Thomas Dorr was born into privilege in November 1805, a scion of one of Rhode Island’s wealthiest families. His father, Sullivan Dorr, was a Providence businessman and prominent China trade merchant. Educated at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and then at Harvard University (class of 1823), Thomas Dorr studied law for two years in New York City under Chancellor James Kent, the author of one of the leading American legal texts of the first half of the nineteenth century, before being admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1827. Dorr opened a law office on College Street, but the restless young man was not yet ready to settle down. He toured the country for almost six years and occasionally practiced maritime and commercial law in New York City before returning to Providence in 1833. In the 1830s, Dorr championed numerous reform causes, including public education, freedom of speech, banking, anti-slavery, suffrage extension, imprisonment for debt and prison reform. Dorr began his career as a devout Whig, with a deep and abiding love of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. However, disagreements over banking reform and suffrage extension led to his expulsion from the party. He would later head the equal rights wing of the state's Democratic Party. In 1834, as a newly elected member of Rhode Island’s General Assembly, Dorr joined the Constitutionalist Party, a third-party effort that picked up the reform torch from associations of native-born workingmen. The goal of the party was to secure a new constitution that would expand the suffrage for white males and address the state's apportionment problem. (Authored by Dr. Erik J. Chaput, 2012)
Allen Dorr entered Phillip Exeter Academy in 1820 at the age of twelve. He graduated in 1823. Like his older brother, Allen was a member of the Golden Branch Society. He lived most of his life in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Thomas Dorr’s younger sister. Ann married Moses Brown Ives, the president of the Providence Bank and a trustee of Brown University, in 1833.
Thomas Dorr’s younger sister. She married Providence lawyer Samuel Ames, a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, in 1819. Ames served as the state's quartermaster general in 1842.
Samuel A. Dorr was Thomas Dorr's uncle. He was a prominent Boston merchant engaging in the lucrative China trade.
Sullivan Dorr, Sr. was the father of ThomasWilsonDorr . Sullivan Dorr was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. In the latter part of the eighteenth century, Sullivan entered into the family merchant business, spending many years overseas in Canton, China. Upon his marriage to Lydia Allen of Providence in 1804 he settled in that city where he became involved in manufacturing. He also served as President of the Washington Insurance Company.
The most prominent state level jurist in the antebellum period. He was the author of the influential Commentaries on American Law (1826-1830). Thomas Dorr attended his lectures at New York City in 1824 and 1825. Unfortunately, the James Kent papers at the Library of Congress do not mention Thomas Dorr.
A Johnston physician, King served as acting governor in 1839 and elected governor from 1840 until 1843. He was married to Catherine Angell, with whom he had fourteen children. As governor under the Charter during the Dorr Rebellion, King appealed to President John Tyler for military support.
Whipple was a Providence lawyer and politically a Whig. He served as a state representative from 1832 to 1833 and again from 1838 to 1844. He, along with Daniel Webster, were the defense lawyers in the case of Luther v. Borden before the U.S. Supreme Court. In the aftermath of the Dorr Rebellion, he authored the pamphlet “Address to the People of Rhode Island on the Approaching Election” in 1843 and following the Luther case he co-authored the pamphlet “The Rhode Island Question.” For a time, Thomas Dorr clerked in Whipple’s Providence law office.
William B. Adams was a prominent English political reformer and railroad engineer. In 1832, Adams published The Rights of Morality under the pseudonym Junius Redivivus. Adams visited the United States numerous times in the 1820s and 1830sd, staying with Dorr on several occasions while he was living in Brooklyn, New York.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Alexander Hill Everett was the older brother of the prominent Massachusetts statesman Edward Everett. Alexander H. Everett was a career diplomat, serving many years abroad, including posts in Spain and China. In 1839, Everett switched from the Whig to the Democratic Party and became a key ally of Thomas Dorr. In addition to his diplomatic career, Everett also served as editor of the North American Review and as president of Louisiana College.
Charles Gibbs was a native Rhode Islander and a pirate who was hung in New York in 1831 for the murder of the captain and mate on the brig Vineyard. Most likely Dorr was referring to a small pamphlet titled Confessions of Charles Gibbs, the Pirate published in Providence in 1831. Editors' Note: Pamphlet available in the John Hay Library, Rider Collection, Dorr Correspondence (Box 1, Folder 16).
