Occupied for thousands of years by cultures of indigenous peoples, Allen County was organized by European Americans on December 17, 1823, from Delaware and Randolph counties; and formed on April 1, 1824, at the Ewing Tavern. The county is named for Colonel John Allen, an attorney and Kentucky state senator who was killed in the War of 1812. Fort Wayne, founded at the confluences of the Maumee, St. Joseph, and St. Marys rivers, was chosen as the county seat in May 1824.