Editing Ethan Allen (section)

==Early life==
[[File:PostcardLitchfieldCTEthanAllenBirthplace1916.jpg|thumb|A postcard depicting Allen's birthplace in [[Litchfield, Connecticut]]]]

Allen was born in [[Litchfield, Connecticut|Litchfield]], [[Connecticut Colony]], the first child of Joseph and Mary Baker Allen, both descended from English [[Puritans]].<ref>Hall (1895), p. 11</ref> The family moved to the town of [[Cornwall, Connecticut|Cornwall]] shortly after his birth due to his father's quest for freedom of [[religion]] during the [[First Great Awakening|Great Awakening]].<ref>Randall (2011), pp. 59–60, 72–78, 89–89</ref> As a boy, Allen already excelled at quoting the [[Bible]] and was known for disputing the meaning of passages.<ref>Randall (2011), pp. 85–86</ref> He had five brothers (Heman, Heber, Levi, Zimri, and [[Ira Allen|Ira]]) and two sisters (Lydia and Lucy). His brothers Ira and Heman were also prominent figures in the early history of Vermont.<ref name="Jellison3">[[#Jellison|Jellison]], p. 3</ref>

The town of Cornwall was frontier territory in the 1740s, but it began to resemble a town by the time that Allen was a teenager, with wood-frame houses beginning to replace the rough cabins of the early settlers. Joseph Allen was one of the wealthier landowners in the area by the time of his death in 1755. He ran a successful farm and had served as town [[Board of selectmen|selectman]].<ref name="B8">Bellesiles, p. 8</ref> Allen began studies under a minister in the nearby town of [[Salisbury, Connecticut|Salisbury]] with the goal of gaining admission to [[Yale University|Yale College]].<ref name="Jellison5">Jellison, p. 5</ref>

=== First marriage and early adulthood ===
Allen was forced to end his studies upon his father's death. He volunteered for militia service in 1757 in response to the French [[siege of Fort William Henry]], but his unit received word that the fort had fallen while they were en route, and they turned back.<ref name="Jellison7">Jellison, p. 7</ref> The [[French and Indian War]] continued over the next several years, but Allen did not participate in any further military activities and is presumed to have tended his farm. In 1762, he became part owner of an iron furnace in Salisbury.<ref name="Hall12_3">Hall (1895), pp. 12–13</ref> He also married Mary Brownson from [[Roxbury, Connecticut|Roxbury]] in July 1762, who was five years his senior. They first settled in Cornwall, but moved the following year to Salisbury with their infant daughter Loraine. They bought a small farm and proceeded to develop the iron works.<ref name="Jellison8_9">Jellison, pp. 8–9</ref> The expansion of the iron works was apparently costly to Allen; he was forced to sell off portions of the Cornwall property to raise funds, and eventually sold half of his interest in the works to his brother Heman.<ref name="Jellison9">Jellison, p. 9</ref> The Allen brothers sold their interest in the iron works in October 1765.<ref>Bellesiles, p. 22</ref>

By most accounts, Allen's first marriage was unhappy. His wife was rigidly religious, prone to criticizing him, and barely able to read and write. In contrast, his behavior was sometimes quite flamboyant, and he maintained an interest in learning.<ref name="Jellison8">Jellison, p. 8</ref> Nevertheless, they remained together until Mary's death in 1783. They had five children together, only two of whom reached adulthood.<ref>Bellesiles, p. 241</ref>

Allen and his brother Heman went to the farm of a neighbor whose pigs had escaped onto their land, and they seized the pigs. The neighbor sued to have the animals returned to him; Allen pleaded his own case and lost. Allen and Heman were fined ten shillings, and the neighbor was awarded another five shillings in damages.<ref name="Jellison10_1">Jellison, pp. 10–11</ref> He was also called to court in Salisbury for inoculating himself against [[smallpox]], a procedure that required the sanction of the town selectmen.<ref name="Jellison12">Jellison, p. 12</ref>

Allen met [[Thomas Young (American revolutionary)|Thomas Young]] when he moved to Salisbury, a doctor living and practicing just across the provincial boundary in [[Province of New York|New York]]. Young taught him a great deal about philosophy and political theory, while Allen shared his appreciation of nature and life on the frontier with Young. They eventually decided to collaborate on a book intended as an attack on organized religion, as Young had convinced Allen to become a [[Deism|Deist]]. They worked on the manuscript until 1764, when Young moved away from the area taking the manuscript with him.<ref name="Jellison15_7">Jellison, pp. 15–17</ref> Allen recovered the manuscript many years later, after Young's death. He expanded and reworked the material, and eventually published it as ''Reason: the Only Oracle of Man''.<ref name="Holbrook194_225">Holbrook, pp. 194–195, 225</ref>

Heman remained in Salisbury where he ran a general store until his death in 1778, but Allen's movements are poorly documented over the next few years.<ref name="Jellison30">Jellison, p. 30</ref> He lived in [[Northampton, Massachusetts]], in the spring of 1766, where his son Joseph was born and where he invested in a lead mine.<ref name="Randall157">Randall, p. 157</ref> The authorities asked him to leave Northampton in July 1767, though no official reason is known. Biographer [[Michael Bellesiles]] suggests that religious differences and Allen's tendency to be disruptive may have played a role in his departure.<ref name="B23">Bellesiles, p. 23</ref> Allen briefly returned to Salisbury before settling in [[Sheffield, Massachusetts]], with his younger brother Zimri. It is likely that his first visits to the [[New Hampshire Grants]] occurred during these years. Sheffield was the family home for ten years, although Allen was often absent for extended periods.<ref name="Jellison31">Jellison, p. 31</ref>