A prominent Rhode Island abolitionist. Chace was partners with George William Benson in the wool business in Providence; Benson was the brother of Helen Benson who was the wife of William Lloyd Garrison. Chace would later serve on the executive committee of the Republican Party.
James Birney was born in Danville, Kentucky, to a plantation owning family. He would go on to become one of the most prominent antislavery politicians in the Jacksonian period. In 1832, Birney signed on as a southern agent for the American Colonization Society (ACS), but similar to Thomas Dorr, he became disillusioned with ACS's scheme of gradual emancipation. In 1837 he moved to New York to become the corresponding secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society. By the end of the 1830s, Birney saw the need for a new political party whose sole purpose was to promote the abolition of slavery. With his leadership, the Liberty Party was founded in 1840. Birney ran for president in 1840 and 1844 under the Liberty Party banner.
Kendall graduated from Dartmouth College in 1811. He studied law in Massachusetts before earning admission to the Kentucky bar in 1814. He was appointed the fourth auditor of the Treasury during the administration of President Andrew Jackson (1832-1835). Kendall was a major contributor to many of Jackson's state papers, including the 1832 Bank veto message.
John S. Harris was an active member of the Rhode Island Suffrage Association. He was a delegate to the People’s Constitutional Convention and in May 1842 he along with pro suffrage men Burrington Anthony and Dutee J. Pearce meet in New York City with Secretary of State Daniel Webster and Law & Order representative John Whipple in a final attempt to seek a compromise and avert confrontation.
Newport attorney Dutee Pearce was active in Rhode Island politics for many years, serving as Attorney General, U.S. District Attorney and as U.S. Congressman from 1825 – 1837. Pearce was active in the suffrage movement, serving as a delegate to the People’s Constitutional Convention in 1841. Second only to Thomas Dorr in the leadership of the suffrage movement, Pearce split with Dorr once the latter resorted to force and attacked the state arsenal in May 1842. Like Dorr, Pearce switched from the Whigs to the Democrats in the early 1840s.
The youngest child of Sullivan and Lydia Dorr. Henry Dorr was educated at Brown University where he graduated in 1839. He studied law under Justice Joseph Story at Harvard graduating with a law degree in 1841. He then moved to New York City where he became close friends with the prominent lawyer George Templeton Strong. Henry opened his own law practice in the city and remained there for the remainder of his life. A life-long student of history, Henry published numerous papers on the early history of Rhode Island. Like his older brothers, Henry was a bachelor.
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), the son of President John Adams, was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer and the sixth president of the United States (1825-1829). He is the only president in history to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives after leaving office. Adams was a representative from Massachusetts from 1831-1848. Adams was thoroughly opposed to Dorr’s ideology. He refused to come to the legal aid of Dorrites who were imprisoned in the summer of 1842.
Samuel H. Wales, a Providence tradesman, was active in the suffrage movement and was a member of the People’s Constitutional Convention. Elected as a member to the People’s Legislature in April 1842 he publicly resigned from that office the following month when Governor Dorr resorted to force.
Dr. John A. Brown, a botanic physician, was a member of the RI Constitutional Party in the mid 1830s, he also served as President of the RI Suffrage Association, publisher of the New Age and Constitutional Advocate and a delegate to the People’s Constitutional Convention. In early April 1842, Brown went to Washington D.C. to meet with President John Tyler in order to dissuade him from intervening in Rhode Island by sending Federal troops to support the charter government.
Durfee presided as Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court in the trial of Thomas Wilson Dorr. He had a long political history having served in the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1816 to 1820 and as a U.S. Representative from 1821 to 1825. In 1826 he was again a state representative until 1829, the last two years of which he was speaker. In 1833 he was appointed an Associate Justice of the RI Supreme Court and was Chief Justice from 1835 to 1847. During the Dorr Rebellion, Durfee, a vehement anti-Dorrite, issued a charge to the grand jury convened in Bristol, in which he declared the People’s Constitution was without legal authority.
Born Lydia Allen she was descended from early setters of Rhode Island. She was also a descendent of Gabriel Bernon a French Huguenot. In 1804 she married Sullivan Dorr of Boston. Her brothers Crawford, Phillip and Zachariah Allen would all play a role during the Dorr Rebellion on the side of the Law and Order Party.
