Don't Go West, Old Man - Eliphalet Dyer and the Susquehanna Company
Eliphalet Dyer was a Connecticut Founder who is most well known for attending the Stamp Act Congress and the First Continental Congress.
Dyer was pushed toward Revolution due to his involvement with the Susquehanna Company.
Eliphalet Dyer
By the 1760’s, Eliphalet Dyer had established himself as one of the most respectable citizens of Connecticut.
In addition to serving in the colonial assembly for 20 years, he had also established the Susquehanna Company almost a decade earlier.
This company’s goal was to establish a settlement in northeastern Pennsylvania, an area known as the Wyoming Valley.
The Susquehanna Company
The Susquehanna Company ran into trouble on several fronts.
First of all, the land was claimed by both Pennsylvania and Connecticut. This quickly found the ire of Pennsylvania’s proprietor in London, Thomas Penn (though it should be noted that Benjamin Franklin believed that, so long as people from all colonies were allowed to settle there, Dyer’s goals were a good idea).
Furthermore, there were Native American tribes resisting European encroachment on what was then considered the frontier.
Stamp Act Congress
In an effort to profit from his investment, Eliphalet Dyer went to London to negotiate with the government.
His attempts were in vain and he returned very unhappy with the Crown.
The following year, he was elected to the Stamp Act Congress.
A Founder had been created.
First Continental Congress
Dyer became an outspoken leader of British lawmaking with each new Intolerable Act that came to North America.
By 1774 he joined Silas Deane and Roger Sherman as Connecticut Delegates to the First Continental Congress where he signed the Continental Association.
Dyer spent most of the Revolutionary War serving in the Continental Congress, though he returned home frequently and did not sign any of the other Major Documents of the Revolution.
Connecticut Chief Justice
Eliphalet Dyer had been on the Connecticut Supreme Court since before the American Revolution began.
He is one of the few men who held such a high ranking position through the changes the Rebellion brought.
In 1789, after 33 years surviving on the highest court in his State, Dyer was chosen as Chief Justice of Connecticut, an office he held until his retirement.
Want to read about more CONNECTICUT FOUNDERS?
Check out these articles:
Asia Barns’ Tavern Welcomes America’s Friends
America’s First Adventurer - John Ledyard
Eliphalet Dyer’s most notable biography was written in the 1970’s.
‘Connecticut Revolutionary’ is a standard biography on this little known Founder.
If you’d like a copy you can get one through the Amazon affiliate link below (you’ll support this site, but don’t worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same).
Want to get fun American Revolution articles straight to your inbox every morning?
Subscribe to my email list here.
You can also support this site on Patreon by clicking here.
