Ebenezer Knowlton

Ebenezer Knowlton (December 6, 1815 - September 10, 1874) was a U.S. Representative from Maine and co-founder of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

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.

He served as member of the State house of representatives 1844-1850 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 (March 4, 1855-March 3, 1857). He became an early member of the Republican Party and was a lifelong supporter of abolitionism.

Knowlton was a founder and longtime trustee of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and worked closely with Bates President Oren B. Cheney, serving as president of the board of overseers. Knowlton also served as a trustee of Colby College, and after the Civil War he worked for the Freedman's Bureau in Beaufort, South Carolina. He was also a corporator of the "Morning Star," a Freewill Baptist newspaper, and was president of the Foreign Missions Board. Knowlton continued his ministerial duties until his death. He died in South Montville, Maine, September 10, 1874 and was interred in the City Cemetery.

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References

* [http://books.google.com/books?id=ALQsQX07_Z4C&pg=RA1-PA614&lpg=RA1-PA614&dq=ebenezer+knowlton&source=web&ots=WjZ0q4M3Eu&sig=RFWj2f6YfnMi8HCA4xOVqBctSFY#PRA1-PA615,M1 Nathan Franklin Carter, The Native Ministry of New Hampshire, (1906)]