Benjamin Ewing was a farmer, businessman and political figure in Upper Canada

Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...

. He represented Northumberland in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada

The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. It was the elected legislature for the province of Upper Canada and functioned as the province's lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada...

 in 1825 and from 1828 to 1830.

He was born in Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 (some sources say Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

). Ewing lived in Haldimand Township. He married Eunice Doolittle. Ewing served as quartermaster in the county militia, later reaching the rank of captain. He was named coroner for the Newcastle District in 1824. He was declared elected in February 1825 after the election of James Lyons

James Lyons (Upper Canada politician)

James Lyons was a merchant and political figure in Upper Canada. He represented Northumberland in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada from 1824 to 1834 as a Reformer....

 was declared invalid; Lyons appealed and was reinstated in March 1825. Ewing served as postmaster for Grafton

Grafton, Ontario

Grafton is a community in the province of Ontario. It is in Northumberland County, in the township of Alnwick/Haldimand. It is 12 km east of Cobourg, Ontario on the former Highway 2 , with close access to Highway 401. The hamlet is near the geographically significant Oak Ridges Moraine at Rice...

 from 1832 to 1833.

His sister Hannah married Eliakim Barnum, builder of the Barnum house

Barnum house

The Barnum House was built between 1817 and 1819 by Eliakim Barnum, a United Empire Loyalist originally from Vermont. The house, which stands just outside of Grafton, Ontario, in Alnwick/Haldimand Township, is the earliest example of Neoclassical architecture in Canada...

in Grafton.