Mr. Ebenezer Withington

Born in Stoughtonham (now Sharon), Mass. on March 29, 1769 and married to the niece of John Hancock, Mr. Withington was first Rev. Withington, ordained in 1798 to the pulpit in Plympton, Mass. After three years, ill-health forced him to resign his pulpit and profession at which time he entered the life of business with the firm of Withington & Emery, specializing in goods from the West Indies. That would have meant molasses, rum, and sugar. It is unknown whether the firm ever engaged in the additional slave trading so often associated with such ventures.

Mr. Withington also conducted a private school in Boston where he helped to school Wendell Phillips, the son of founder John Phillips. In 1822 he moved to Vermont and later to Montreal. He returned to Boston in 1827 where he remained until his death on April 6, 1831.