Dammer, William

Dammer was born in Boston, the capital of Massachusetts Bay , in the family of Jeremiah Dammer, a major silver merchant, and Anna (Atwater) Dammer ^[3] . His grandfather was Richard Dammer, an early settler in Massachusetts and one of the colony’s richest people. ^{[4] [5]} William was the eldest of nine children, only four of whom lived to adulthood. He was baptized in the Old South Church of Boston on September 29, 1677. ^[6]

Little is known about Dammer's youth. Given the wealth of the family, he probably attended Boston Latin school, but did not study at Harvard ^[6] . His younger brother Jeremiah studied at Harvard, after which he went to Europe, studied in Leiden and Utrecht ^[7] .

In 1702, Dammer joined the Boston Artillery Brigade ^[8] . He went to England, most likely in the early 1700s, where he joined his family’s trading business. Dammer returned to Massachusetts in 1712. ^[9] In England, he married his cousin, whose death may have prompted him to return to Massachusetts. There were no children in this marriage ^[10] . He then married Catherine Dudley, daughter of Massachusetts Governor Joseph Dudley (1714). ^[11] As a wedding present, in November 1712, Dudley gave Dammer a significant plot of land in the Pfield-Newbury section, on which a mansion for the newlyweds was built ^[12] .

After the death of Queen Anne in 1714, a political struggle began in the province between supporters of Dudley and supporters of the establishment of a land bank designed to fight inflation ^[13] . Dammer's brother Jeremiah was in London, representing the Dudley faction. Although he was unable to secure the reappointment of Dudley as governor, along with Jonathan Belcher, Jeremiah bribed Elisha Burges, who was appointed governor and sympathized with a faction of the land bank, to resign. In June 1716, the governor’s chair was entrusted to Samuel Schüth , an adversary of the land bank, and William Dammer became his deputy (lieutenant-governor) ^{[11] [14]} . The shute arrived at the colony in October of the following year ^[11] .

Schüth developed a difficult relationship with the provincial assembly, which refused to pay regular salaries to crown officials and objected to other measures that Schüth had been instructed to implement ^[15] . The meeting also complicated the negotiations between the Jester and the Abenaki Indians, who occupied lands on the eastern borders of the province (now in Maine) and opposed the invasion of settlers on their lands. Despite the non-aggressiveness of the Abenaki, the Massachusetts congregation, in contrast to Schute, took a tough stance, stopping trading with the Abenaki and sending a military expedition against Norridgewalk, one of the main cities of the Abenaki ^[16] . The conflict escalated into open war in 1722 ^[17] . Due to ongoing disputes with the congregation, Chute suddenly left the province on January 1, 1723 and left for London, resulting in Dammer becoming governor and commander in chief. The end of the conflict was left to Dammer, and has since become known as the Dammer War. ^[18]

Western Frontier

Dummer, as acting governor, was described by historian John Ruggle as “inconspicuous but capable” ^[19] . In the first half of 1723, Dammer made a joint effort to win over the Iroquois of the current state of New York as allies against the Abenaki and sought to avoid drawing Western Abenaki groups into conflict. In both cases, success was not achieved: the Iroquois, despite significant financial incentives, refused to join the war ^[20] .

In August 1723, the leader of the Western Abenaki, Gray Lockon, raided the Massachusetts border communities in the Connecticut River Valley ^[21] . Dummer turned to the leaders of the Connecticut colony, which deployed militias there in December. He also authorized the construction of the fort north of Northfield ^[22] , on land that he acquired several years ago at an auction in Connecticut ^[23] . The constructed fort was located where it is now located in Brattleboro, Vermont , and was named after Dammer ^[24] .

Fort Dammer was powerless to stop the Indian raids. Then Dammer resumed his calls to the Governor of Connecticut, Gordon Saltonstall, noting that Connecticut was equally vulnerable to raids, like the city of Massachusetts on the Connecticut River. Saltonstall sent reinforcements to the region, but the Abenaki raids continued until 1727 , when Gray Lockon was apparently tired of continuing the war without outside support. ^[25]

Eastern Frontier

One of the contentious issues between Schute and the assembly before his departure was the question of appointing militia commanders, which was the prerogative of the governor. The meeting demanded the resignation of the commander of the militia of the eastern region, Colonel Shadrah Walton. Dummer continued to argue with the congregation on this issue, but eventually gave up and replaced Walton with Thomas Westbrook. ^[26] In February 1723, Westbrook made a second raid on Norridge, but the village was found abandoned for the winter ^[27] .

The war on the eastern border consisted of raids similar to those carried out by the eastern abenaki, and counter-raids conducted by the provincial police of Massachusetts and New Hampshire ^[28] . After Norridge was destroyed in a third raid in August 1724 (an influential French Jesuit priest, Sebastian Rel, was killed during the raid), the war actually ended ^[29] . Dummer took an aggressive stance after the raid, accusing the French of inciting to war and demanding their neutrality ^[30] .

Peace talks began in early 1725 in Boston with the Penobscot Venemue and Sauguaaram leaders. Dummer negotiated a tough stance. He refused to stop settlement activity in the disputed territories, but allowed the Penobscot to keep the Roman Catholic mission ^{[31] [32]} . He also pressured Wenemue to lead the Gray Locon and other Abenaki leaders to the negotiating table. ^[33] These negotiations led to a preliminary peace only with the Penobscot at the end of July 1725 . Then Wenemue brought the content of the treaty to other tribes ^[32] . After the translation of the written agreement by the French priest, differences were revealed between what was recorded and what was discussed, and Sauguaaram refused his signature on it in January 1726 . At a peace conference held in August 1726 , the Penobscot attempted to argue the treaty, but to no avail ^[31] . Penobscot, despite their reservations, contributed to the recognition of this treaty by other tribes of the confederation and reported in March 1727 that all the leaders of the tribes, except for the Gray Locon, agreed with it ^[32] .

Other events

Dummer generally sought reconciliation with the provincial legislature ^[34] , allowing, for example, the election of Elisha Cook (opposition leader Schüthu) as the speaker of the meeting ^{[35] [36]} . He secured the right of assembly to intervene in police management. ^[37]

Schuyt's complaints in London led to the issuance by the Privy Council of an explanatory charter for the province, in which the council supported Schuyt on all major issues. The Shute was preparing to return to Massachusetts in 1727 when King George I died. King George II decided to appoint William Burnett as the Governor of Massachusetts, and Dammer was confirmed as his deputy ^[39] .

Burnet’s brief administration was mainly devoted to a dispute with the permanent salary meeting for the governor ^[40] . After Burnet died suddenly on September 7, 1729 , Dammer again became acting governor ^[41] . He remained in his post until June 11, 1730 , when he was replaced by William Teyler , who became deputy new governor Jonathan Belcher ^{[42] [43]} .

After his resignation, Dammer apparently left politics and took up farming. It is reported that he served in a provincial assembly. ^[44] He died at his home on October 10, 1761, and was buried in the Boston cemetery six days later ^{[45] [46]} .

Dummer made several donations in his will. He transferred £ 200 to Harvard College , as well as £ 50 to buy books. His only major gift was the provision of his property in Newbury for preparatory school. At first it was called the Dammer Charity School ^[47] , then - the Dammer Academy, and until recently - the Governor's Dammer Academy. In July 2006, the name of Dammer was removed from the name (due to its consonance - Dummer - with the word "dumber" - "stupid", this offensive consonance was repeatedly used by fans of opposing teams during sports) ^[48] . Dammer's mansion is the residence of the director of the Academy ^[49] .

The cities of Dammer in New Hampshire and Dammerston in Vermont ^{[50] [51]} were also named after him.

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