Edward Jay Allen (April 27, 1830 – December 26, 1915) was an entrepreneur and prominent businessman based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In his younger years, he had been a pioneer in the Oregon Territory for a few years. He was an officer in the Civil War and survived major battles.

Edward Jay Allen traveled west over the Oregon Trail in 1852 and made his way to Puget Sound, arriving in December of that year. Allen played a significant role in the early history of Washington Territory and left a detailed account of his years in the west (1852–1855).

Upon returning to Pittsburgh, he married, raised a family, served with distinction in the Civil War as a colonel in the 155th Pennsylvania Infantry. In later life he became quite prosperous as secretary/treasurer of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company. He was a member of the exclusive South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club that gained notoriety for contributing to the disastrous 1889 Johnstown Flood.

The Allen family emigrated from Warwickshire, England, crossing the Atlantic on the ship Anacreon. They arrived in New York City on September 4, 1827. The youngest of six children, Edward Jay Allen was born to Edward and Millicent (Bindley) Allen on April 27, 1830. After nearly three years in New York City, the Allen family moved to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, a bustling coal center that supplied Philadelphia’s fuel needs via a newly constructed canal.

In 1834 the family moved again, traveling by Conestoga wagon to Pittsburgh, where they remained. The senior Edward Allen worked as a bricklayer and later as a construction contractor. He and his wife ensured that their three sons and three daughters were well educated and versed in the classics. Edward Jay Allen attended Pittsburgh's South Ward School and the University of Pittsburgh (then known as the Western University of Pennsylvania.

Suffering from a severe long-term lung ailment, Allen found respite in the summer of 1851 wandering the hills of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania with friends. Looking for relief from his illness, he decided to make a trip to the West.

Allen was unusual among the emigrants heading to Oregon. He was college-educated, knew nothing about farming, and traveled without a family. He hoped, in addition to securing property under the Donation Land Claim Act, that the trip west would improve his health.

Leaving Pittsburgh by steamboat in the spring of 1852, Allen traveled to Iowa. There he joined a wagon train for the six-month journey. Other travelers were chiefly farmers and their families from Wapello County, Iowa. Allen kept a diary and wrote fourteen letters to his family, which he sent from various locations along his route.