Zachariah Allen was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 textile manufacturer, scientist, lawyer, writer, inventor and civil leader from Providence, Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

. He was educated at Philips Exeter Academy and at Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 where he graduated in 1813.

Allen became a textile manufacturer and in 1822 constructed a woolen mill

Allendale Mill

Allendale Mill is a historic mill in North Providence, Rhode Island on the banks of the Woonasquatucket River.The mill was built in 1822 by John Holden Greene for Zachariah Allen. The mill had various fire safety devices that were advanced for the time, including "heavy fire doors, sprinkler...

 in which he incorporated innovative fire-safety features and his own mechanical improvements. He also built the first hot-air furnace system for the heating of homes. In 1833 he patented his best-known device, the automatic cut-off valve for steam engines.

He founded the Manufacturers’ Mutual Fire Insurance Company in 1835, the forerunner of the present day insurance company FM Global

FM Global

FM Global is a U.S.-based insurance company, with offices worldwide, that specializes in loss prevention services primarily to large corporations throughout the world in the Highly Protected Risk property insurance market sector. "FM Global" is the communicative name of the company, whereas the...

.

Allen was also a prolific writer of scientific texts and wrote numerous books and articles during his lifetime.

Early life

Zachariah Allen was born on September 15, 1795 in Providence, Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

 to Zachariah and Anne (Crawford) Allen. His older brother Philip, served Rhode Island as governor (1851–1853) and later as a United States senator (1853–1859). Allen's father died in 1801, when he was only five years old, so he was mostly raised by his mother, and acquired a love of knowledge, particularly science at an early age. He was educated at a school in Medford, Massachusetts

Medford, Massachusetts

Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, on the Mystic River, five miles northwest of downtown Boston. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173...

, then later at Philips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire

Exeter, New Hampshire

Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town's population was 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood...

.

Allen's mother Anne died in 1808, just a year before he entered Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

, where he graduated in 1813. Allen later served as a trustee of the University from 1826 to 1882. Upon graduation from Brown, he briefly considered a career in medicine, but instead studied law for two years in the office of James Burrill

James Burrill, Jr.

James Burrill, Jr. was a Federalist-party United States senator representing the state of Rhode Island. He served in the senate from 1817 until 1820...

, and admitted to practice in the Rhode Island Courts in 1815.

In 1817, Allen married Eliza Harriet Arnold, the daughter of Welcome Arnold, a well-known Providence merchant who had participated in the Gaspée Affair

Gaspée Affair

The Gaspée Affair was a significant event in the lead-up to the American Revolution. The HMS Gaspée, a British customs schooner that had been enforcing unpopular trade regulations, ran aground in shallow water on June 9, 1772, near what is now known as Gaspee Point in the city of Warwick, Rhode...

 in 1872. The Allens had three daughters, Anne Crawford, Mary Arnold and Candace

Candace Allen House

Candace Allen House is an historic house at 12 Benevolent Street in Providence, Rhode Island.The Federal style house was built in 1818 by John Holden Greene and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973....

.

Manufacturer and inventor

In 1821, Allen devised a system to heat several rooms of a house from a single stove or furnace with a system of heat-conducting pipes. With the advent of the use of anthracite coal

Anthracite coal

Anthracite is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high luster...

 for heating in the 1820s, Allen's system of heating was soon adapted elsewhere.

In 1822, he organized and constructed a woolen mill in North Providence

North Providence, Rhode Island

North Providence is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 32,078 at the 2010 census.The town has the distinction of being the smallest by area in the smallest state . Though at only , the city of Central Falls is Rhode Island's smallest municipality...

 on the banks of the Woonasquatucket River

Woonasquatucket River

The Woonasquatucket River is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately and drains a watershed of 130 km² ....

 and constructed a series of dams to provide power to the machinery. The Allendale Mill

Allendale Mill

Allendale Mill is a historic mill in North Providence, Rhode Island on the banks of the Woonasquatucket River.The mill was built in 1822 by John Holden Greene for Zachariah Allen. The mill had various fire safety devices that were advanced for the time, including "heavy fire doors, sprinkler...

 was one of the earliest textile mills in the nation to incorporate so-called "slow-burning" construction, which consisted of a system of cast iron columns supporting large beams covered by heavy wooden planking for the floors and roof and shingles set in mortar, in contrast to the traditional system of lighter joists and thinner flooring.

The mill also contained innovative fire-safety features including first use of heavy fire doors, a sprinkler system, rotary fire pump, and copper-riveted hose to be used on a textile mill in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

In 1825, he went to Europe to observe woolen manufactures and later wrote The Practical Tourist about his travels there.

Allen patented an "extension roller" for "raising fobrous naps by teasels" to produce a smooth, glossy finish to woolen cloth. This system would be used in textile mills for many years.

He invented the first practical automatic cut-off valve for steam engines, which was patented in 1833. Allen's invention was later proclaimed "one of the greatest inventions ever made in the steam engines" by Stephen Roper in his 1884 Engineer's Handybook.

In 1852, Allen purchased the 1813 Georgiaville Mill

Georgiaville, Rhode Island

Georgiaville is a village in Smithfield, Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The village was named after the Georgia Cotton Manufacturing Company mill located in the area. The Georgiaville Pond Beach is located in the village and is a popular recreation spot. In the 1920s the Ku Klux...

 in nearby Smithfield, Rhode Island

Smithfield, Rhode Island

Smithfield is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. It includes the historic villages of Esmond, Georgiaville, Mountaindale, Hanton City, Stillwater and Greenville...

