Richard L. Allen

Richard Lamb Allen (October 20, 1803 – September 22, 1869) was an American writer on agriculture.

Early life Allen was born on October 20, 1803, near Westfield, Massachusetts. He was the fourth son of Samuel and Ruth (née Falley) Allen.

He received his early education at Westfield Academy and Franklin, Connecticut. He studied law in Baltimore in the office of William Wirt while running a school with a friend. But he found himself obliged to seek a more active life on account of his health.

Career In 1833, he went to Buffalo, New York, and involved himself in mercantile pursuits. His ambition was, through investments in land, to earn enough to take up a life of study and travel. The Panic of 1837 quashed these plans, and he passed the next seven years on his farm on the Niagara River.

In 1842, he started the American Agriculturist in partnership with his elder brother, Anthony B. Allen,

Personal life In December 1834, he married Sarah Outram "Sally" Lyman (1812–1892), the daughter of the Hon. Jonathan Huntington Lyman and Sophia Hinckley Lyman. Huntington Lyman Allen (1843–1844), who died in infancy. Arthur Huntington Allen (1851–1923), a Presbyterian minister who married Agnes Crosby (1858–1891), daughter of the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby, Chancellor of New York University.

In 1866, three members of Allen's family sailed for Europe. Allen was not able to join them until 1868, and died in Sweden in 1869.

Allen was a Presbyterian Church elder.