USA > Rhode Island > The "Old Stone Bank" history of Rhode Island, Vol. III > Part 34
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In about 1830, Dorr returned to Provi- dence to take up the practice of law. His progress in this city was slow, as is typical with all young lawyers, but particularly so in his case inasmuch as he was generally recognized as a student and not a practi- tioner in the profession. In 1833, he was elected a member of the lower house of the General Assembly from Providence. Thus was he started upon his tempestuous pub- lic career.
He had been a Federalist by birth and
had grown up in a Federalist environment, but his principles quickly made of him an ardent Democrat. This was the first thing to throw him into disfavor among the rul- ing class of freeholders. In 1837, his career in the General Assembly came to an end for he had further estranged himself from the ruling faction by bringing to an end the "bank process" then established, which provided that a debtor's real estate should be attached, levied and sold on the same day that he failed to meet a note, thus excluding the claims of his other creditors in favor of the bank. But these were small milestones along this man's checkered course. His sympathy with those who were beginning to rise up against the existing government, which called itself republican but was nothing more than an oligarchy, threw him into everlasting disgrace with its "landed " ad- herents.
Yet he was not the first to assume the leadership of the suffrage party or espouse its principles. Rhode Island's General Assembly had passed an act way back in 1724 limiting the suffrage to landowners and their oldest sons. This continued as a part of the charter after the Revolution. Most of the other States, in fact all except Connecticut and Rhode Island, had drawn up constitutions approved by their people and giving full suffrage. The two New England States believed that their char- ters were as liberal and as useful articles of government as constitutions and did not bother to change. But the status of the people had been changing with the years. The growing industries in Provi- dence, such as cotton spinning, were creat- ing a new class of people, non-landowners who made up the bulk of the population. Thus those actually in power, according to the old land act, were really the small minority. And, even in 1797, some saw the upheaval that lay ahead. George R. Burrill, in that year, made a Fourth-of- July oration in which he spoke of the necessity of a State constitution. He said that, unless a change was brought about, Rhode Island would display the paradox of a "free, sovereign and independent people desirous of changing their form of government without the power to do it." He believed there was no remedy but in
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ignoring the General Assembly completely and proceeding to form a new constitution independently.
In 1821, 1822, and 1824, attempts were made to call a convention to draw up a constitution but they all failed. The land holders were still too powerful. In 1829, petitions for an extension of the suffrage were met with contempt by the privileged class in the General Assembly. Five years later a convention to consider ways and means of establishing a constitution was held in Providence, being attended by delegates from all the Rhode Island towns. Dorr was a delegate from Providence. When he made his report on the assembly, he attacked the existing charter vigor- ously, although stoutly maintaining his allegiance to the State and its founders. He believed (and he was right in so doing) that at the close of the Revolution the charter was dissolved as an article of government, that the sovereignty of the King of England did not pass to the Gov- ernor and Assembly but rather to the people who had fought the battles of the Revolution and their descendants, and that the people of Rhode Island had the inherent right to establish a constitution (in their original capacity). His report showed that all other States, even Con- necticut, had adopted constitutions. This report showed Dorr to be one of the ablest men in the State, a man to be feared by the landowners.
What happened in the swift years that followed is widely known. The General Assembly passed an act in 1834 requesting the freemen of the State to vote for general officers to choose delegates for a constitu- tional convention. But inasmuch as any extension of the franchise would be vetoed by this body, such a step had no impor- tance, and the convention amounted to nothing. The Rhode Island Suffrage Association was organized in 1840 to agi- tate for a constitution. Petitions kept coming in for an enlargement of the suf- frage. The General Assembly, in 1841,
proposed a re-apportionment of delegates to its numbers on the basis of population, but this did not alleviate the approaching crisis.
