Mr. Ebenezer Larkin

Ebenezer Larkin was perhaps the most noted bookseller in Boston at the time, although it was his uncle, Deacon John Larkin, who is better remembered, simply for lending his horse for Paul Revere’s famous ride.

Ebenezer Larkin was born in Charelstown on August 14, 1767, the fourth of seventeen children. He was educated in the Charlestown schools and took on adult responsibilities early due to the early death of his father and many younger siblings. He entered the book trade, and at age 21 established a shop at 47 Cornhill in Boston (pictured here).

While successful, the bookselling business was also challenging, and Mr. Larkin found himself more than once in court over monetary disputes, once with fellow founder Samuel Dana over the publication of a newspaper, The Boston Patriot. Mr. Dana won the case.

Like many tradesmen, he was a member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association who remembered him at his passing on December 1, 1814 by noting: “He was universally respected for the virtues of uprightness and benevolence, and his society was sought and admired for its characteristic pleasantness and good humor.”