His grandfather was Captain Richard Falley (1740-1808), partially of French Huguenot descent, who was an American soldier who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill, built a musket armory at Mt.

When he was 13 years old, he went to New York City and began working for a wholesale importing and jobbing dry goods house as an apprentice.

After that summer, he returned to work with his father, who had moved his mercantile business from New York to Connecticut where he manufactured woolen goods.

"[2] In 1829, he bought a farm lot of 29 acres extending from Main Street to the "State Reservation line" of Black Rock for $2,500 (equivalent to $74,000 in 2024).

He purchased several other plots of land through auction which were later sold for significant increases in value as old wooden structures were torn and new brick buildings were constructed along with the growing city.

[2] In 1833, along with some Boston investors, Allen purchased 16,000 acres of forested land on Grand Island, New York, at a cost of around $6/acre.

It stood on present-day Niagara street near Ferry on the bluff high above the river, affording a fine view of the area.

[3] John Quincy Adams visited the Allens' home in Black Rock and for a while, Grover Cleveland lived there when Allen convinced Cleveland, on his way to Ohio, to remain in Buffalo to pursue a legal career which led to politics and eventually, the White House.