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

Thomas Wilson Dorr-- Part 3: Rhode Island Had Two State Governments

Efforts had been made to increase while male suffrage in Rhode Island at intervals in its early years as a state, usually by lowering the amount of land that needed to be owned.  In 1834, a convention met at the capital, Providence, with that intention.  Dorr was a part of it. But all their efforts were blocked by rural interests in the legislature.

By 1841, Rhode Island  was almost the only state that had not adopted universal suffrage for white males.  More than half of the adult white males were unable to vote. And, with more people owning factories and living in cities, even fewer could vote because of the land requirements.

In 1840,  the Rhode Island Suffrage Association was formed to address the problem and state legislator Thomas Dorr took a leading role.  When that didn't get anywhere, a "People's Party" was formed and adopted a state constitution.  The sitting legislature refused to recognize it.

However, the new party, referred to as Dorrites, were unfazed and went ahead and elected an entire state ticket with Dorr as governor.

So, in May 1842, Rhode Island had two governments.  The already seated government was allowed to remain in the statehouse, but both governors, Dorr and Samuel Ward King, issued proclamations.  King appealed to Washington, D.C., for federal aid.  Dorr went to D.C. himself to plead his cause with President John Tyler, but received no help.

--Cooter

Dorr Township, Illinois-- Part 2: Thomas Wilson Dorr

From Wikipedia.

The governor Dorr in question turns out to be Thomas Wilson Dorr and he was not an Illinois governor, but a governor of Rhode Island.  People in Illinois must have admired him to name a township after him.  (There is also a Dorr Township in Michigan's Allegan County.)

THOMAS WILSON DORR

(November 5, 1805 - December  27, 1854_

Was an American politician and reformer in Rhode Island, best-known for leading the Dorr Rebellion.

Came from a prosperous family.  Attended Phillips Exetor Academy and Harvard and admitted to New York Bar as a lawyer and returned to Providence, R.I..

Became a representative in Rhode Island's General Assembly and became concerned about issues of franchise where white men were not allowed to vote if they didn't own land worth a certain value.  This led to a dominance in the assembly of the rural areas.

--Cooter

Dorr Township, Illinois-- Named for the Arrested Governor Who Wasn't From Illinois

In February I had a lot of entries about the 15th Illinois Infantry Regiment in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog.  The regiment had several companies from McHenry County where I live, including Company A that was mainly from Woodstock, Illinois, where our McHenry County Civil War Round Table meets every second Tuesday of the month.

We have a meeting this Tuesday, March 12 on Jonathan Letterman (no relation to David) who is credited as "The Father of Battlefield Medicine."

Anyway, I found a site that gave the residences of every member of Company A.  Most had Woodstock as their residence, and others had other McHenry County towns.  But. there were a few other places listed that after some research, I found to be McHenry County townships: Seneca, Greenwood Dorr and Hartland.  I had to look up the townships of McHenry County as I did not know most of them other than Burton, where we live, Richmond and McHenry.

When I looked up Dorr Township at its official site, I found it was named after Governor Thomas Wilson Dorr who had a "dramatically colorful record in the annals of American history, serving a jail sentence from which he was later acquitted by a Supreme Court decision."

Well, being from Illinois, I am well aware of the penchant for our governors finding themselves imprisoned.

So, I looked up Illinois' Governor Dorr.  Only, Illinois has never had a Governor Dorr.

The Plot Thickens.  --Cooter