{{Short description|American writer (1870–1946)}} {{Use American English|date=January 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox academic | birth_date = {{birth date|1870|11|28}} | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1946|10|6|1870|11|28}} | death_place = Concord, Massachusetts, U.S. | occupation = {{flatlist| * Historian * fiction writer }} | spouse = {{ublist| * {{married|Ellen Dorrance||1918|end=d.}} * {{married|Aletta Lillibridge|1922}} }} | alma_mater = {{ublist| * Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS) * Harvard University (BA) }} | discipline = History | sub_discipline = {{flatlist| * American history * History of Massachusetts }} | workplaces = Harvard University }} '''Allen French''' (November 28, 1870{{snd}} 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.<ref name="concord"/> His parents were Frances Maria ({{nee}} Stratton) and wholesale paint salesman John James French.<ref name="concord"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=200 Commonwealth |url=https://backbayhouses.org/200-commonwealth/ |access-date=January 1, 2026 |website=Back Bay Houses}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Forbes"/>
French obtained a Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1892.<ref name="concord"/> 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.<ref name="concord">{{Cite web |title=ALLEN FRENCH PAPERS, 1898-1957 |url=http://www.concordlibrary.org/scollect/Fin_Aids/A_French.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108041452/http://www.concordlibrary.org/scollect/Fin_Aids/A_French.htm |archive-date=January 8, 2009 |access-date=January 1, 2026}}</ref><ref name="Forbes"/> Invested in learning grammar, he would often use a dictionary or encyclopedia even during meals.<ref name="Forbes"/> ===Academic and writing career=== French wrote several books on the history of the American Revolution, particularly such events in his native Massachusetts.<ref name="concord"/> 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).<ref name="concord"/> 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).{{efn|name=Mackenzie 1926}} 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.<ref name="Forbes"/><ref name="concord"/> In a 1946 ''Concord Journal'' article, T. Morris Longstreth called French "a born source-seeker and prospector for original documents".<ref name="Forbes"/> He produced a guidebook named ''Historic Concord'' (1924).<ref name="concord"/>
French often wrote children's stories and historical fiction,<ref name="concord"/> having started his career in the former.<ref name="Boston 1946"/> Some of his children's books were illustrated by painter Andrew Wyeth.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Yesterday_s_Authors_of_Books_for_Childre/vskqAAAAMAAJ |title=Yesterday's Authors of Books for Children |year=1977 |volume=1-2 |page=133}}</ref> He also wrote several books about Iceland, as well as a 1907 book on gardening and a history article on the Île de Ré.<ref name="Forbes"/> Overall, he wrote more than two dozen titles throughout multiple genres and audiences.<ref name="NCAB">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fIo4AQAAMAAJ |title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography |year=1948 |volume=34 |page=75}}</ref>
French taught at Harvard as a history instructor (1908–1913; 1919–1920).<ref name="Boston 1946"/> He chaired the Concord Free Public Library's library committee.<ref name="Athol 1946"/> He was a member of several academic societies, national and local.<ref name="concord"/> He was a co-founder and eventually president of the Concord Antiquarian Society.<ref name="Forbes"/><ref name="concord"/> He was a founding member and vice-president of the Thoreau Society.<ref name="concord"/> ===Personal life and death=== French was twice married, first to Ellen Dorrance until her death in 1918, then to Aletta Lillibridge from 1922.<ref name="Forbes"/> He had three daughters with his first wife.<ref name="concord"/> He had lived in Concord since 1898,<ref name="concord"/> having moved to the small town due to "its fine library and its moderate scale of living".<ref name="Forbes">{{Cite journal |last=Forbes |first=Allan |date=1947 |title=Allen French |journal=Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society |volume=69 |pages=416–419 |issn=0076-4981 |JSTOR=25080424}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Forbes"/> He also briefly lived in Petersham, where he remained known by the time of his death.<ref name="Athol 1946"/>
French was active in the American Unitarian Association,<ref name="Athol 1946">{{cite news |date=October 7, 1946 |title=Former Petersham Resident Dead |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/841288036/ |work=Athol Daily News |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> working at the First Parish in Concord as deacon and as Sunday school superintendent.<ref name="Athol 1946"/> He briefly volunteered as a police officer during a labor strike.<ref name="Forbes"/>
French died on October 6, 1946, in his home in Concord.<ref name="Boston 1946">{{cite news |date=October 10, 1946 |title=Allen French |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/434101269/ |work=The Boston Globe |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="concord"/> Following a funeral at the First Parish, he was interred in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.<ref name="Boston 1946"/> Decades after his death, the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library republished two of his books: ''Historic Concord'' in 2003<ref name="concord"/> and ''The Day of Concord and Lexington'' in 2010.<ref name="Wood 2011">{{Cite journal |last=Wood |first=David |date=2011 |title=Historic Concord and the Lexington Fight: A Review |journal=The Thoreau Society Bulletin |issue=273 |pages=10–10 |issn=0040-6406 |JSTOR=23402899}}</ref>
