The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Dudley, Thomas
1576–1653, colonial governor of Massachusetts, b. England. As a young man he served as a clerk and later as steward to the earl of Lincoln. In 1630 he emigrated to America as deputy governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony and spent the remainder of his life in one public office or another, being elected deputy governor 13 times and serving four terms as governor. He was also a founder and one of the first overseers of Harvard.
