Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, on assignment for The Winooski News
Ira Allen was cunning and sometimes a scoundrel, but he was also a tremendously important figure in early Vermont history, author and historian J. Kevin Graffagnino explained during a book talk Feb. 2.
“Without him, your picture of the history of Vermont is massively incomplete,” said Graffagnino, author of “Ira Allen: A Biography.”
The book explores the ups and downs of Allen’s life. Allen owned an impressive amount of land, including a house in what is now known as Winooski. However, he found himself mired in debt later in life and was penniless and largely forgotten at his death.
Graffagnino is the former executive director of the Vermont Historical Society, former curator of Vermont history at UVM’s library and author of numerous books about Vermont history.
The book talk and signing were hosted at the Winooski Senior Center. Before the talk, members of the Winooski Historical Society and the Chittenden County Historical Society introduced themselves. Many people turned up to hear Graffagnino talk about his writing process, Ira Allen and the history of Winooski.
President of Chittenden County Historical Society Carolyn Gould emphasized the organization’s aspiration to “support the whole broad spectrum of history.”
The story of Allen’s 18th century “Catch Me If You Can”-esque lifestyle adds a captivating dose of scandal to the history of Winooski, Graffagnino said. Allen, born in 1751, was one of eight siblings, including the more famous Ethan Allen, credited with leading the Green Mountain Boys of the Revolutionary War.
“Young Ira Allen deserves our respect,” Graffagnino said, putting special emphasis on the word “young” because of Allen’s “fall from grace” in his last few years.
But even when he was younger, Allen was no stranger to controversy.
“Throughout his adult life, Ira attracted far more criticism than praise, more disapproval than approbation, more distrust than confidence,” Graffagnino writes in the preface to his book.
Graffagnino described Ira Allen, the youngest and smallest brother, as a “wordsmith” who was “sly, sneaky, devious.” He shared stories of Allen’s life, such as scams to procure land and racking up so much debt that he was forced to flee from his creditors.
Allen’s tumultuous life helped bolster Vermont’s role as a stronghold against Canada during the Revolutionary War. Lake Champlain played a large role in Allen’s military, political and economic successes.
“Lake Champlain flows north,” Graffagnino reminded his audience. “You have got to have a relationship (with Canada),” which is what Allen did through allegedly questionable means, Graffagnino implied.
He explained, “Lake Champlain is a military highway. You can move troops better on water than you can on land.”
Allen took advantage of the “power of the printing press on the early American frontier” and published thousands of pages of writing to turn Vermont into the place it is today, Graffagnino said.
With these publications, Allen spent “decades controlling the narrative,” said Graffagnino.
He advised his audience, “Don’t put a 21st-century perspective (on Ira’s actions).”
However, Graffagnino did acknowledge Allen was a “villain to the core if you are Native American,” regarding Allen’s forced eviction of the Abenaki.
Graffagnino ended his book talk discussing Allen’s cause of death: retrocedent gout, a historically notorious form of severe arthritis.
Ultimately, “he wore out” and was buried in “an unmarked pauper’s grave” in Philadelphia with little fanfare, Graffagnino explained.
After looking for 40 years, Graffagnino has only found one mention of Allen’s death in Vermont, and it was a three-line obituary.
He reflected that Ira Allen “stayed in our shadows ever since, because… we don’t really like him.”
Graffagnino’s belated eulogy for Allen ended with a bittersweet spoken epitaph, explaining Allen “was a guy nobody ever put full faith in because you couldn’t pin him down.”
He added: “If you can’t put him on a pedestal, (admire) him as a human being.… He’s an interesting guy.… He’s involved in everything.”
At the end of his talk, Graffagnino shared in an interview what motivated him to write this biography so many generations after Allen’s existence.
“Well, it wasn’t today,” he said, explaining that his book started as a doctoral dissertation in 1993.
When asked why he chose to focus on Ira Allen, Graffagnino emphasized what he had said during his book talk: Ira Allen was a dreamer.
“We’ve got to have those dream-big people,” he said, adding that it’s not fair to view historical figures solely through a modern lens.
Graffagnino noted that historical figures like Allen “serve as a bridge socially” among people of a community like Winooski.
“The local history of any community tells you something about the ethos (of that community),” he said.
He followed this statement up with some advice for community members.
“Join the local historical society. Make some friends,” Graffagnino said.
At the tail-end of the event, amid the rush of stacking chairs and cleaning up refreshments, Winooski Historical Society President Joseph Perron explained Allen’s life story is entwined with Winooski’s early history. By visiting the Winooski Block, residents and visitors can stand at the place where Allen once was.
Put simply by Perron, “Ira Allen’s house was here.”
Editor’s Note: J. Kevin Graffagnino previously worked with the Center for Research on Vermont, which used to house CNS until 2024.