. He rebuilt the existing mill there and increased the sites water power by raising the dam height of the millpond. He later added steam power and enlarged the mill further. He also built additional dwellings, a church, and a school for the increased work force.

Although Allen went bankrupt in Panic of 1857

Panic of 1857

The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Indeed, because of the interconnectedness of the world economy by the time of the 1850s, the financial crisis which began in the autumn of 1857 was...

, he continued to manage the Georgiaville Mills which his brother had bought.

Mutual insurance

About 1834, after he had taken numerous measures to protect his mill from fire, Allen appealed to his insurance company to lower his premiums. The insurance company claimed to "know nothing about his mill, or apparatus" and refused to adjust the premium. Allen studied the problem and in 1835 joined with several other mill owners to establish the Providence Manufacturers Mutual Fire Insurance Company, introducing a system of basing premiums on the effectiveness of safety equipment based on the nature of the business, adequacy of the apparatus and the safe methods of factory construction.

In 1848, Allen formed another mutual insurance company, Rhode Island Mutual Fire Insurance Company to supplement Manufacturers' Mutual.

Two years later, the Boston Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company was founded by James Read and others, after consultation with Allen. The system of factory mutual insurance would be duplicated in dozens of other locations by the end of the 19th century.

The modern decendant of Zachariah Allen's Mutual Fire Insurance Company, now known as FM Global

FM Global

FM Global is a U.S.-based insurance company, with offices worldwide, that specializes in loss prevention services primarily to large corporations throughout the world in the Highly Protected Risk property insurance market sector. "FM Global" is the communicative name of the company, whereas the...

 maintains its headquarters in Johnston, Rhode Island

Johnston, Rhode Island

Johnston is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 28,769 at the 2010 census. Johnston is the site of the Clemence Irons House a stone-ender museum and the only landfill in Rhode Island...

, not far from the Allendale Mill

Allendale Mill

Allendale Mill is a historic mill in North Providence, Rhode Island on the banks of the Woonasquatucket River.The mill was built in 1822 by John Holden Greene for Zachariah Allen. The mill had various fire safety devices that were advanced for the time, including "heavy fire doors, sprinkler...

.

Published works

(1829) The science of mechanics, as applied to the present improvements in the useful arts in Europe, and in the United States of America.

(1833) The practical tourist, or, Sketches of the state of the useful arts, and of society, scenery, and in Great Britain, France and Holland, Volume 2

(1844) article On the Volume of the Niagara River,provided the first calculation of the volume and power potential of Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...

, published in Silliman's American Journal of Science

American Journal of Science

The American Journal of Science is the United States of America's longest-running scientific journal, having been published continuously since its conception in 1818 by Professor Benjamin Silliman, who edited and financed it himself...

, April 1844.

(1852) Philosophy of the mechanics of nature, and the source and modes of action of natural motive-power.

(1876) Bi-centenary of the burning of Providence in 1676: Defence of the Rhode Island system of treatment of the Indians, and of civil and religious liberty., for the Rhode Island Historical Society

Rhode Island Historical Society

The Rhode Island Historical Society is a privately endowed membership organization, founded in 1822, dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing the history of Rhode Island...

, April 10, 1876.

(1871) Historical Sketch of the Improvements in Transmission of Power from Motors to Machines.

(1879) Solar light and heat: the source and the supply. Gravitation: with explanations of planetary and molecular forces as a sequel to his 1851 book.

Community leader

As a member of the town council of Providence from the early 1820s, was influential in introducing the first fire engine in the city. Later he was active and in the plannng and construction of city's first water works which opened in 1871.

Allen was one of the founders of the Providence Athenaeum

Providence Athenaeum

The Providence Athenaeum, founded in 1753 in Providence, Rhode Island, is the fourth oldest subscription library in the United States. Only the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin, Newport's Redwood Library and Athenaeum, founded in 1747, and the Charleston Library...

 in 1831. He was among the founders of the Rhode Island Historical Society

Rhode Island Historical Society

The Rhode Island Historical Society is a privately endowed membership organization, founded in 1822, dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing the history of Rhode Island...

, serving as its president in his later years. He was also a member of the Franklin Society for Promoting the Study of Science as well as the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry.

In support of the working man, Allen was instrumental in the founding of the first free evening school in New England in 1840, and in the establishment of the Providence Association of Manufacturers and Mechanics. In 1845, he became one of the original trustees of Butler Hospital

Butler Hospital

Butler Hospital is a private, non-profit, psychiatric and substance abuse hospital for children, adolescents, adults, and seniors, located in Providence, Rhode Island. The hospital is affiliated with the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and is the flagship for Brown University's...

.

He was also active in the establishment of Roger Williams Park

Roger Williams Park

Roger Williams Park, in the southern part of the city of Providence, Rhode Island, is an elaborately landscaped city park and is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The park is named after the founder of the city of Providence and one of the founders of the...

, in Providence

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

. He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and attended St. John's Church

Cathedral of St. John, Providence

The Cathedral of St. John in Providence, Rhode Island is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island of The Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located at 271 North Main Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903.-History of the parish:...

 for many years.

Zachariah Allen died on May 17, 1882 at his home on Magee Street in Providence. He is buried at North Burial Ground

North Burial Ground

The North Burial Ground is a cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island, dating to 1700. Providence had no public burial ground and no Common until the year 1700 because Rhode Island's religious and government institutions were so rigorously kept distinct, dating back to its founding by Roger...

 in Providence

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

, where he served as a commissioner for thirty-two years. Mrs. Allen had died in 1873. The house on Magee Street which Allen had built in 1864 was acquired by Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

in 1938, and is now occupied by the Brown Faculty Club.