Son of Rev. Ezekiel Skinner (d. 25 Dec 1855) and Sarah Mott, and older brother of Rev. Benj. R. Skinner.
His younger brother (Rev. Benjamin Rush Skinner) had gone to Liberia as a missionary for the American Colonization Society...but he died a short time after. A number of years later the father of these 2 men went to take the deceased son's place. He went back several times over a period of time.
Ezekiel also attempted to go but he was not very healthy...and it is assumed that he tried to go...became ill while in South Carolina waiting to go...and never made it to Liberia (a letter he wrote in 1839 from South Carolina to his wife Mary in Greenport has surfaced on eBay in 2008) ...Instead he returned home to Greenport....where he continued practicing medicine until 1875.