Col Dummer Sewall

  General Notes:

Colonel Dummer Sewall was born on 12 December 1737 in York, Maine, (or 17 Dec. 1737). He was the son of Capt. Samuel Sewall and Sarah Batchelder. When he was 19 years old Dummer Sewall enlisted in the Provincial Army and served at the reduction of Louisburg where he was appointed ensign. On his return he was promoted to lieutenant and ordered to Canada, where he served in the army under General Wolfe and General Amherst until the conquest of the French possessions in North America was complete, participating in the battles which culminated in the conquest of Québec, 1759.

After his marriage he moved to that part of Georgetown, Maine which was later incorporated into the city of Bath. The date of this move is given as 1762. He built a log house on the eastern side of what is now the High Street in Bath, this was opposite the spot where later on he built the large and commodious home which is still standing. As soon as hostilities were threatened with Great Britain he was selected by the people of his district is one of the Committee of Safety and he was associated with Brigadier Samuel Thompson in the performance of these duties. He was also a delegate to the provincial Congress which assembled at Watertown, Massachusetts and by the council administrating the affairs of the state he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment commanded by Colonel Samuel Mc Cobb. With this regiment he marched to Cambridge, Massachusetts and joined the Continental Army under Washington, soon after he was appointed Muster Master of the district of the Maine, the duties of which he performed during the remainder of the war. He was a magistrate at Lincoln County, Maine appointed by the first governor of that state and continued as such by successive appointments until his death. He was also for many years a special justice the Court of Common Pleas for Lincoln County. Shortly after the adoption of the Constitution of Massachusetts Colonel Sewall was elected senator from Lincoln County, he was a member of the Convention of 1788 which was called by the State to ratify the Constitution of the United States and was one of the Committee of Compromise appointed at the suggestion of General Hancock towards the close of the session to consider and report such amendments as would make the proposed form of government more acceptable. Without those the Constitution would not have been ratified by the Convention.

He was the first postmaster in Bath, serving during the period from the establishment of the regular mail until 1805. He was deeply interested in educational matters and was one of the first Overseers of Bowdoin College and served as trustee and treasurer of the college from 1799 until he resigned in 1806. He was a deeply sincere and religious man, and was one of the founders and a Deacon of the Winter Street Congregational Church in Bath when it was called the Old North Church. Over 300 of his family letters written in the last 35 years of his life have been preserved and give a vivid picture of his own spiritual nature and his keen interest in religious matters. He was noted for his amiable temper, his generous heart, his decisive character, his sound judgment and for more practical matters and for his great helpfulness.

Colonel Dummer Sewall married Mary Dunning, daughter of William Dunning and Deborah Donnell, on 18 December 1760 in York, Maine, conducted by the Rev. Mr. Isaac Lyman. The Vital records, 1779-1903 Bath, give a date of 16 December at Bath.⁶ Colonel Dummer Sewall died on 6 April 1832 in Bath, Maine, at the age of 94 (DAR gives 1833 and Maine Fam. Vol 3 p. 249 gives 4 April 1832 whilst Sinnett gives 5 April 1832).

Dummer married Mary Dunning, daughter of William Dunning and Deborah Donnell, on 18 Dec 1760 in York, Maine. (Mary Dunning was born on 4 Apr 1739 and died on 10 Jul 1823.)