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Caleb Allen

1861-1927

Deerfield farmer Caleb Allen was one of several Colonial Revival furniture makers crafting in Deerfield in the first decade of the twentieth century. His sister, the photographer Mary Allen, tells us that Caleb was originally introduced to his craft by way of furniture restoration, but that he soon became interested in "building new [furniture pieces] after old designs and in the same solid, honest manner."¹ Caleb collaborated on several popular Bride's Chests with Dr. Edwin Thorn and blacksmith Cornelius Kelley. On his own, Caleb made and exhibited a two-drawer hanging smoking cabinet made of cherry wood at Deerfield's Old Home Days in 1901.

1. Mary E. Allen, "Handicrafts in Old Deerfield," The Outlook, vol. 69, no. 9 (Nov. 2, 1901), 596.