Appendix I: Officers and Men of the [Anti-Dorr] Barrington Militia
As mentioned before, the Barrington Militia generally included more “established” residents of the town. This is particularly true of the officers: Captain Emerson Humphrey (1792-1865), for instance, served on the Town Council almost continuously from the 1830s until 1856, and was president of that body for eight years; he was also senator in the General Assembly in 1845-46, and was married to Huldah Peck. Bicknell says, respectfully, “through his long life he took a deep interest in local and state affairs and was ever ready by his example and with his means to promote all enterprises for the improvements of the interests of this town.”
[Names in boldface are mentioned in Bicknell and/or Gizzarelli genealogy files in the Barrington Preservation Society’s Archives. More information about the men whose names are in red is supplied at the end of this Appendix.]
Officers:
Emerson Humphrey, Captain
James A. Smith, Lieutenant
George W. Wightman, Ensign
P. Bowen Mauran, Drill Master
Volunteers:
Thomas R. Allin
William H. Allin
Joseph P. Bicknell
George A. Bicknell
Joseph Brown
Nathaniel Bowen
John Carpenter
Benjamin F. Drown
Hiram Drown
Jeremiah S. Drown
George A. Gladding
Israel Grant
Thomas C. Heath
Albert N. Humphrey
Peter Ingraham
George R. Kinnicutt
Benjamin Martin
Joseph R. Martin
John Peck
Nicholas Peck
John R. Richmond
William Richmond
James Seymour
Lewis B. Smith
William H. Smith
Robert T. Smith
George R. Martin
Hezekiah Tiffany
George W. Wightman (1821-1893) grew up on a farm in Barrington. According to Bicknell, “most of his active life was devoted to the development of system and proper organization in benevolent, correctional, and charitable institutions, for which he had remarkable fitness and adaptability.” He was Overseer of the Poor in Providence, 1857-1889; “The unfortunate of all classes found in Mr. Wightman a true friend as well as a faithful officer, who was in touch with their infirmities and sorrows.” (Bicknell, p. 583)
Joseph Peck Bicknell (1801-1885) was endorsed by Bicknell this way: “His life was that of a true friend, an upright citizen, and an honest man.” (Bicknell, p. 568)
Benjamin F. Drown (1822-1894), a farmer lived in Drownville and served on the Town Council and in the General Assembly in the 1860s. He was married to Amy Ann Allin, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Allin. “Mr. Drown led a quiet but industrious life and was a respected and an exemplary citizen.” (Bicknell, p. 592)
Benjamin Martin (1815-1895) served in the General Assembly (1854, 1860) and Senate (1855, 1862). He was a Town Councilor for over 30 years, the Assessor of Taxes, member of the school committee. A captain of a militia company, he was known as “Captain Martin.” (Bicknell, pp. 430, 431, 595)
Hezekiah Tiffany (1800-1872) served as Town Treasurer from 1839 to 1872. His epitaph: “He was a faithful husband and friend, pure in character, sincere in purpose, and devoted in Christian life. His fidelity to the Town and the Church were unwavering. He was Town Treasurer of Barrington 32 years. Peaceful is thy rest.” (Bicknell, pp. 429, 479)
Appendix II: Barrington Voters Who Supported the People’s Constitution in the December 1841 Referendum
The referendum on the “People’s Constitution” in December 1841 passed overwhelmingly (partly because the Charterites boycotted it). As the document below (compiled by a Congressional investigation of the Rebellion) shows, in Barrington a significant number of both property owners (eligible to vote under the old Charter) and men not able to vote under that Charter supported the proposed Constitution. (We know their names because in those days voting was done by paper ballot, and the voter signed his name on the back of the ballot. The secret ballot was still decades in the future.)
Property owners who supported Dorr included noteworthy Barrington surnames, including Heath, Peck, Martin, Smith, Maxfield, Drown, and Bowen. Some of those same surnames appear on the list of voters who did not meet the property qualification.
The most prominent Dorrite in Barrington was Wilmarth Heath (1787-1862), a descendant of Rev. Peleg Heath, listed by Bicknell as a farmer and elsewhere as a shoemaker. Many of Dorr’s supporters seem to have had second thoughts when the movement turned violent (or tried to)–first at the Providence Arsenal (May 19, 1842) and then at Chapachet (June 27-28, 1842). Russell DeSimone identifies only two Barringtonians taken prisoner at the latter; Wilmarth Heath was one of them. Moreover, Heath was one of only three men to receive a (6-month) jail sentence and a $500 fine. (The other two were Seth Luther of Warren and Thomas Dorr himself.)
Interestingly, Heath seems to have regained his standing in the town. He continued to live in Barrington—Thomas Bicknell, whose history of the town was written after Heath’s death, describes him as a “highly respected and useful citizen.” And he also stayed in touch with Dorr: DeSimone found an 1853 letter “”from Dorr to James Guthrie, Secretary of the Treasury, endorsing Heath for an appointment.” It is difficult to tell how many other supporters of Dorr stayed in town and managed to return to “good standing.”
Bibliography:
Articles (All articles from the journal Rhode Island History can be found at the Rhode Island Historical Society’s online site, https://www.rihs.org/education/journal/):
Chaput, Erik J. “‘The Rhode Island Question’: The Career of a Debate.” Rhode Island History, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Summer/Fall 2010), pp. 47-78.
Conley, Patrick T. “Popular Sovereignty or Public Anarchy? America Debates the Dorr Rebellion. Rhode Island History, Vol. 60, No. 3 (Summer 2002), pp. 71-91.
Ernst, Howard R. “A Call to Arms: Thomas Wilson Dorr’s Forceful Effort to Implement the People’s Constitution.” Rhode Island History, Vol. 66, No. 3 (Fall 2008), pp. 59-80.
Lemons, J. Stanley. “Rhode Island’s Ten Turning Points: A Second Appraisal.” Rhode Island History, Vol. 45, No. 2 (May 1986), pp. 57-70.
McLoughlin, William G. “Ten Turning Points in Rhode Island History.” Rhode Island History, Vol. 45, No. 2 (May 1986), pp. 41-56.
Rae, John Bell. “The Issues of the Dorr War.” Rhode Island History, Vol. 1, No. 2 (April 1942), pp.33-44.
Wiecek, William M. “Popular Sovereignty in the Dorr War—Conservative Counterblast.” Rhode Island History, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Spring 1973), pp. 35-51.
Books:
Bicknell, Thomas Williams. A History of Barrington, Rhode Island. Published 1898. Reprinted London: Forgotten Books, 2018.
Chaput, Erik J. The People’s Martyr: Thomas Wilson Dorr and His 1842 Rhode Island Rebellion. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2013.
McLoughlin, William G. Rhode Island: A History. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1978.
Websites:
Dorr Rebellion Project. http://library.providence.edu/dps/projects/dorr/index.html
The Dorr Rebellion: The Chepachet Meeting House and the Chepachet Free Will Baptist Church in the Dorr Rebellion. https://www.chepachetbaptist.org/dorrrebellion1.htm.