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i6 ALLEN. ALLEN. of service in the 5th Massachusetts regi- ment, 1S64. Upon being admitted to the bar in 1S7Q, he opened an office in Boston, where he is at present engaged in practice, still retaining his residence in Woburn boyhood, the subject of this sketch fol- lowed the pursuits of his ancestors, and laid the foundation of a vigorous con- stitution. Three years of his minority were spent in a Waltham cotton mill, where he acquired a knowledge of textile manu- facture ; he also received a good common- school education in the public schools, a family school kept by Rev. Joseph Allen at Northborough, and Northfield Aca- demy. Having chosen to become a teacher, he continued his studies in the Bridgewater state normal school, and Rensselaer Poly- technic Institute at Troy, N. Y. He after- wards taught in the various public schools of Mansfield, Northborough, Northfield and Shrewsbury, until the spring of 184s, when he was appointed by Horace Mann, of the state board of education, to take charge of the model department of the normal school at West Newton. This position he filled with marked ability for nearly six years, when he established in connection with Rev. Cyrus Pierce, sr MONTRESSOR T. ALLEN. Mr. Allen was married in Boston, in June, 1865, to Julia fiances, daughter of John and Ruth ( Magoun ) Peasley. They have no children. Mr. Allen was a member of the House of Representatives 1888 -'89, serving the former year on the House committee on finance, the joint committee on expendi- tures, and in the latter as chairman of the House committee on railroads, perform- ing conspicuous service in the support and successful passage of the many im- portant measures reported by that com- mittee. He is a member of Mt. Horeb lodge of Masons, Woburn, and has served on the local board of registrars of voters for five years. ALLEN, Nathaniel Topliff, son of Ellis and Lucy (Lane) Allen, was born in Medfield, Norfolk county, Sept. 29, 1823. His native homestead farm has been owned and tilled by seven generations of Aliens, noted fur longevity, sterling common-sense, and rugged worth ; and there, during his NATHANIEL T. ALLEN. father of American normal schools, the institution of which he is now principal — the West Newton. English and classical school. Mr. Allen has been one of the most pro- gressive and successful educators of tin-