A great parade, in April of 1841, inaugu- rated the Dorr movement, and many ban- ners carried by the marchers had inscrip- tions which forecast the ominous future. Affairs moved swiftly from then on, and we find a People's Constitution drawn up by the Dorrites in December, 1841. A short three months later, the General Assembly authorized a similar constitu- tion and drew up a constitution which granted suffrage. It was defeated because many of the landowners voted against it and because Dorr had not urged his followers to vote for it and they were under the impression that they could not do so. Had they done so they would have come into power and been able to set up a new order of government, and the Dorr War would have been avoided. As it was the General Assembly, waking up to the danger of the moment, passed an act mak- ing the officers in the Dorr movement guilty of treason and all their meetings illegal. But the act was not enforced, and the Dorrites increased in power. When the regular elections came under the char- ter, the two governments were at bay, and the consequent failures of the Dorrites at the arsenal and their fort in Chepachet, the collapse of the whole movement, and Dorr's trial and imprisonment were soon over.
Dorr was a great benefactor and reformer of Rhode Island. His principles were absolutely right, but his failure to seize the psychological moments of action and his too-great sense of logic caused his downfall. Though he erred in judgment and seemed to fail entirely, dying, in 1854, a broken man, his firm stand for the right had its influence and resulted in many of the privileges which Rhode Island citizens have today; and he, himself, must be listed high among Rhode Island's honored great.
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THE BATTLE OF CHEPACHET
TN 1840, the population of Rhode Island had grown considerably, and by the latter part of that year, the question of a State Constitution to replace the King Charles Charter, still in force, began to as- sume a serious nature. It was contended by many that something was needed to establish a new and fair basis for represen- tation in the General Assembly. Under the existing franchise, which allowed vot- ing privileges to freeholders alone, many of the most capable men in the State were debarred from office holding or voting. In fact, only about ninety-five hundred out of the total population were voters. The first opposition to this state of affairs came in the organization of suffrage societies in the cities and towns. Thus, began a long bitter struggle, that found, in May 1842, little Rhode Island supplied with two organized political governments each claiming the exclusive right to the exercise of legislative functions.
The People's Party composed of those who wanted to change the existing order of things declared their constitution was the supreme law of the State and pro- ceeded to nominate their own State offi- cers for election, naming for Governor, Thomas W. Dorr, the militant leader of the movement to liberalize voting rights. An election was held, peaceably enough; and shortly afterwards, the regular elec- tion of the Landholders under the old charter also took place. Governor King was reelected. Then the question of which party was to rule was brought to the boil- ing, or should one say, the bursting point. The People's Party, or Dorr's forces, held their inauguration at the old Hoyle Tavern and directed their officers to take possession of the State House and all public property. With the danger of violence imminent, the Landholders twice applied to the President of the United States for military and finally received assurance of support from the national government.
Governor Dorr then prepared to realize his long hoped for ambition. Knowing the seriousness of the matter resting in his
hands, he traveled in other States for a time, securing promises of military aid in case he needed it to establish suffrage in Rhode Island. Then he came back to Providence in much the same manner that some leaders of the people have marched into tottering European capitals.
After a short period of organizing and planning, the conqueror assembled enough armed supporters and sympathizers to make an attack upon the old arsenal on Benefit Street, but this historic coup d'état proved to be a flat failure. After the mobs had dispersed, and Thomas Dorr had returned to his headquarters on Federal Hill, following the collapse of the arsenal expedition that took place during the night of May 17, 1842, there was a brief period of comparative quiet, both in pro- ceedings and excitement, although the Law and Order Party continued to drill and prepare for war. Dorr soon fled the State after an attempt to arrest him had failed, and on June 8, Governor King offered a reward of $1000 for the arrest and return of the rebellious leader. Then rumors spread that out-of-state pro-Dorr groups were planning to invade Rhode Island. Cannons were stolen, or secreted in several places, by friends of Dorr. A powder house was broken open and a large quantity of ammunition carried away and hidden. Guns were taken from ships, wharves and warehouses, and, on one dark and stormy night, a band of about fifty mounted marauders appeared in Warren intending to steal the field pieces belonging to the local militia company. But, they broke open the wrong building, and before they succeeded in locating the objects of their search, the alarm was sounded and the horsemen were compelled to flee. Incidents such as these left no doubt in the minds of the citizens that, sooner or later, a renewed attempt would be made by Dorr and his men to take over the State.