Elected Vice President in 1840 but became the tenth President of the United States when William Henry Harrison died in office after serving only one month. In 1842, Tyler was requested to intervene in the Rhode Island constitutional crisis by both Governor King of the charter government and Governor Dorr of the People’s government. Reluctant to get involved, he requested his Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, to mediate a compromise. When Webster was unable to broker a deal, Tyler announced that if the situation became violate, he would aid the Charter authorities. However, Dorr's forces disbanded before there was a need for federal troops to intervene.
A political democrat, Woodbury served as governor of New Hampshire (1824-1824) and as a U.S. Senator (1825-1831 and 1841-1845). He was in the cabinet during the presidency of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren and served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1846 to 1851. While he favored an extension of suffrage in Rhode Island, he warned Dorr to proceed with caution. In 1849 the rebellion related landmark case of Luther v. Borden was decided in the US Supreme Court. Woodbury wrote the dissenting opinion.
Theologian and founder of the Colony of Rhode Island; he was a proponent of religious freedom and separation of church and state.
A lawyer by profession, White was an ardent suffrage supporter and one of Thomas Dorr’s closest advisors. He was one of the lawyers to sign “The Rights of the People to Form a Constitution – Statement of Reasons” commonly referred to as the Nine Lawyers Opinion. This opinion was written after the People’s Constitution was adopted and was intended to address any concerns people may have had to the validity of the People’s Constitution.
Daniel Webster was lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under three presidents. As Secretary of State under President John Tyler during the Dorr Rebellion, Webster attempted to broker a peace deal with Dorr and the Charter authorities. On several occasions he met with representatives of both Rhode Island’s Charter government and the People’s government in an attempt to resolve the “RI Controversy”. In May 1842 he journeyed to New York City in an attempt to strike a compromise. His efforts failed. Webster, along with John Whipple, would several years later go on to defend the Law and Order position in the United States Supreme Court’s hearing of Luther v. Borden.
Burges was a close friend to the rebellion’s leader Thomas Wilson Dorr and assisted in the defense of the trial of Dorr in 1844. He served as federal district attorney for Rhode Island (1845-1849), and state attorney general (1851-1854) and (1860-1863). He was an Associate Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court from 1868 to 1881. While he sympathized with the suffrage cause in 1841-1842, Burges did not participate in the events of May and June 1842.
Served as governor of Connecticut during the Dorr Rebellion. While he was elected as a Democrat and appears to have been in favor of Rhode Island’s suffrage reform efforts, Dorr doubted that Cleveland would go to great lengths to prevent his arrest in the summer of 1842. Cleveland ended his political career as a prominent member of Connecticut's Republican Party.
At the time of the Dorr Rebellion, Charles Jackson was a supporter of the Charter government. He was also a delegate to the Law and Order Constitutional Convention in late 1842. In 1845 Jackson was elected Governor of Rhode Island on the so-called “Liberation Ticket”. This ticket favored the release of Thomas Dorr from prison where he was serving a life sentence for treason against the state. During Jackson’s term as governor, Dorr was pardoned and released from jail.
Fenner was elected U.S. Senator in 1805 and served as Governor of Rhode Island from 1807 – 1811, 1824 – 1831 and 1843- 1845. An ardent anti-Dorrite he served on Governor Samuel Ward King’s Council of War during the Dorr Rebellion. Fenner was a staunch Law and Order supporter and presided over the Law and Order Constitutional Convention in late 1842.
Lemuel Hastings Arnold served as governor of Rhode Island from 1831 – 1833. During the Dorr Rebellion he served on the advisory council to Governor Samuel Ward King.
Burrington Anthony had been the Sheriff of Providence County and was an active member in the RI Suffrage Association. On May 14, 1842 he along with pro suffrage men John S. Harris and Dutee J. Pearce met in New York City with Secretary of State Daniel Webster and Law & Order representative John Whipple in a final attempt to seek a compromise and avert confrontation. When the compromise failed he returned to Rhode Island. On May 16 Dorr used Anthony’s home on Federal Hill as his headquarters and it was this house that a late night attack on the Providence state arsenal commenced.
Samuel F. Man of Cumberland, RI at the time of the rebellion was a member of the General Assembly and a Law and Order supporter however during Thomas Dorr’s imprisonment he along with other moderate Law and Order supporters formed a coalition under the "Liberation Ticket” to seek Dorr release. In 1845 Charles Jackson was elected governor on this ticket and in June of that year Dorr was finally released from jail.
