This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions.
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
This article has been automatically rated by a bot or other tool as Stub-class because it uses a stub template. Please ensure the assessment is correct before removing the |auto= parameter.
Latest comment: 15 years ago6 comments3 people in discussion
Copied from the Reference Desk:Edison (talk) 02:14, 26 December 2008 (UTC)
There was a guy who was the U.S representative in Holland , a friend of John Adams and probably a friend of Benjamin Franklin, commissioned by the Continental Congress, who helped in obtaining loans for the fledgling U.S. from Holland I'm not sure he has an article in Wikipedia, and I can't recall his name at present, but he was an unacclaimed individual who our early leaders said was very important in the American Revolution.He was very helpful to John Adams. circa 1780 in Holland. Edison (talk) 00:37, 23 December 2008 (UTC)Reply
The guy I'm thinking of was not Laurens. He was European, a merchant, and fluent in several languages. I recall researching him and finding several references when there was a brief article up for speedy deletion many months ago, but I do not recall if I fixed the article. Edison (talk) 03:21, 23 December 2008 (UTC)Reply
Wow. It took no little search to find the man I referred to. It was Charles Dumas, friend and pre-war correspondant of Benjamin Franklin [1], Swiss journalist based in Holland, and secret American operative designated by the Continental Congress. See [2] , [3] , [4]. In 1775 Dumas devised the first U.S. diplomatic cipher [5]. Appointed U.S. agent at The Hague 1776 [6]. Dumas was Charge d'Affaires in the Netherlands while Adams was at London [7], [8]. He does not have a Wikipedia article. Should he? Edison (talk) 04:32, 23 December 2008 (UTC)Reply
It certainly seems so, if more than passing references to him can be found. The only biographical sketch of him that I could find is this two page account, which, when combined with the references above, is a reasonable start. —KevinMyers07:54, 24 December 2008 (UTC)Reply