Zachariah Allen
(1795 - 1882)
Zachariah Allen was a textile manufacturer, scientist, lawyer, writer, inventor and civil leader from Providence. He became a lawyer in 1815 and during his lifetime was civically engaged, serving on the Providence Town Council, and was a commissioner for the North Burial Ground for 32 years. He was a founder of the Providence Athenaeum and the RI Historical Society, and a trustee of Butler Hospital. As a manufacturer he established the Allendale Mill and Georgiaville Mill and also was an incorporator of the Manufacturers’ Mutual Fire Insurance Company. His inventions ranged from the first hot-air furnace system for the heating of homes to the automatic cut-off valve for steam engines, his most famous invention. His house is now the Brown University faculty club.
​
Francis J. Leazes Jr. PhD Rhode Island College
Further Reading
​
See, for example: Providence City Council Records, August 14th, 1845: Resolutions Reported by the Committee on the Petition of Zachariah Allen and others relative to the North Burial Ground: 1. Resolved that Messrs. Patten, Stimson, Peck and Alderman Knowles be and they are hereby appointed a Committee to Lay out in and around the North Burial Ground proper lanes and avenues for passing in and through the same not to be filled up, or be encroached upon, marking the same as far as can be, by permanent monuments.
- David Posman, MA student, Rhode Island College
​
Gallery
Providence Athenaeum
Providence Athenaeum
