is, is
almost equalled by that which he enjoys
as a public-spirited citizen of South Nor-
walk.
The name of Allen, or Allin, is derived
from the British, and is thought to be a
corruption of Aelianus, which signifies
sun-bright. It is also said to come from
the root word Al, meaning mountainous,
high and bright. In the Gaelic it signifies
fair, handsome, the word being Aliune,
and the Irish Alun has the same meaning.
The English Allan, or Allen, said to have
been first spelled Alan, means all-con-
quering. As a personal name it was first
borne by the Bard of Britain, an uncle of
Caractacus, who had a long line of kings
for ancestors. The name came into prom-
inence after the Conquest, the chief gen-
eral of William's army at the battle of
Hastings having been Alan, Duke of
Brittany, who made England his home
and became the third richest man in the
kingdom. Thenceforth the name grew in
number and importance.
(I) George Allen, bom in 1568, in Eng-
land, came to America in 1635 and settled
in Saugus, Lynn, Massachusetts. In
1637 he joined with Edmund Freeman
and others in the purchase of the town-
ship of Sandwich, and settled there in the
same year. When the town of Sandwich
was incorporated he was chosen deputy,
the first office in the town, and served in
that capacity for several years. He is rep-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
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resented by Bowden as having been an
anti-Baptist in England, but be that as it
may, he was a member of the church in
Sandwich, and Rev. Benjamin Fessenden
reports both George and Ralph Allen as
having been previously members of the
church in Roxbury. George Allen was
the father of ten sons, some of whom pre-
ceded him to America and settled near
Boston. After the purchase of Sandwich,
most of them with their families moved
thither, and settled near their father's
residence. George Allen died in Sandwich.
May 2, 1648. In his will, naming
his wife, Catherine, as executrix, with
Ralph Allen and Richard Brown as overseers,
he named his five sons, Matthew,
Henry, Samuel, George, Jr., and William
and also made provision for his "five least
children" without naming them.
In 1774 the Rev. Joseph Thaxter, of
Edgartown, Massachusetts, whose wife
was Mary Allen, a descendant of George
Allen, obtained from England the de-
scription of the coat-of-arms borne by the
Aliens in the old country, which is as fol-
lows
Arms— Sable shield. A cross potent with a
border engrailed, or.
Crest—A demi-lion argent, holding a rudder
gules, hawks and nails or.
Children of George and Catherine Al-
len: I. Samuel, went to Braintree; left
a will. 2. William, married, 1649, Pris-
cilla Brown, daughter of Peter Brown, of
the "Mayflower," and a signer of the
Compact. He had no children. By his
will, I2th month, 17, 1697, he devised his
estate to his nephew, Daniel, son of his
brother, George Allen, Jr., provided he
maintained his widow Priscilla for her life.
3. George, Jr., of whom further. 4. Ralph,
married, 1643, Esther, daughter of William
and Jane Swift, died 1698. 5. Mathew,
married, June, 1657, Sarah Kirby; re-
;