Introduction

In this letter John Brown Francis acknowledged his friendship with Amasa Eddy, Jr., a prominent Democratic politician from Chepachet and lieutenant governor under the People’s Constitution. Both Tourtellot and Eddy were residents of the village of Chepachet, but were on opposites sides of the suffrage question. Eddy had fled the state after Thomas Dorr disbanded his forces in late June. Though he does mention that he thought Dorr was crazy and deserved to be put in a “halter,” a device that was used to secure the head of an animal, Francis declares his willingness to help those Democrats in exile. Francis said he was for “letting the people in” to the body politic as early as the spring of 1841 when the Rhode Island Suffrage Association held huge rallies in Providence and Newport.