William Dummer of Dummer's War

Acting Governor of Massachusetts Bay 1723-1728 and 1729-1730. Governor Dummer Academy formed on his bequest on his property in Byfield. The towns of Dummer, NH and Dummerston, VT are named after his as is Ft. Dummer in what is now Brattleboro, VT.

William Dummer (October 10, 1677 – October 10, 1761) was a politician in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He served as its lieutenant governor for fourteen years (1716–1730), including an extended period from 1723 to 1728 when acted as governor. He is remembered for his role in leading the colony during what is sometimes called Dummer's War, which was fought between the British colonies of northeastern North America and a coalition of native tribes in what is now New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

A proponent of education, he bequeathed funds for the establishment of a preparatory school in Massachusetts. For many years it was known as either the Dummer Academy or the Governor Dummer Academy, but is now called The Governor's Academy.

Dummer was born in Boston, the capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, to Jeremiah Dummer, the first American born silversmith, and Anna Atwater.[1] His grandfather was Richard Dummer, an early Massachusetts settler and one of the colony's wealthiest men, and he was also related to the magistrate Samuel Sewall.[2][3]

Little is known of William's early years. Given the family's wealth, he probably attended the Boston Latin School. His younger brother Jeremiah was educated at Harvard and then at Leiden and Utrecht. Details are not known, but the family wealth and William's later interest in education suggest that he was also well educated.

In 1702 Dummer was elected to the membership of Boston's Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.[4] He went to England, most likely in the early 1700s, where he joined the family's merchant business. He returned to Massachusetts in 1712.[5] He married Katherine Dudley, daughter of Massachusetts Governor Joseph Dudley, on April 26, 1714.[6] In a gift that may have been made in anticipation of his wedding, his father in November 1712 gave him a substantial tract of land in the Byfield section of Newbury. The property became the couple's country home. Dummer divided his time between the Newbury property and the family home in Boston.[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Dummer