The Ebenezer Knowlton House is a historic house on Choate Road in

Montville, Maine Montville is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,020 at the 2020 census. History Montville was incorporated on February 18, 1807, and was named for the French word for "mountain town". Geography According to the U ...

. Built c. 1827, the property, which includes two period barns, is a well-preserved example of vernacular late Federal period architecture. The property is also notable as the childhood home of Rev. Ebenezer Knowlton, Jr., a

Free Will Baptist Free Will Baptists are a group of General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach free grace, free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in England. Its formal est ...

minister and a trustee of

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, the state's capital, and Portland, the state's most populous ci ...

, and

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philant ...

, in Waterville, Maine. The house was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2002.

Description and history

The Knowlton House is located in southern Montville, a rural inland community in western

Waldo County, Maine Waldo County is a county in the state of Maine, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,607. Its county seat is Belfast. The county was founded on 7 February 1827 from a portion of Hancock County and named after ...

. It is set on the northwest side of Choate Road, at a four-way junction where Choate Road becomes Sumner Martin Road, and the crossing road is an old (and now unmaintained) county road. The house is a -story wood-frame Cape style structure, five bays wide, with a side-gable roof, central chimney, clapboard siding, and stone foundation. The front facade, facing southeast, is symmetrical, with a center entrance that is simply framed, and is topped by a four-light transom window. An ell extends to the right of the main block, with a barn attached to the northeast corner of the ell. A second barn stands across Choate Road. The interior has a fairly typical center-chimney plan, with a narrow entry vestibule leading to a parlor on the left and the original kitchen on the right. The parlor fireplace surround is of particularly fine Federal period woodwork. At the back of the house are three small rooms, and a stair leading to a partially-finished attic level. Rev. Ebenezer Knowlton, Sr., was a native of

Pittsfield, New Hampshire Pittsfield is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,075 at the 2020 census. The main village in town, where 1,570 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Pittsfield census-designated place (C ...

, who settled in Montville, the home of his wife's family, in 1827. This house is generally given a construction date of 1827–28, but there is some architectural evidence that it was built in stages, which may have begun earlier, as there are records that Knowlton, an itinerant minister, passed through the area as early as 1812. Knowlton's son, also named

Ebenezer Ebenezer may refer to: Bible * Eben-Ezer, a place mentioned in the Books of Samuel People * Ebenezer (given name), a male given name Places Australia * Ebenezer, New South Wales * Ebenezer, Queensland, a locality in the City of Ipswich * Ebene ...

, was thirteen in 1827, and followed his father into the ministry. He also served one term in the

Maine State Legislature The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Aug ...

, but is most notable as a trustee of

, and

. The younger Ebenezer sold the house to his brother John about 1855; the house remained in the family until 1895.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knowlton, Ebenezer, House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Federal architecture in Maine Houses completed in 1827 Houses in Waldo County, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Waldo County, Maine 1827 establishments in Maine

Description and history

See also

References