Silversmith, engraver, and painter, born in Newbury, Massachusestts, USA. Known as the first American-born silversmith, he completed a Boston apprenticeship with John Hull and went on to make some of the finest silver pieces of his time. He is said to have introduced the ornamentation known as gadrooning, curved flutings cut on the surface of silver.
Jeremiah Dummer (1681 – May 19th, 1739) was an important colonial figure for New England in the early 1700s. His most significant contributions to American history were his "A Defense of the New England Charters" and his role in the formation of Yale College.
Background and Early Life
Jeremiah Dummer’s family history can be traced back to the Dummer village in England in the 12th century (Clarke, 3). Dummer’s grandfather, Richard Dummer, was the first in the family to settle in New England. Richard had five children in the New World by his second wife, Francis Burr Dummer (Clarke, 13-14). Jeremiah Dummer, Jr., was born the sixth of Dummer and Atwater’s nine children in 1681.
Education and Early Career
Jeremiah Dummer graduated from Harvard College in 1699. Although Dummer was a well-learned man, his preaching left little mark on the religious community and he left the profession to pursue politics in 1708.
Politics and “A Defense of the New-England Charters”
Arriving back in Europe in the fall of 1708, Dummer decided to take part in the politics in London. Upon arrival in England, Dummer started an important relationship with Henry St. John, a statesman whose secret negotiations with Dummer landed him in trouble upon the death of Queen Anne in 1713. However, Dummer soon gained an important role in the politics of his native New England. Appointed as Agent for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, Dummer held this position from 1710 until 1721 and served a similar role in the colony of Connecticut. Dummer’s continuing role in New England politics eventually led to his two important literary works. His other publication, “A Defense of the New-England Charters”, was an incredibly important work that argued on behalf of the New England colonies.
“A Defense of the New England Charters” was published in 1721 and defended the charters of New England, composed of the Massachusetts Bay colony, the colony of Connecticut, the government of Rhode Island, with Providence Plantations, and the province of New Hampshire. Dummer’s work came at the time of, and was necessitated by, a proposed bill for the House of Commons that would annul the charters of these New England colonies. Dummer sought to illustrate the colonies’ loyalty to the crown and their necessity and right to a continuation of the charters with four points that he listed at the beginning of the work:
“[First] I shall endeavor to show, that the Charter Governments have a good and undoubted Right to their respective Charters” “[Secondly] That they have not forfeited them by any Misgovernment or Male-Administration” “[Thirdly] That if they had, it would not be the Interest of the Crown to accept the Forfeitures. And,” “[Fourthly] I shall make some Observations upon the extraordinary Method of Proceeding against the Charters by a Bill in Parliament” (Dummer, 6)Dummer then continued in this vein by explaining the hardships the original settlers faced and how they provided England with valuable resources and service. Dummer states, “And then the Conclusion, that I would draw from these Premises is this, That to strip the Country of their Charters after the Service has bin so successfully perform’d, is abhorrent from all Reason, Equity, and Justice.”(Dummer, 13) Dummer justifies the colonial charters by explaining the colonies’ worth and continuing loyalty to England, ending the work with a justification for his own zealous arguments on the behalf of the colonies. for how little soever one is able to write, yet when the liberties of one’s country are threaten’d, it’s still more difficult to be silent.” (Dummer, 80) Dummer’s work ended up being “one of the chief influences that defeated the bill” (Clarke, 48) and enabled New England to keep its charters.
Yale
Although Jeremiah Dummer attended Harvard, his contributions to Yale cause him to be more significantly associated with the latter. During the shaky founding years of the Collegiate College in New Haven, Connecticut, Dummer was an important force in the solidification of the college’s future. Serving as the colonial agent for Massachusetts and Connecticut, Dummer began seek out donations for the school in the form of money and books, eventually securing donations from Elihu Yale, Isaac Newton, and Richard Steele (Kelley, 17). The most significant contribution of Jeremiah Dummer to the school was his work on persuading Elihu Yale to donate a large sum of money.
Death and Impact on American History
Jeremiah Dummer died an unmarried man on May 19th, 1739, in Essex, England. The mode with which Dummer dealt with his death reflects his crucial role in early colonial history. In both his support for the colonies’ charters and his role in securing a college in New Haven, his dedication to New England is as important as it is often unrecognized. Even if not directly stated, the New England colonies also had Dummer to thank for the continuation of their charters. Dummer left his mark on history by not only being the first American colonist to receive a Ph.
Dummer, Jeremiah.
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