James Lane Allen

James Lane Allen 1849-1925, American novelist, b. Lexington, Kentucky. Among his stylized, "genteel" novels set in his native region are A Kentucky Cardinal (1894), Aftermath (1895), and The Choir Invisible (1897).

Allen, James Lane (1849–1925), was born and reared in Kentucky, where he taught school until 1880, and then turned to writing critical and descriptive articles and short stories. The Blue‐Grass Region of Kentucky (1892) is a collection of sketches contributed to Harper's Magazine during the '80s, while Flute and Violin (1891) contains romantic short stories of Kentucky local color, demonstrating his craftsmanship and polished style, and his interest in the interdependence of man and nature. This theme dominates his best‐known novels, A Kentucky Cardinal (1894), its sequel Aftermath (1896), and The Choir Invisible (1897). Allen's numerous later writings include A Summer in Arcady (1896) and The Reign of Law (1900), realistic novels of simple farm folk; The Mettle of the Pasture (1903), a tragic tale of the aristocrats of a Southern town; The Last Christmas Tree (1914), a prose poem describing the ultimate glacial conquest of the earth; The Bride of the Mistletoe (1909) and The Doctor's Christmas Eve (1910), novels concerned with the conflicts that arise from the desire of middle age for youthful passion; The Sword of Youth (1915), a novelette of the Civil War; The Alabaster Box (1923), a tale of ingratitude; and The Landmark (1925), collected short stories.

McLane, Allen (1746–1829) army officer, born in Philadelphia. During the Revolutionary War McLane, together with his Delaware company, gained fame for actions around British-occupied Philadelphia (1777–78), interrupting trade and engaging in a series of irritants against the enemy. His men were the first to enter Philadelphia when the British withdrew. McLane's later raids, though successful and significant, received scant attention because his company was then attached to Lee's Legion and was overshadowed by the exploits of Light-Horse Harry Lee. Early in the conflict McLane had fought with George Washington's army at the battles of New York and Princeton (1776–77).

McLane's exploits were popularized in such novels as S. Weir Mitchell's Hugh Wynne (1897) and Howard Fast's Conceived in Liberty (1939). An account of his escape from British dragoons became the subject of a painting by James Peale.