Thomas Wilson Dorr-- Part 4: Campaigned for White Male Suffrage in Rhode Island

Meanwhile, Governor Samuel King proclaimed martial law and  offered a $5,000 reward for the capture of Dorr and started making widespread arrests of Dorr's followers.  He was forced to flee the state in 1842. Dorr and his followers launched a bungled attack on the Providence, R.I., arsenal helped bring about Dorr's collapse as well.

In June, Dorr and his followers were back as an armed force but were dispersed by the Rhode Island militia and he found refuge in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  He returned after the passage of a more liberal constitution in 1843 which allowed universal suffrage for all white males but was arrested and tried for treason against the state.

He was convicted and sentence to hard labor and solitary confinement for life on June 27, 1844.    The public was outraged and in 1945, Dorr was given amnesty but his health was broken by then and he lived in retirement afterwards until his death in 1854.

So, this is how Dorr Township in McHenry County came to be named for this man.  Some folks were indeed admirers.  Also, Dorr Township in Alleghan County, Michigan.

--CootVote