Born in Little Compton, Rhode Island and educated in Newport. Simmons moved to Johnston in the early 1820s and opened up a large yarn factory. A long-time member of the General Assembly, Simmons was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Whig in 1841. He served one term in the Senate and served as chairman of the powerful Committee on Manufacturing. Simmons's oldest son Walter took over his manufacturing business while he was in Washington. In 1857 the Rhode Island legislature again sent Simmons to the Senate, this time as a Republican.
Governor of Rhode Island from 1821 to 1824. During the Dorr Rebellion he was a steadfast supporter of the Charter government.
One of the publishers of the pro suffrage newspapers the Providence Daily Express and the New Age.
One of the publishers of the pro suffrage newspapers the Providence Daily Express and the New Age.
One of the publishers of the pro suffrage newspapers the Providence Daily Express and the New Age.
Newspaper publisher of the Republican Herald from 1829 until the time of his death in 1848. During the time of the Dorr Rebellion his newspaper took a pro-suffrage position.
Editor of the New York City radical democratic newspapers the New Era and Daily Plebeian. Closely aligned with Tammany Hall, Slamm was an ardent supporter of Thomas Dorr and largely responsible for the warm reception Dorr received on his several visits to New York City in May and June 1842. He traveled to Chepachet in June 1842. Slamm’s paper the Daily Plebeian provided lengthy coverage of the events in Rhode Island.
Editor of the Providence newspaper The Daily Journal and was the leading apologist for the Law and Order position during the rebellion. He would go on to become Governor in 1849 and US Senator in 1859 where he served until his death in 1884.
Listed as a widow in the Providence Directory for both 1837 and 1844.
Served as a Major General in the Continental Army under George Washington during the American Revolution.
Francis was governor of Rhode Island from 1833 to 1838. He also served as state senator in 1831 and again in 1842. He was later selected as US Senator from 1844 to 1845 to complete the term vacated by the resignation of William Sprague III. Although a Democrat, he sided with the Law & Order party during the Dorr Rebellion and was one of three state emissaries sent to Washington to meet with President Tyler seeking Federal intervention in the rebellion. Francis favored some suffrage reform but only by use of legal means. He was well regarded by both Whigs and Democrats alike.
Most likely a reference to the staunch conservative Benjamin Hazard (1770 – 1841) late member of the RI House of Representatives.
At the time of the Dorr Rebellion Dr. Francis Wayland was President of Brown University and pastor of the First Baptist Church in ">Providence. He was a supporter of the Charter government and the Law & Order party.
Sprague was a wealthy R.I. industrialist. As a Whig, he served in the U.S. Congress from 1835 to 1837 and again in 1842 to 1844; he was also governor from 1838-1839.
Elizabeth Willing Francis, second wife of John Brown Francis.
Possible reference to Benjamin B. Thurston of Hopkinton. Served as Rhode Island's Lieutenant Governor from 1837-1838, when John Brown Francis was governor. In 1839 ran unsuccessfully, along with Thomas W. Dorr, on the Democratic Republican ticket for US Representative. Later served as US Representative from Rhode Island 1847–1849 and again 1851–1857.
Elisha R. Potter Jr. of South Kingstown. A moderate Law & Order man. After the Dorr Rebellion he served as US Representative from the 2nd congressional district (1843–1845) and would later serve as a justice on the RI Supreme Court (1868–1882). In April 1842 he was one of three representatives sent to Washington, DC by Governor King to meet with President Tyler.
A shoemaker who served as one of the suffrage cause’s leading speakers due to his oratory skills.
A wealthy Providence merchant, a principal in the firm of Brown and Ives. He was also the brother–in-law to Thomas Wilson Dorr by virtue of his marriage to Anne A. Dorr.
A wealthy Providence merchant, principal attorney in the firm of Brown and Ives and brother to Moses Brown Ives.
William H. Smith ran as Secretary of State on the People’s ticket in the election of April 1842.
Eli Brown a dyer from Providence ran as first Senator on the People’s ticket in the election of April 1842.
Willard, a Providence jeweler, was active in the suffrage movement in Rhode Island and served as a delegate to the People’s Constitutional Convention and as a senator under the People’s Constitution. He was imprisoned under the Algerine Law of the Law & Order government. Upon Dorr’s release from prison in 1845, he resided for a time at Willard’s home.
Joseph Joslin ran as General Treasurer on the People’s ticket in the election of April 1842.
