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Gabrial Allen, a master carver from the Narragansett basin area of eastern Rhode Island, was the son of George Allen, Sr. Their stones are abundant and diverse about Providence, Rhode Island, and to the east. They occur in northeastern Connecticut burying grounds in small numbers but are important for their beauty, for the presence of several signed stones, and because of their influence upon several other slate carvers in the area, such as Roberts and Spalding. It is the beyond the scope of this book to analyze the stylistic versatility of carvers whose main body of work lies outside of our area, but it is safe to say that the Allens were master crasftsmen of the first order. Their stones are beautifully cut both on a deep blue and on a light gray slate. The detail of the cherubim and the lettering of the inscriptions are both expertly done. Signed Connecticut stones of the Allens are to be found in Pomfret (Nathaniel and Jonna Sessions, 1771), Brooklyn (Seth Pain, 1792), Trowbridge, (1795), South Killingly (Hannah Spalding, 1771) and New London (Mary Monro, 1779).
From: Slater, James A. The Colonial Burying Grounds of
Eastern Connecticut and the Men Who Made Them. Memoirs of the
Connecticut Academy of Arts & Sciences, vol. 21. Hamden,
Connecticut: Archon Books, 1987.
Homer Babbidge Library call number f/Q/11/C85/v.21