Finally, Dorr returned and established his headquarters at Chepachet, where his friends began to assemble from all parts of Rhode Island. A fort was con-
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structed on Acote Hill, and, within this barricade, the Commander-in-Chief en- trenched himself and there organized his forces numbering about six hundred men. At the same time, the other side prepared well for hostilities. Brigades were called out and the General Assembly declared the State under martial law. Approxi- mately 1500 Law and Order troops paraded the streets of Providence, on June 25, and, the following day, Governor King issued a proclamation warning all persons "against any intercourse or con- nection with the traitor, Thomas W. Dorr, or his deluded adherents, and command- ing Dorr and his followers to disperse." Can you picture the excitement of those days?
Providence looked like a military camp. Banks and most places of business were closed; college, schools and churches were thrown open for the use of the soldiers; steamboats and trains were speeding here and there carrying troops; patrols were stationed on all principal streets; heated arguments often ended in bloodshed; valuables were being hastily hidden; no one trusted his neighbors, families were suddenly divided over the issues; some hoped for a rebel victory; others prayed for peace - it was civil war, the most tragic form of armed conflict.
On June 26th, Sunday, the crisis appeared to be approaching rapidly. About 3000 soldiers had then been mobi- lized in Providence, and, on that day, the military leaders began to move the com- panies in the direction of Chepachet. Many prominent Suffrage sympathizers visited Dorr in his stronghold and urged him to disperse his men and call the whole thing off, but this he refused to do. On Monday, the militia companies stationed in Pawtucket had considerable trouble with a mob that gathered on the Massa- chusetts side of the bridge, and one report of the whole affair states that one man was killed and two wounded during the rioting at that point.
It was first planned by the government military leaders to surround the camp of the insurgents, at a distance of five miles, and have regiments numbering about 500 men each approach by four different roads. A thirty-two pounder was brought
up to rout the rebels from their fort. Not knowing, however, how many of the citizens might be held prisoners in the camp, and realizing that such captives would be exposed to any kind of a bom- bardment, plans were changed and orders were issued to rush the camp and capture as many prisoners as possible.
Descriptions of the actual capture of Dorr's encampment are rather conflicting, principally because the State had more historians than did the rebel cause, and historians have a habit of describing things in the light of their own sentiments and allegiances. But from a wealth of rare Dorr War papers and trial records now in the possession of the author, it seems fair to state that the taking of the Dorr fort was an unnecessary gesture, an anti-climax to the whole affair, because Mr. Dorr on the 27th of June issued an order to his followers abandoning the cause and disbanding his troops. The copy of this order, dispatched to Provi- dence for publication, was intercepted and held by the authorities, while several military squadrons were sent out to Chepachet in order to capture as many men as possible before they could get home to their families.
The attack took place the next day. Many hours before Dorr had decided not to fight it out and spill innocent blood in what he then knew was a hopeless at- tempt, spies brought the news of the great numbers of government troops sur- rounding his fort on all sides, and he realized that he had little chance for victory, outnumbered as he was. Dorr left with his bodyguard in the evening. The Law and Order troops arrived the next morning. As the leading columns approached the rebel position, located upon an elevation facing down the main road, six artillery pieces could be seen with muzzles pointed down the road. The advancing troops were ordered to halt; a scouting party sent out to recon- noitre was promptly faced with muskets from behind the barricade. Then the whole force advanced, entered the en- closure, and captured the position with little resistance. The artillery loaded with ball and scraps of iron was found undis- turbed, no one apparently having the
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courage to apply the match when the troops were within range. About one hundred prisoners were captured, only two men were killed, the leader was far away by that time - the war was over.
