John Allan (1779-1834) was born in Ayrshire, Scotland. He immigrated to the United States in 1795 and settled in Richmond, Virginia. He entered a partnership in a mercantile business with his uncle, William Galt. John Allan and his first wife, Francis Valentine, had no children but when the parents of Edgar Allan Poe died, he became the foster father of Edgar Allan Poe as a result of his wife’s kind heart to care for the orphaned Poe. At the death of Mr. Galt, John Allan became a wealthy man and a prominent citizen of Richmond. Apparently he served on the city’s welcoming committee for Lafayette’s visit which motivated the interest in collecting newspaper articles about how other cities greeted Lafayette and his party and assembled this scrapbook. Edgar Allan Poe, at age 15, became a member of a military unit called the Junior Morgan Riflemen Volunteers which was organized as a guard of honor for General Lafayette’s visit to Richmond.

The Marquis de Lafayette, a general in the Revolutionary War, was invited by President James Monroe to visit the United States in 1824 as a guest of the United States in gratitude for his service in the American War for Independence. General Lafayette, along with his son and several other companions visited from 1824 to 1825 visiting all 24 states during the visit.

On the hand lettered title page is inscribed in black ink the name John B. Moreau, 14 Second St., N.Y. Moreau was a prominent New York antiquarian and member of the New York Historical Society. He was reputed to have a fine book collection and it is very possible that Lehigh’s Special Collections copy of this scrapbook created by John Allan was once part of this collection.