Eliphalet DYER, Congress, CT (1721-1807)

DYER, Eliphalet, a Delegate from Connecticut; born in Windham, Conn., September 14, 1721; pursued preparatory studies, and was graduated from Yale College in 1740; served as town clerk; appointed captain in the militia in 1745; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1746 and commenced practice in Windham; justice of the peace in 1746; elected a deputy to the general assembly in 1747, 1749, 1752, and 1753; was active in the project of establishing a Connecticut colony in the Susquehanna Valley, and served as agent of the Susquehanna Co. in London in 1763; in 1755, during the French and Indian War, was appointed a lieutenant colonel in the Connecticut Regiment; again a member of the general assembly 1756-1784, serving as deputy from 1756 to 1762 and as assistant from 1762 to 1784; appointed comptroller of the port of New London in 1764; delegate to the Stamp-Act Congress in 1765; judge of the superior court 1766-1793, and served as chief judge from 1789 until 1793; Member of the Continental Congress 1774-1779 and 1782-1783; member of the committee of safety in 1775; retired from public life in 1793; died in Windham, Conn., May 13, 1807; interment in Windham Cemetery.

Bibliography

Willingham, William F. Connecticut Revolutionary: Eliphalet Dyer. Hartford: American Revolutionary Bicentennial Commission of Connecticut, 1977.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present