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Introduction
In this remarkable letter from Pawtucket resident Almira Howard, an active Dorrite, Thomas Dorr is encouraged to try to reach out to President John Tyler for assistance. Dorr was in exile in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, when he received Howard’s missive (he would later leave and move to Concord, NH). Dorr rightly believed that Tyler was not a supporter of his ideology, but many women, including Howard and Dorr’s friend Catharine Williams, hoped that salvation would come from the White House. Howard relates that she took the initiative to write to the president. She believed that Tyler would soon support the “republican form” of government created by the People’s Constitution. Tyler, according to Howard, was planning a trip to Rhode Island. Tyler made no such trip nor did he make any public remarks in support of Dorr and his cause.