Ebenezer Knowlton

Ebenezer Knowlton
File:Ebenezer Knowlton founder of Bates College.jpg Ebenezer Knowlton
Member of U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 3rd district
In office March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857
Preceded by	E. Wilder Farley
Succeeded by	Nehemiah Abbott
18th Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives
In office 1846–1847
Preceded by	Moses Macdonald
Succeeded by	Hugh Dean McLellan
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
In office 1844–1850
Personal details
Born	(1815-12-06)6 December 1815 Pittsfield, New Hampshire, United States
Died	South Montville, Maine
Political party	Opposition Party
Other political affiliations	Republican Party
Occupation	Minister, Congressman

Ebenezer Knowlton (December 6, 1815 – September 10, 1874) was a U.S. Representative from Maine, and Free Will Baptist minister.

Biography

Born in Pittsfield, New Hampshire, Knowlton moved with his parents to South Montville, Maine, in 1825. He attended the China and Waterville Academies in Maine. He studied theology and entered the ministry as a Free Will Baptist.

Career

Knowlton served as a member of the Maine House of Representatives from 1844 to 1850, and served as speaker in 1846. Knowlton was elected as an Opposition Party (a party transitioning between the Whigs and Republicans) candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress from March 4, 1855 to March 3, 1857. He became an early member of the Republican Party and was a lifelong supporter of abolitionism and the temperance movement.

Knowlton served as trustee of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Knowlton also served as a trustee of Colby College and Maine Central Institute, and after the Civil War he worked for the Freedmen's Bureau in Beaufort, South Carolina.

He was a corporator of the Morning Star, a Free Will Baptist newspaper, and was president of the Foreign Missions Board. Knowlton continued his ministerial duties until his death.

Death

Knowlton died in South Montville, Maine on September 10, 1874, and is interred in the South Montville City Cemetery.

See also

• Ebenezer Knowlton House

External links

• Ebenezer Knowlton at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Find A Grave
• Nathan Franklin Carter, The Native Ministry of New Hampshire, (1906)

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by E. Wilder Farley	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 3rd congressional district March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	Succeeded by Nehemiah Abbott
Political offices
Preceded by Moses Macdonald	18th Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives 1846-1847	Succeeded by Hugh Dean McLellan