ALLEN, PETER (1 July 1787-1 Sept. 1864), was a prominent doctor in the WESTERN RESERVE. Born in Norwich, Conn., he obtained a preliminary education at the Norwich Academy where he later taught for 2 years. He received his medical education under Dr. Phineas Tracy in Norwich. In 1838 he received an honorary degree from Jefferson College. He married Charity Dudley on 13 May 1813. Their only child, Dudley Allen, succeeded his father in his practice.
Allen began practice in the Kinsman, Ohio, area in 1808. In 1812 he was appointed surgeon in the Western Army under Gen. Simon Perkins and served in the campaign on the Maumee River. He was censor at the Medical College in Willoughby and later at the Cleveland Medical College. In 1835 he was elected first president of the Ohio Medical Convention, which later fostered the Ohio State Medical Society of which he was president in 1856.
Dr. Allen's practice at one time covered 12 townships in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. In addition to the general practice of medicine, he performed various surgical operations, including ligation of the femoral artery for aneurysm; tracheotomies; amputations of the leg, thigh, arm, and shoulder joint; and operations for strangulated hernia and removal of tumors. These were performed without the use of an anesthetic. Before the establishment of medical schools, Allen usually had 3 or 4 students studying under him. His saddlebags and their contents are exhibited at the HOWARD DITTRICK MUSEUM OF HISTORICAL MEDICINE in Cleveland. Allen died at the family home in Kinsman, Ohio and is buried at the Kinsman Cemetery.