Ebenezer Battelle

Ebenezer Battelle (1754-1815) was an American Revolutionary War veteran, a bookseller in Boston, Massachusetts, and a settler of Marietta, Ohio, in the late 18th century.

Battelle was born in 1754 in Dedham, Massachusetts, to Ebenezer Battelle (d.1776) and Prudence Draper. He attended Harvard College (class of 1775); schoolmates included Fisher Ames and Benjamin Bourne.

He "was a volunteer at the battle of Lexington. ... [In 1776, he] served nineteen days at Castle Island, Dec. 11 to Dec. 30, 1776; went on the expedition to Providence, R.I., May 8 to July 8, 1777; re-enlisted, and served from March 23 to April 5, 1778, and was commissioned captain of the Eighth Company in the Suffolk Regiment, July 2, 1778. He was promoted to be major, April 1, 1780, and became colonel of the Boston regiment in 1784." He joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts in 1786.

Portrait of Anna Durant, wife of Ebenezer Battelle; by Gilbert Stuart, 1810 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

After the war Battelle sold and published books from his shop in Boston on State Street (ca.1783-1785) and Marlboro Street (1785-ca.1787). In addition to books imported from London, he stocked American publications such as Isaiah Thomas' Almanack and Noah Webster's Grammatical Institutes.

Battelle married Anna Durant; children included Ebenezer Battelle (b.1778) and Thomas Battelle (b.1781). Battelle and his family settled in Marietta, Ohio, around 1789.