Ezekiel Knowlton (abt. 1765 - abt. 1823)

Born about 1765 in Nobleboro, Lincoln, Maine, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Knowlton — married about 1794 in Nobleboro, Lincoln, Massachusetts, United States

Died about 1823 at about age 58 in Montville, Lincoln County, Maine, United States

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Biography

Ancestry of Ezekiel Knowlton

Stocking, both in the History and in the Errata, states that this Ezekiel is born in 1765, the son of Anna Pierce of Manchester, Massachusetts. before her marriage to Jeremiah Knowlton. It is further stated that Ezekiel became known as Knowlton after the marriage of his mother to Jeremiah.

Stocking is wrong on this.

This is a myth and was pointed out as such in April 1932 by Mary Kent (Davey) Babcock in her article for the NEGHR on Samuel and Sarah (Fellows) Knowlton of Ipswich, MA. and Nobleborough, ME. On page 142 of that excellent article she says "The facts are these: Ezekiel Knowlton was Jeremiah's nephew, the son of one of his sisters. He was brought up in Jeremiah's family, and always bore the name of Knowlton (his mother's name). His father's name was doubtless Eastman, as is stated in the 'Knowlton Ancestry'; but Anna Pierce, who was born 9 Sept. 1755, could not well have been his mother in 1765".

What few facts we have on Ezekiel certainly support Mary Babcock's conclusion. In the 1880 census two sons of Ezekiel, Hiram and Isaac, state that their father was born in Maine. Jeremiah and Anna Pierce Knowlton did not come to Maine from Massachusetts until 1780, as proven by the birth records of their children. Even if you are skeptical, as I am, of the accuracy of the 1765 birth year, Ezekiel was at least 18 years old in 1794 when he claimed land in the Davistown settlement. That would make his birth year 1776 or before, making it impossible for Anna Pierce to be his mother.

Now the question is which one of Jeremiah's sisters is Ezekiel's mother? Unfortunately he had seven. There is some information on three of his sisters and very little known about the other four. A guess would be that one of "the other four", Elizabeth, Lydia, Rachel or Mary is the birth mother of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel and his wife Polly Knowlton left many descendants including a son Isaac, who was an influential minister, a son Joseph who was a prominent local attorney and judge, a grandson, Hosea Morrill Knowlton, who was Attorney General of the State of Massachusetts and famous for prosecuting the Lizzie Borden case, and a great-great grandson, four-star General William Allen Knowlton, who was a Superintendant of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Note: Jeremiah Knowlton- 923 and Jerimiah Knowlton-936 (merge proposed) was the foster father of this Ezekiel. It was common in this era that a child born out of wedlock would be raised by a relative of the birth mother but not by the mother herself.

Questionable Birth Year

There is no record of his birth. His gravestone gives it as 1765. But it is clear this is not the original gravestone inscription and mistakes are often made when these monuments are replaced. The only other clues to his age are the 1800 U.S. Census in which he was reported in the 16-25 age group, the 1810 census in which he is placed in the 26-44 age group and the 1820 census in which he appears in the 45 & over age group. If this information is correct, it leads to a probable birth year of 1774-1775.

Marriage

Ezekiel married Polly about 1794 based on a birth year of 1795 of their first child Abigail. The Knowlton genealogy, page 128, has reprinted a letter from Ezekiel to Polly dated April 14, 1795. This letter is a must read. It shows an Ezekiel that is well-educated and has a gift of the language. He is also loving, playful and a great sense of humor.

Family History of Settlement in Maine

Note: Davistown became Montville in 1807. The town of Liberty split off from Montville in 1827.

From Vital Records of Liberty, Maine transcribed by Isabel Morse Maresh Published by Picton Press, Camden, ME 1993

pages 507-508 "Who were these three Knowltons, [Ezekiel, John, and Samuel] who a quarter and a century ago, high of heart and valiant in spirit wrested from the wilderness homes for their families, pastures for their cattle and a living for the many children who clamored for food around their tables? What was the Great Adventure they sought?

A study of old records reveals that about the middle of the eighteenth century the Province of Massachusetts Bay in an endeavor to encourage settlements and raise some much needed money began selling off lands in what is now Maine to speculators who bought large tracts which they disposed of in parcels to suit settlers. Every newcomer had his choice, at one dollar per acre, of 150 acres anywhere upon the rivers and navigable waters or 100 acres elsewhere, if he would but clear 16 acres in four years.

Perhaps this lure of great land holdings explains why some fifteen years later before the outbreak of the Revolution, Captain Samuel Knowlton (Knowlton-931) of Ipswich, Massachusetts, sold all his possessions there and with his family sailed in his own vessel for the part of Massachusetts which in 1820 became the State of Maine. Shipwrecked on Cape Elizabeth and losing nearly all their household belongings, Capt. Knowlton and his family finally settled in Nobleborough at what is now called Damariscotta Mills. There he build a house still standing and owned by his descendants.

