Burgiss Allison (1753–1827) was the

Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives The chaplain of the United States House of Representatives is the officer of the United States House of Representatives responsible for beginning each day's proceedings with a prayer. The House cites the first half of Article 1, Section 2, Claus ...

from 1816 to 1820 and a trustee of what is now

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

from 1821 to 1826. Allison was born in

Bordentown, New Jersey Bordentown is a City (New Jersey), city in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 3,993, an increase of 69 (+1.8%) from the 2010 United ...

. He studied at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. He became a Baptist minister. He also worked on developing improvements to the steam engine. Allison also wrote a dictionary, ''The American Standard of Orthography and Pronunciation, and Improved Dictionary of the English Language, Abridged for the Use of Schools'' (1815). He was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1789.

References

External links

George Washington University library bio of Allison

Allison, Burgess biography
''history.house.gov'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allison, Burgiss 1753 births Baptists from New Hampshire Brown University alumni Chaplains of the United States House of Representatives George Washington University trustees 1827 deaths People from Bordentown, New Jersey 19th-century Baptist ministers from the United States Baptists from New Jersey