Sgt. Ebenezer Washburn, Esq., J.P., U.E.br>
'' (April 8, 1756 – November 12, 1826) was a businessman and political figure in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of t ...

. He was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts in 1756 and settled on a farm in what is now Rutland, Vermont. In 1777, he joined Major-General

John Burgoyne General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several bat ...

's troops. He was captured but released to visit his father, who supported the rebels, in Keene, New Hampshire. He left on the pretext of getting his sister and escaped to

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

, where he joined Edward Jessup's Loyal Rangers. After the war, he settled on a farm in Township No. 2 ( Ernestown). Later, he moved to Hallowell Bridge ( Picton), where he became a merchant and forwarder of goods. He was elected to the 3rd and 4th Parliaments representing Prince Edward County. He helped introduce the District School Act of 1807 which established a school system in the province. Washburn aligned himself with the reformers in the Assembly on many issues, but found himself disagreeing with them on other issues. In 1808, he was appointed justice of the peace. He was one of the largest land-holders in the area at the time. Near the end of his life, he suffered from

edema Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...

. He died at Hallowell in 1826. His son, Simon Ebenezer, became a lawyer, an alderman in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

and the clerk of the peace for the

Home District The Home District was one of four districts of the Province of Quebec created in 1788 in the western reaches of the Montreal District and detached in 1791 to create the new colony of Upper Canada. It was abolished with the adoption of the county ...

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washburn, Ebenezer 1756 births 1826 deaths British emigrants to pre-Confederation Quebec Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Deaths from edema People from Rutland (city), Vermont