Closely following one account of what happened thereafter, we find that, while all this was going on, great anxiety pre- vailed throughout Providence, a death- like stillness pervaded every household. At last, an express rider rushed into towns gasping "Dorr's fort has been taken and
but two men killed." The same as on November 11, 1918, "the glad news swept through the city with lightning rapidity, and delight and joy seized upon the hearts of the people; the young leaped and laughed in exultation; and the aged wept in their excessive joy." Few days had elapsed when it was announced that the troops from Chepachet would return with their trophies and prisoners. Thou- sands of ladies, as the account reads, 'assembled in the streets through which the returning heroes passed."
THE VOYAGE OF THE BARK "EMIGRANT"
WHILE the glory of leadership and success in the American whaling industry rightfully belongs to Nantucket and New Bedford, the little seaport towns of Warren and Bristol, Rhode Island, have been recorded in whaling history as cen- ters of great activity during the second quarter of the last century. From these two ports a great number of crudely-built yet sturdy whaling vessels have weighed anchor, swung into a northeast wind, sailed down the sheltered waters of Nar- ragansett Bay and headed for the open sea and ports unknown. Cruising to all parts of the world, being tossed about in raging seas, battling for hours with elusive leviathans of the deep, knowing that one false move would invite the throes of defeat and disaster, these hardy Rhode Island seamen risked their lives in the quest of a few precious barrels of sperm or whale oil that their loved ones at home might be spared poverty and privation. It is a common error of the present genera- tion to look back on whaling as a bully sport, surrounded with glamor and ro- mance, - far from that; whale hunting was an endless round of danger, toil and horrible suffering. Sailing uncharted seas, encountering both arctic blizzards and scorching tropical heat, starving, thirst- ing, - even the most humble of these hardy mariners could narrate truths that would put fiction to shame.
Awkward scribblings on musty pages, splattered with whale oil, and loosely bound in a striped canvas cover cut from a discarded straw mattress, reveal a most fascinating story of the last successful voyage of the little bark "Emigrant" owned by one Samuel Church. The earliest records of the "Emigrant" appear in the year 1841 when we find her on a year's whaling cruise in the South Atlan- tic. On returning to Bristol she was again fitted out and departed the following year for the Pacific Ocean via the treacherous waters of Cape Horn. This was a short and most successful voyage, being gone but nine months and returning with 500 barrels of oil and some 2000 pounds of precious whale bone. Having exploited both the Atlantic and the Pacific, the bark "Emigrant," carrying but 180 tons, turned to new worlds to conquer and set out for the Indian Ocean November 10, 1844, and it is this thrilling voyage to the other side of the earth that we are able to trace from day to day by the recordings on the now fading pages of her original log.
After several months of preparation, filling the hold with empty oil barrels and food supplies, replacing torn sails, signing on a capable crew, - some being veritable old sea-dogs and others mere stripling lads not yet out of their teens, the bark "Emi- grant" " was pronounced "fit and sea- worthy " by her captain, James Sherman,
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about the first of November, 1844. On the tenth day of the same month practi- cally the entire population of Bristol gathered at the wharf to wave a last good- bye and shout a final "bon voyage" to the departing crew. Mothers and sweet- hearts wept, old mariners who knew the hazards of whale hunting, especially in the swirling waters of the Indian Ocean, shook their heads in fear. They would be gone at least two years, perhaps more, - and as the "Emigrant" hoisted her sails, swung into a light breeze and disappeared down Narragansett Bay, the loved ones on shore shuddered and offered inward prayers to the Almighty, while even the most daring members of the crew bit their lips in silence, all trying to fight a common thought, - "we may never meet again."
Getting under way about eight o'clock in the morning, it took the bark nearly six hours to reach Newport. While sailing across Newport harbor there was a boom- ing thud, the ship creaked at every joint and lurched heavily to one side, - orders were given to reef the sails at top speed. Everyone on board realized what had happened, they had charged upon a hid- den rock. Captain Sherman rushed down the ladder into the forward hold expecting to see the water spurting through a jagged gash in the bow, but, to his surprise, the rugged plank siding had withstood the sudden shock. After being cleared in two hours by a rising tide the "Emigrant" was once again ready for the open sea.
