John Gummere

John Gummere (1784-1845) was an American astronomer and one of the founders of Haverford College in Pennsylvania. He was born in 1784 near Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. His son Samuel James Gummere (1811-1874) was the first president of Haverford College, and his grandson Francis Barton Gummere (1855-1919) was an influential scholar of folklore and ancient languages and an alumnus of Haverford College.

In 1814, Gummere was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society.

Gummere built the first observatory at Haverford College (erected about 1834), now commemorated by a plaque at its original location, after being replaced by the Strawbridge Observatory in 1850.