Samuel Clesson ALLEN, Congress, MA (1772-1842)

ALLEN Samuel Clesson , a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Bernardston, Mass., January 5, 1772; attended the public schools of New Salem, and was graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., in 1794; studied theology; was ordained as a minister, became pastor of the Congregational Church in Northfield in 1795, and served until 1798; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1800 and practiced in New Salem; member of the State house of representatives 1806-1810; served in the State senate 1812-1815; elected as a Federalist to the Fifteenth through the Seventeenth Congresses, as an Adams-Clay Federalist to the Eighteenth Congress, and as an Adams to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses (March 4, 1817-March 3, 1829); chairman, Committee on Accounts (Seventeenth through Twentieth Congresses); was not a candidate for renomination in 1828; member of the Governor's executive council of Massachusetts 1829-1830; again elected to the State senate in 1831; retired from politics; engaged as a lecturer at Amherst College; member of the board of trustees of Amherst College and of the University of Vermont; died in Northfield, Mass., February 8, 1842; interment in the Village Cemetery, Bernardston, Franklin County, Mass.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present