Dyer, Eliphalet

Related Category: U.S. History: Biographies

(əlĭf´əlĭt´´), 1721–1807, American jurist, b. Windham, Conn. After serving in the state legislature for several years, Dyer took part in the French and Indian Wars and later was a member of the governor's council (1762–84) and became (1766) an associate judge of Connecticut's superior court. He was one of the organizers of the Susquehanna Company and was an active supporter of the company in its attempts to secure confirmation of its lands in the Wyoming Valley. A Connecticut delegate to the Stamp Act Congress (1765), he was later a member (1774–79; 1780–83) of the Continental Congress. Dyer was chief justice of Connecticut from 1789 until 1793.