In 1778 he was followed by his son Jeremiah, who had recently married Anna Pierce of Manchester, Massachusetts and he, too, built a house near his father's which, also, is still standing and owned and occupied by his descendants. It was two sons of Jeremiah Knowlton and Anna Pierce, John and Samuel, who followed their cousin Ezekiel to Davistown Plantation [now Liberty] and became the first settlers of the Knowlton Road, Ezekiel being the second settler in the town of Liberty.

Ezekiel and his Cousins Settle in Davistown

From: "Vital records of Liberty Maine", page 503

"As late as 1820 the territory in Maine stretching inland from the coast was a vast wilderness through which the traveler to Davistown Plantation must journey on foot or on horseback. Judge then what it must have been in 1794 when Ezekiel Knowlton, axe on shoulder, struck out from Nobleborough to build himself a log cabin on the shores of Georges Great Pond, which it is called in old deeds, close to a spring still bubbling fresh and clear. To this log cabin in 1795 he brought his wife (who was his second cousin) Mary, called Polly, Knowlton and their infant daughter, Abigail. This temporary home was soon replaced by a frame dwelling which boasted of two fireplaces.

From Nobleborough also, about 1805, came John Knowlton, a cousin, whose wife Sally was also a cousin to Ezekiel's wife. While John's house was being built the two families shared the new frame dwelling, the two rude fireplaces making it possible for each family to have some measure of privacy, although it is related that Sally strongly objected to Polly's hens attempting to occupy the room from which they had been ousted on the arrival of the new tenants. In 1801 when he was eighteen years old, Samuel Knowlton joined his brother John and cousin Ezekiel and in 1811 built him a house to which he brought his bride, Lucy Knowlton, a sister of John's wife, Sally. When Samuel's first wife, Lucy, died, he married her sister, Mercy. The author indicates later that she, herself, is a descendant of Samuel and Lucy/Mercy. There were then three families of Knowltons clustered in the vicinity of the 'lane' on which Samuel Knowlton had built his house. None of these dwellings are now standing. "

Additional Comments:

The Captain Samuel Knowlton mentioned here is Samuel Knowlton (Stocking ID160D and Wikitree ID 931) of The Hamlet, Ipswich who was a lieutenant in the militia and the master of a privateer during the French and Indian War. Samuel had extensive service in the war and it's likely that this service gave him an opportunity to become familiar with the Nobleboro, Maine area. The ink was barely dry on the Treaty of Paris that ended the war ( Feb. 10, 1763) when Samuel sold his Ipswich farm (Nov 12, 1763) and headed up the coast for Nobleboro, Maine.

Ezekiel, John and Samuel are Lieutenant Samuel's grandsons, all born in Nobleboro. All the wives mentioned are daughters of Lieutenant Samuel's nephews Joseph (325) and Nathaniel (324) who accompanied him to Nobleboro from Ipswich.

Residences

According to the Davistown Museum site, Ezekiel was settled in Davistown by 1794 and probably had an operating sawmill by 1797.

As mentioned above, Ezekiel is found in the 1800, 1810 and 1820 U.S. Census of Davistown, Maine. Davistown became the town of Montville.

On April 20, 1819 the Montville town meeting (held at Ezekiel's house) appointed Ezekiel and Timothy Copp as Assessors of the Plantation.

Later Life

Ezekiel's gravestone gives his year of death as 1821. However, as mentioned above, we have every reason to question this information as this inscription replaced the original. We do know that Ezekiel had passed away by Sep. 12, 1823 as on that date three of the children of Ezekiel (Hiram, Amy and Warren) chose Henry Erskine, husband of their sister Sarah, as their legal guardian. On Jan. 20, 1824 the court appointed Henry Erskine as guardian of the three youngest children, Lucinda, Lavina and Isaac. Unfortunately, these two guardianship records are all that has survived of his probate file.

Sources

• Stocking, Rev. Charles Henry Wright. D.D., The History and Genealogy of the Knowltons of England and America - two volumes; Vol. 1, pp. 61, 127, 128. New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1897. (Stocking ID 602).

• Knowlton, George Henry. Errata and Addenda to Dr. Stocking's History and Genealogy of the Knowltons of England and America, New York (1903), pp. 39, 56, 61.

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, April 1932, Vol. 86, pp. 132-143 entitled "Samuel and Sarah (Fellows) Knowlton of Ipswich, Mass., and Nobleborough, ME." by Mary Kent (Davey) Babcock of Marblehead, Massachusetts. (Ezekiel is specifically mentioned on page 42.)

• The Davistown Museum, https://www.davistownmuseum.org/publications/volume2.html

• Minutes of Montville Town Meeting; http://theusgenweb.org/me/waldo/libertyindex.htm

• Vital Records of Liberty, Maine, transcribed by Isabel Morse Maresh, Published by Picton Press, Camden, ME 1993, Pages 503,507,508.

• Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 16 August 2023), memorial page for Ezekial Pierce Knowlton (1765–1821), Find A Grave: Memorial #83020952, citing Hunts Memorial Cemetery, Liberty, Waldo County, Maine, USA; Maintained by Maine 101 (contributor 47130320).

• Maine, Wills and Probate Records, 1584-1999