A prominent US Senator from South Carolina, a Democrat that lead the pro-slavery agenda in the US Senate during the 1830s and 1840s. He did not support popular sovereignty in RI as it could inspire similar action among Southern slaves.
Pitman was the United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island from 1821 to 1824 and in 1825 President Monroe nominated him to the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, a position he held until his death in 1864. During the Dorr Rebellion, Judge Pitman sided with the Law and Order party and authored two pro-government pamphlets, “A Reply to the Letter of Hon. Marcus Morton, late Governor of Massachusetts, on the Rhode Island Question,” and “To the Members of the General Assembly of Rhode Island.”
Wealthy Providence merchant, uncle to Thomas Wilson Dorr, Democratic governor of RI (1851 -1853).
At the time of the rebellion he was a representative in the RI General Assembly and also Quartermaster of the RI militia, In 1856 he became Chief Justice of the RI Supreme Court. He was also the brother–in-law to Thomas Wilson Dorr by virtue of his marriage to Mary T. Dorr.
A Whig representative in the RI General Assembly from Warwick and later state senator.
Served as Lieutenant Governor of RI in 1842 – 1843.
Whig senator from South Carolina.
Whig senator from Delaware.
US Representative from Maryland.
Democrat senator from North Carolina.
US Representative from New York.
Democrat senator from Pennsylvania. Later served as 15th President of the United States from 1857–1861.
Democrat senator from Missouri.
Democrat senator from North Carolina.
Senator from Connecticut.
Democrat senator from Arkansas.
Democrat senator from Georgia.
Democrat US Representative from New York and labor radical.
Democrat US Representative from Connecticut.
Allen, a staunch supporter of the Dorr movement in Rhode Island, served as U.S. Senator from Ohio from 1837 to 1849, having previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio from 1833 to 1835. His political party affiliation was as a Democrat.
Editor of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review and close friend of Thomas Dorr.
Goddard was a newspaper editor and later professor of moral philosophy and belles-letters at Brown University. An apologist for the Law & Order government, he was the author of “An Address to the People of Rhode Island, Delivered at Newport, May 3, 1843, in presence of the General Assembly, on the Occasion of a Change in the Civil Government of Rhode Island.” He also wrote numerous anti-suffrage articles in the Providence Journal during the period of the Dorr Rebellion.
A wealthy Providence merchant and industrialist, Carrington was a member of Governor King’s advisory council during the rebellion. Father-in-law to Thomas Dorr’s sister, Candace.
Possible reference to Henry Y. Cranston a state representative from Newport, RI.
Whig US Representative from Rhode Island.
Resident of Warwick and anti-Dorrite.
Resident of Chepachet in Glocester, RI and anti-Dorrite.
A Democrate from Chepachet in Glocester. Elected Lieutenant Governor on the People’s ticket in 1842. He went into exile following the collapse of the People’s government in June 1842.
A prominent American abolitionist who wrote the pro-suffrage pamphlet "The Rights and the Wrongs of Rhode Island.”
Assistant Professor of History at Providence College. Andrews is an early American historian who is particularly interested in cultural encounters in the British Atlantic World up to 1800. He received his Ph.D. from The University of New Hampshire, his M.A. from The American University in Washington, D.C., and his B.A. from Providence College. He teaches courses in early American history, Native American history, Public History, The British Atlantic World, and The Development of Western Civilization.
Former Digital Services Assistant at the Phillips Memorial Library.
Private collector and relative of John Brown Francis, Henry Dorr owns the original manuscripts of letters 32-59.
Head of Digital Publishing Services at the Phillips Memorial Library.
Digital Publishing Services Specialist at the Phillips Memorial Library.
Commons Digital Media Specialist at the Phillips Memorial Library.
Coordinator of Digital Publishing Services at the Phillips Memorial Library.