The first two months of sailing were quite uneventful, and the end of the year found the whaler at her first port of call, Cape Verde Islands off the coast of French West Africa, where she stopped to sign on several recruits since Captain Sherman found his present crew insufficient in numbers to perform the countless duties on board. The "Emigrant" now headed southwest through the tropical waters of the equator and across the South Atlantic Ocean to the broad mouth of the Plata River in Argentina. Here for the first time during the voyage the lookout at the masthead shouted the long-awaited, "Thar she blows, boys, - thar she white- waters." All hands jumped to their posts. Boats were lowered and swiftly rowed over the heaving waves in the direction
of the unsuspecting whale. After several hours of maneuvering one of the dories slid up cautiously to the rear of the beast, the men being extremely careful to escape the whale's limited vision. Coming closer and closer to the huge splashing, thrashing mass of black blubber, the excitement grew more tense. The order was shouted to "give it to him," and the anxious harpooner standing in the bow of the dory hurled his long harpoon like a shot and buried it deep in the side of the surprised whale. The battle was on. The men pulled for their lives as the monstrous animal rose in the water, lashed fiercely several times with his powerful tail and dove out of sight in the seething waves. The harpoon rope ran swiftly out of the dory; the whale was sounding at such a pace that the rope had almost reached its limit before the dory crew could toss out the attached running buoy. In a few minutes the whale reappeared, - the chase was on. Gradually one of the dories gained on the tiring beast, and the lancer prepared his long sword-like spear, marked his time, then plunged it viciously into the side of the angered whale. Withdraw- ing his weapon by the attached "monkey line," he again hurled it at the weakening victim, and again, and again, until at last the black monster went into his "flurry" and rolled over dead, or "fin out" as they called it.
Greatly elated over their success, the men brought the "Emigrant" alongside the dead whale, and began the tedious process of "cutting in " and "trying out." This job lasted for several days and con- sisted of first cutting the thick blubber in chunks; boiling it in huge iron pots on the deck, and then pouring the oil in barrels and storing them away in the hold of the ship. "Trying out" was a most disagreeable task, and before it was com- pleted the entire crew was soaked in sticky oil from head to foot, not to men- tion the sickening odor given off by the boiling blubber. The men had no sooner left the floating remains of their first whale to the squealing gulls than another was sighted and captured after a terrific battle. This one was much larger than the first, and netted the "Emigrant" more than a hundred barrels of rich oil.
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Leaving the coast of South America the pilot pointed the bowsprit toward Africa and the Cape of Good Hope. Soon after crossing the meridian the "Emigrant" encountered a severe storm, - the giant waves sweeping the deck and tossing the bark about mercilessly; the lashing gale snapping the main top mast, the gallant mast, and tearing the rigging loose in many places. Crippling along its course into the Indian Ocean the disabled bark finally made a port on the Isle of France, west of Madagascar, on May 17th, where she was refitted and supplied with fresh water and supplies. This was the first time since they had left their home port of Bristol that the crew had the liberty of spending some time ashore and the inevitable happened, - four of the men, unable to bear the hardships and dangers of the irksome voyage, deserted. Captain Sherman was very fortunate, however, and succeeded in recruiting four new sea- men to carry on their duties. After a week in port the "Emigrant" sailed for the famous whaling grounds of Mozambique Channel, which lie between the Island of Madagascar and the East African main- land. After missing several whales, fol- lowing thrilling chases, the men finally captured the first sperm whale of their voyage. While cruising in the upper chan- nel, west of Zanzibar, the "Emigrant" was caught in another ravaging storm, and Mr. Charles F. Tucker of Fall River, who kept the log, amusingly records that "the old ship's a jumping and pitching into it like a sick porpoise, - a continual gale the last seven days, ... so ends this day of our Lord and Master."
There was now no doubt but what the "Emigrant" had finally located fertile whaling grounds. Hardly a day passed without at least one whale being sighted, and sometimes as many as half a dozen. They were all sperm whales, however, and were much more difficult to capture than the common variety known as "right"
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