Jeremiah Dummer

Dummer, Jeremiah, c.1680-1739, colonial agent for Massachusetts and Connecticut, b. Boston; son of Jeremiah Dummer (1645-1718). He saw little opportunity for business in Boston and settled in England, where he became a prosperous lawyer. He became the agent in England of Massachusetts (1710) and of Connecticut (1712). Dummer helped persuade Elihu Yale, a wealthy English merchant, to donate books and valuable goods to the Collegiate School of Connecticut-which was renamed (1718) Yale College. Dummer himself collected nearly 1,000 books, which were sent to this institution. His most important service for the colonies was his well-reasoned Defence of the New England Charters (1721), written to answer the attacks in Parliament. Because Dummer recommended and supported the appointment of the unpopular Samuel Shute as governor of Massachusetts, he was dismissed as colonial agent in 1721 by the Massachusetts General Court and in 1730 by Connecticut.