Commons Web Projects Specialist, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library, Digital Projects & Metadata
Commons Digital Projects Specialist, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library, Digital Projects & Metadata
Commons Digital Projects Specialist, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library, Digital Projects & Metadata
Digital Scholarship Developer, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library, Digital Projects & Metadata
Commons Digital Projects Assistant, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library, Digital Projects & Metadata
Head of Digital Projects & Metadata, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library
Commons Metadata Specialist, Providence College, Phillips Memorial Library, Digital Projects & Metadata
Married to Lewis Parlin, the supposed father of homeopathic medicine in Rhode Island. The Parlins were one of several husband-and-wife teams active in Rhode Island reform politics in the early 1840s. Parlin was Secretary of the Providence Ladies Suffrage Society. By the summer of 1842, Parlin’s bold actions propelled her into the national spotlight. Parlin delivered speeches in New York in the fall of 1842 in support of Dorr. See: https://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/woman-spunk-ann-parlins-vision-revolution
President of the Ladies' Benevolent Suffrage Association, Catharine Williams (1790–1872) was a prominent Rhode Island writer and poet. A devout Democrat and suffrage reformer, Williams was one of Thomas Wilson Dorr’s closest friends throughout his life. Image
For more on Williams see Susan Graham, "'A Warm Politition and Devotedly Attached to the Democratic Party': Catharine Read Williams, Politics, and Literature in Antebellum America." Journal of the Early Republic 30, no. 2 (2010): 253-78.
Married to Henry Lord, a devout Dorrite. A member of the Ladies Benevolent Free Suffrage Association, she was a frequent correspondent of Thomas Dorr. In 1844, Lord headed the Dorr Liberation Society. Dorr did not approve, however, of the society’s efforts.
James Polk (1795-1849) was the 11th president of the U.S. He won the closely contested Election of 1844, narrowly defeated Whig Candidate Henry Clay. Polk's agenda in the White House was largely driven by foreign policy considerations, particularly territorial expansion in the South and Pacific Northwest.
Henry Clay (1777-1852), a native of Kentucky, was a leading 19th century representative, U.S. Senator and three-time presidential candidate.
Theodore Frelinghuysen (1787-1862), a New Jersey politician, served as the vice president of the American Colonization Society in the 1820s and was Henry Clay’s running mate on the Whig presidential ticket in the Election of 1844.
George Dallas (1792-1864) was the mayor of Philadelphia from 1828 to 1829 and the vice president of the United States from 1845 to 1849 under James Polk.
Sullivan Dorr, Jr. (1813-1884), a prominent Providence businessman, was a younger brother of Thomas Wilson Dorr. Image
Dr. Thomas Cleveland, a native of Providence, was the warden of the state prison in Providence during Dorr’s time there.
Philip Allen, Jr. was Thomas Dorr’s cousin, son of Phillip Allen (brother of Lydia), who married in 1844.
John Fairfield (1797-1847) was a multi-term Democratic Governor of Maine during the time of the Dorr Rebellion.
New York City radical Democrat and labor leader. Image
New York labor radical, owner of the "Pewter Mug" tavern in New York frequented by Dorrites
Marcus Morton (1784-1864) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from Massachusetts. A prominent Bay State Democrat, Morton used the politics connected to the Dorr Rebellion to capture the governorship in the fall of 1842.
Henry Hubbard (1784-1857), a New Hampshire ally of Dorr, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, a U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Governor of New Hampshire during the Dorr Rebellion.
D’Wolf was a member of the wealthy merchant family of Bristol RI. In the spring of 1842, he was the commander of the Dorrite forces at Chepachet.
John Davis (1787-1854) was the Whig governor of Massachusetts during the time of the Dorr Rebellion. He would lose reelection to Marcus Morton in the fall of 1842.
During the time that Thomas Dorr was hiding in Westmoreland, New Hampshire in the summer of 1842, state representative (D) Timothy Hoskins was arrested in Rhode Island by the charter authorities while he was there trying to secure Dorr’s personal papers. Hoskins also escorted Dorr to Keene, NH where he resided for a while as well.
Upon Thomas Dorr’s arrival in New Hampshire in early July 1842, he found his way first to Westmoreland in the southwestern corner of the state, where he stayed part of the time at the home of Erasmus Buffum, whose family had come from Rhode Island.
Atwell was an attorney and a staunch supporter of the suffrage movement in Rhode Island. He was a delegate to the People’s Constitutional Convention and was part of the defense team in Dorr’s trial. He served in the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1835 to 1837 and again from 1840 to 1842. He was also speaker of the House in 1836 and 1837.
This may be a reference to Samuel Currie Esq. who spoke at a constitutional meeting in Newport on March 17, 1842. See Herald of the Times March 17, 1842.
Barker was from Providence and was a member of the People’s constitutional convention in 1841; he also voted for the People’s Constitution. His name was placed as candidate for lieutenant governor on the People’s ticket early in 1842 but resigned from the ticket upon the passage of the Algerine Law in early April 1842.
