Allen served as a pas­tor in Pitts­field (1810), and as pre­si­dent of Dart­mouth Un­i­ver­si­ty (1817) and Bow­doin Coll­ege (1820-39). His works in­clude:

• American Bi­o­graph­i­cal and His­tor­ic­al Dic­tion­a­ry, 1809
• Junius Un­masked (Bos­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts: 1828)
• Psalms and Hymns, 1835
• Memoirs of Dr. El­ea­zer Wheel­oek and of Dr. John Cod­man, 1853
• A Dis­course at the Close of the Se­cond Cen­tu­ry of the Set­tle­ment at North­amp­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts, 1854
• Wunnissoo, or the Vale of Hous­a­ton­nuck, a po­em (Bos­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts: 1856)
• Christian Son­nets (North­amp­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts: 1860)
• Poems of Na­za­reth and the Cross, 1866
• Sacred Songs, 1867

• Julian, p. 50

1. I Am Hat­ed, Lord