==Works== ===Fiction=== *''The Junior Cup'' (1901)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''The Colonials''<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1902 |title=Review of THE COLONIALS |journal=The Journal of Education |volume=55 |issue=21 (1380) |pages=335–335 |issn=0022-0574 |JSTOR=44055089}}</ref> (1902)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''Sir Marrok: A Tale of the Days of King Arthur'' (1902)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sir Marrok: A Tale of the Days of King Arthur |url=http://arthurian-studies.bangor.ac.uk/exhibition/rochester/23.php |access-date=January 1, 2026 |website=Malory and his Followers |publisher=Bangor University}}</ref> *''The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow'' (1904)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''The Barrier'' (1904)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''Heroes of Iceland'' (1905)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''The Reform of Shaun'' (1905)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''Pelham and His Friend Tim''<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1906 |title=Review of PELHAM AND HIS FRIEND TIM |journal=The Journal of Education |volume=64 |issue=22 (1607) |pages=625–625 |issn=0022-0574 |JSTOR=42815278}}</ref> (1906)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''The Story of Grettir the Strong'' (1908)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''The Runaway'' (1914)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''At Plattsburg'' (1917){{efn|Reviews of this book: <ref>{{Cite news |date=June 30, 1917 |title=Tells of Plattsburg Life |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/430627004/ |work=The Boston Globe |page=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=October 14, 1917 |title="At Plattsburgh" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1248369696/ |work=The Times-Picayune |page=A8 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>}} *''The Golden Eagle'' (1917)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''The Hiding Places'' (1917)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''The Red Keep'' (1938)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''The Lost Baron'' (1940)<ref name="NCAB"/> ===Non-fiction=== *''How to Grow Vegetables'' (1911)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''The Siege of Boston'' (1911)<ref name="Forbes"/> *''The Beginner's Garden Book''<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1914 |title=Review of THE BEGINNERS' GARDEN BOOK |journal=The Journal of Education |volume=80 |issue=5 (1991) |pages=133–133 |issn=0022-0574 |JSTOR=42798282}}</ref> (1914)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''Old Concord'' (1915)<ref name="Forbes"/> *''Historic Concord'' (1924; re-published 1942 and revised 2003)<ref name="concord"/> *''The Day of Concord and Lexington'' (1925)<ref name="Forbes"/> **''Historic Concord and the Lexington Fight'' (2010; revised by Leslie Perrin Wilson)<ref name="Wood 2011"/> *(ed.) ''A British Fusilier in Revolutionary Boston'' (1926; by Frederick Mackenzie){{efn|name=Mackenzie 1926|Reviews of this book: <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brown |first=George W. |date=1927 |title=Review of A British Fusilier in Revolutionary Boston |journal=The Mississippi Valley Historical Review |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=251–253 |doi=10.2307/1895957 |issn=0161-391X |JSTOR=1895957}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1927 |title=Review of A British Fusilier in Revolutionary Boston |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=543–544 |issn=0008-8080 |JSTOR=25012468}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=M. |first=D. S. |date=1927 |title=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 |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=882–883 |doi=10.2307/1837893 |issn=0002-8762 |JSTOR=1837893}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1927 |title=Review of A BRITISH FUSILIER IN REVOLUTIONARY BOSTON. The Day of Concord and Lexington |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |volume=6 |issue=25 |pages=174–178 |issn=0037-9700 |JSTOR=44232230}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wicker |first=J. F. |date=1928 |title=Review of A British Fusilier in Revolutionary Boston |journal=The Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=74–75 |issn=0146-3519 |JSTOR=43565153}}</ref>}} *''The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775'' (1928){{efn|Reviews of this book: <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Eriksson |first=Erik McKinley |date=1929 |title=Review of The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775: The British Story |journal=The Mississippi Valley Historical Review |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=537–538 |doi=10.2307/1897890 |issn=0161-391X |JSTOR=1897890}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1928 |title=Review of The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775: The British Story |journal=The Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=415–415 |issn=0146-3519 |JSTOR=43566048}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pell |first=John |date=1929 |title=Review of The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775: The British Story |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=163–168 |doi=10.2307/359831 |issn=0028-4866 |JSTOR=359831}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Purcell |first=Richard J. |date=1929 |title=Review of The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775: The British Story |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=610–611 |issn=0008-8080 |JSTOR=25012574}}</ref>}} *''General Gage's Informers'' (1932){{efn|Reviews of this book: <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Murdock |first=Harold |date=1933 |title=Review of General Gage's Informers: New Material upon Lexington and Concord; Benjamin Thompson as Loyalist and the Treachery of Benjamin Church, Jr. |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=401–402 |doi=10.2307/359142 |issn=0028-4866 |JSTOR=359142}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1933 |title=Review of GENERAL GAGE'S INFORMERS: New Material upon Lexington and Concord. Benjamin Thompson as Loyalist and the Treachery of Benjamin Church Jr. |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |volume=12 |issue=47 |pages=181–181 |issn=0037-9700 |JSTOR=44220549}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stevens |first=Wayne E. |date=1933 |title=General Gage's Informers: New Material upon Lexington and Concord. Benjamin Thompson as Loyalist and the Treachery of Benjamin Church, Jr. |url=https://academic.oup.com/jah/article-lookup/doi/10.2307/1886852 |journal=The Mississippi Valley Historical Review |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=407 |doi=10.2307/1886852|url-access=subscription }}</ref>}} *''The First Year of the American Revolution'' (1934){{efn|Reviews of this book: <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Barck |first=O. T. |date=1935 |title=Review of The First Year of the American Revolution |journal=New York History |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=477–480 |issn=0146-437X |JSTOR=23135139}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carter |first=Clarence E. |date=1935 |title=Review of The First Year of the American Revolution |journal=The Mississippi Valley Historical Review |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=86–87 |doi=10.2307/1897060 |issn=0161-391X |JSTOR=1897060}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Curtis |first=Edward E. |date=1935 |title=Review of The First Year of the American Revolution |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=156–158 |doi=10.2307/1839382 |issn=0002-8762 |JSTOR=1839382}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lundin |first=Charles Leonard |date=1935 |title=Review of The First Year of the American Revolution |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=123–125 |doi=10.2307/359437 |issn=0028-4866 |JSTOR=359437}}</ref>}} *''The Drama of Concord'' (1935)<ref name="NCAB"/> *''Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval'' (1955){{efn|Reviews of this book: <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Campbell |first=Mildred |date=1956 |title=Review of Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval: A Study of the Causes of the Great Migration |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=119–120 |doi=10.2307/1848534 |issn=0002-8762 |JSTOR=1848534}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=D. |first=H. |date=1956 |title=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) |journal=Archives de sociologie des religions |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=148–148 |issn=0003-9659 |JSTOR=30119848}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Homans |first=George C. |date=1956 |title=Review of Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval: A Study of the Causes of the Great Migration |journal=The Economic History Review |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=144–145 |doi=10.2307/2591551 |issn=0013-0117 |JSTOR=2591551}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Powell |first=Sumner Chilton |date=1956 |title=Review of Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval |journal=The New England Quarterly |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=282–284 |doi=10.2307/362205 |issn=0028-4866 |JSTOR=362205}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thompson |first=Ernest Trice |date=1956 |title=Review of Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval: A Study of the Causes of the Great Migration |journal=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=478–479 |issn=0042-6636 |JSTOR=4246255}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walker |first=Franklin A. |date=1957 |title=Review of Charles I and the Puritan Upheaval. A Study of the Causes of the Great Migration |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=516–517 |issn=0008-8080 |JSTOR=25016143}}</ref>}} ==Notes== {{notelist}} ==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal |Children's literature}} * {{Gutenberg author | id=31596}} * {{FadedPage|id=French, Allen|name=Allen French|author=yes}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Allen French |sopt=t}} * {{Librivox author |id=10257}} * {{wikisource author-inline}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090108041452/http://www.concordlibrary.org/scollect/Fin_Aids/A_French.htm ALLEN FRENCH PAPERS, 1898-1957, Concord Free Public Library, Concord, MA]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Allen}} Category:1870 births Category:1946 deaths Category:American military historians Category:20th-century American historians Category:Historians of New England Category:Historians of the American Revolution Category:20th-century American novelists Category:American children's writers Category:American historical novelists Category:Historians from Boston Category:Writers from Concord, Massachusetts Category:People from Petersham, Massachusetts Category:American Unitarian clergy Category:Boston Latin School alumni Category:English High School of Boston alumni Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Category:Harvard University faculty Category:Harvard University alumni