Ennis was a lawyer and during the Tyler administration he was Collector of the Port of Newport. He served in the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1829 to 1831 and was a delegate to the constitutional convention that frame a state constitution following the Dorr Rebellion.
Sprague was a wealthy R.I. industrialist who, along with his brother William III, were the owners of the A & W Sprague Print Works. He served in the R.I. House of Representatives as a representative from Cranston from 1831 to 1833 and 1839 to 1843.
Turner was the son of Dr. Peter and Eliza Turner. Turner practiced law in Newport and for a while he was the law partner of Duttee Pearce, both were avowed Dorrites. An acclaimed attorney, he was one of the defense lawyers in the trial of the Rev. Ephraim K. Avery for the murder of Sarah Maria Cornell in 1832, a defense lawyer in the trial of Thomas W. Dorr for treason in 1844 and along with Benjamin F. Hallet argued the case of Luther v. Borden before the United States Supreme Court. He co-authored with Walter Snow Burges Report of the Trial of Thomas Wilson Dorr and authored The Case of Thomas W. Dorr Explained. In 1847 he was the unsuccessful candidate for state Attorney General on the prohibition party’s Independent State Right ticket.
Luther was a shoemaker from Warren RI, he was also the moderator for Warren during the People’s elections. His home was broken into during Martial Law by Law & Order militia in search of him. Luther was then in exile in Massachusetts. He filed a claim against Luther Borden who headed up the militia. The case of Luther v. Borden would go all the way to the US Supreme Court.
Burke was a U.S. Representative from New Hampshire from 1839 to 1845. He led the House’s majority report in the wake of the Dorr Rebellion which is often referred to as Burke’s Report but its official title “Interference of the Executive in the Affairs of Rhode Island.”
President Jackson nominated McLean as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; he served in that capacity from 1829 to 1861. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio from 1813 to 1816. McLean was one of only two dissenting justices in the Dred Scott case.
Wayne of Georgia was appointed by President Andrew Jackson and served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1837 to 1867. Previously he served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1815 to 1816 and again from 1829 to 1835. He was mayor of Savannah 1817-1819.
McKinley was a Jacksonian Democrat and was appointed as an Associate Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Martin Van Buren in 1838; he served in this capacity until 1852. Previously he served as a representative from Alabama in the House of Representatives from 1833 to 1835. He also served as Alabama U.S. Senator from 1826 to 1831 and again in 1837.
Daniel at lawyer by profession, was a native of Virginia. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1808 to 1810 and was elected that state’s lieutenant governor in 1818. He was a Jacksonian Democrat and served as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1842 to 1860.
Nelson, a Democrat, was appointed as an Associate Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Tyler. He served from 1845 to 1872. Prior to his appointment he served as Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court. He was one of the majority justices in the Dred Scott case, although he wrote his own opinion in the case that differed to the majority opinion written by Chief Justice Roger Taney.
A Tennessee lawyer by profession he was nominated as an Associate Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court by Andrew Jackson and appointed by President Van Buren. He served from 1837 until his death in 1865. A slaveholder all his adult life he sided with the majority in the Dred Scott case. When Tennessee succeeded from the Union, he stayed loyal and for a while moved to Kentucky.
Greene was an attorney. In 1826 he was appointed U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island; he also served in both houses of the RI legislature. In 1848 he was appointed Chief Justice of the R.I. Supreme Court, a position he held until 1854.
Walker served as U.S. Senator from Mississippi from 1835 to 1845 and as Treasury Secretary in the Polk administration from 1845 to 1849.
Hallett was from Cape Cod and graduated from Brown University. He started his career as a journalist but was a lawyer and politician also. He along with George Turner presented the case of Martin and Rachel Luther before the U.S. Supreme Court in Luther v. Borden. He was the author of “The Right of the People to Establish Forms of Government.”
Grier was from Pennsylvania and was a Jacksonian Democrat. He served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1846 to 1870 having been nominated for that position by President James K. Polk.
George Burrill gave an oration on July 4, 1797 at the Beneficent Congregation Meeting House in Providence favoring a republican constitution for Rhode Island. He served as a state representative from 1802 to 1807.
This may be a reference to William H. Smith who was involved in the suffrage movement. He ran on the People’s Ticket for Secretary of State having replaced Walter S. Burges who declined the nomination.