Dummer House, Dummer's Lane, Hallowell, 1968
Hubbard Free Library
In 1789 Nathaniel Dummer moved to Hallowell with his wife and five children. We have learned of the successes and honor that have here crowned his life. We also know of the charm and happiness in the social life of the rapidly growing village at the Hook. Old Hallowell on the Kennebec, Nason, 1909.
Nathaniel Dummer held several prominent roles in the civic life of Hallowell. He served as the town's first postmaster from 1794 to 1802. As a judge on the Court of Common Pleas in Kennebec County, in 1794 he presided over a paternity case involving one of Martha Ballard's patients. Such suits often relied upon the record of midwives who confirmed the identity of fathers by taking testimony from mothers at the height of labor. Martha Ballard's diary also states that Ephraim Ballard attended the raising of Nathaniel Dummer's house on June 19, 1792.
Judge Dummer died in Hallowell, September 15, 1815, and "seldom." as the old records tell us, "has a death in this part of the country produced a more general sympathy." His widow, who survived him for a number of years, wa much beloved and respected in the community (Nason).
