Biography

William G. Allen was born free in Virginia to a mixed-race mother and a white father. After their death, he was taken into the household of a prosperous black family in Fortress Monroe where he received a good education until fears among white residents of revolt among black residents caused the closure of schools for black children in Virginia. Allen made the acquaintance of Gerrit Smith through Reverend William Hall who taught at Monroe. With Smith's support, Allen attended the Oneida Institute in Whitesboro, NY. After graduating in 1843, Allen became co-editor of the National Watchman. Allen spent several years lecturing throughout New England on slavery and African history. He was a proponent for racial intermarriage believing it would ultimately end racial injustice. Allen taught at New York Central College in McGrawville (now McGraw), Cortland County, NY in the early 1850s. In 1853, Allen married a white woman named Mary King, a student and the daughter of Rev. Lyndon King of Fulton, New York. Their marriage is considered the first interracial marriage in United States history. The engagement and marriage caused such an uproar that the couple were forced to leave the U.S. and emigrated to England. Allen continued his lecturing and teaching in England and Ireland until his death in 1888. Frances Miller Seward was in conversation with Allen in July 1852 over the status of a black student she and Henry sponsored at New York Central College, possibly John Baxter Taylor, Sr.