Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/227

Rh Trinity church. Utica, in 1829-'3o. In 1835-7 he travelled 15,000 miles as general agent of the do- mestic committee of the Board of missions. But his real life-work did not begin until 1837, when he succeeded the venerable Bishop White in the rectorship of Christ church, Philadelphia, where he remained until his death. In 1838 the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania conferred on him the degree of D. D., and in 1839 he was elected bishop of Mary- land, but declined. In 1853 he visited Europe, ex- tending his journey to Egypt and the Holy Land. Among his works, which have been extensively cir- culated in the United States and reprinted in Eng- land and the British provinces, are " The Church- man's jManual " ; " The History of a Pocket Prayer- Book, Written by Itself " ; " Recognition of Friends in Another World " ; " Sunday - school Teacher's Encouragement " ; " Prophecies and Types Rela- tive to Christ " ; " An Affectionate Invitation to the Holv Communion " ; " An Historical Account of Christ Church, Philadelphia" (1841); "Notes of Travel " (1850) ; and " A Memoir of John Fanning Watson " (imi).

DORR, Ebenezer Pearson, sea-captain, b. in Hartford, Vt., 13 March, 1817; d. in Buffalo, K Y., 29 April, 1882. After following the sea for sev- eral years, Capt. Dorr settled in Buffalo in 1838, and from that time until 1843 was engaged in the navigation of the great lakes. In the latter year he became marine inspector for the Buffalo mutual insurance company, and acted as agent of the New York board of underwriters for the entire north- west. He was also for some time the Buffalo repre- sentative of many insurance companies, and served for seven years as president of the Board of inland underwriters. He acted at different times as presi- dent of the Board of trade, the Society of fine arts, and the Historical society of Buffalo, and as vice- president of the National board of trade. He was the first to organize a regular system of wreckage on the lakes, and did much to improve the condi- tion of seamen and to obtain recognition of their acts of heroism. When Jefferson Davis, as secre- tary of war, first suggested the value of weather reports, Capt. Dorr, at the request of Lieut. Maury, forwarded daily meteorological observations from Buffalo. On 5 Jan., 1874, Capt. Dorr read before the Buffalo historical society a paper entitled " A Brief Sketch of the First Monitor and its In- ventor " (Buffalo, 1874).

DORR, Julia Caroline Ripley, author, b. in Charleston, S. C, 13 Feb., 1825. Her maternal grandparents were natives of France, who fled to South Carolina from San Domingo at the time of the servile insurrection in that island. She lost her mother when a child, and her father, William Y'oung Ripley, a native of Vermont, removed short- ly afterward to New York, and in 1830 to his na- tive state, where he was one of the first to develop the Rutland marble quarries. In 1847 Miss Ripley married Seneca R. Dorr, then of New York, who shortly afterward went to Rutland, Vt., and lived there till his death in 1884. She has written since early childhood, but her first published poem was sent to the " Union Magazine " by her husband, without her knowledge, a year or two after their marriage. In 1848 she became a contributor to " Sartain's Magazine," taking one of its hundred dollar prizes by her first puljlished prose tale, " Isabel Leslie." She has since continued to con- tribute both prose and poetry to prominent peri- odicals. Mrs. Dorr's works include " Farming- dale," a novel, published under the pen-name of " Caroline Thomas " (New ^'ork, 1854) ; " Lan- mere," a novel (1856) ; " Sibyl Huntingdon," a novel (Philadelphia. 1869) ; " Poems " (1871) ; " Ex- piation," a novel (1872) ; " Friar Anselm, and other Poems " (New York, 1879) ; " Daybreak, an Easter Poem" (1882); "Bermuda" (1884); and "After- noon Songs " (1885). A series of essays on mar- riage, contributed by Mrs. Dorr to a New England journal under the titles " Letters to a Young Wife " and " Letters to a Young Husband," has appeared in book-form without her sanction, with the title " Bride and Bridegroom " (Cincinnati, 1873).

DORR, Thomas Wilson, politician, b. in Provi- dence, R. I., 5 Nov., 1805 ; d. there, 27 Dec, 1854. His father, Sullivan Dorr, was a successful manu- facturer. Thomas was educated at Phillips Exeter academy and at Harvard, where he was graduated in 1823. He then studied law in New York in the office of Chancellor Kent, was admitted to the bar, and began practice in his native city. He was a member of the assembly in 1833-'7, being elected at first as a Federalist, but becoming a Democrat in the last-named year. In 1836 he introduced and carried through the legislature an important bill curtailing the powers of the banks in the state. At this time the government of the state was based on a charter granted by Charles II. in 1663. The suf- frage was limited "to possessors of real estate to the amount of $134 and to their eldest sons, and therefore only about one third of the citizens were entitled to vote. The representation in the legis- lature was also unfairly distributed, Newport, for instance, with 8,000 inhabitants, having six mem- bers, while Providence, with 23,000, had only four. Mr. Dorr exerted himself in the assembly for the adoption of a more liberal constitution, but his movement obtained only seven out of seventy votes. He finally resorted to popular agitation, and in the latter part of 1840 a " suffrage party " was organ- ized, which, at a mass meeting held in Providence on 5 July, 1841, authorized the calling of a state constitutional convention. Delegates were elected on 28 Aug., and the convention met at Providence on 4 Oct. and framed a constitution, which was submitted to the people of the state on 27, 28, and 29 Dec, when, as was asserted, about 14,000 votes were cast in its favor, being a majority of the adult male citizens of the state. It was also claimed that the constitution was adopted by a majority of the legal voters, or those entitled to suffrage under the chai'ter. Meanwhile the legislature, on 6 Feb., 1841, had also called a constitutional convention, and delegates elected in accordance with the call met in November, but adjourned to February, 1842, when they agreed upon a constitution, which was submitted to the people on 21, 22, and 23 March, and rejected. On 18 April, 1842, an election was held under the " suffrage " constitution, by which Mr. Dorr, who had been the leader in the move- ment, was chosen governor, and a legislature was elected consisting exclusively of his supporters. An election was also held under the old charter, which resulted in the choice of Samuel W. King as governor. Both governments organized in New- port on 3 May, 1842, and there was an appeal to arms. Gov. King proclaimed martial law, called out the militia, and asked aid from the National government, which recognized him as the legal governor. On 18 May an attempt was made by an armed party of " suffragists " to seize the Provi- dence arsenal, which was thwarted by the appear- ance of the military under Gov. King. Mr. Dorr, by request of his adherents, then went to Washing- ton to try and gain the support of the Federal gov- ernment, and on his return was assured that the people were ready to fight for their rights. On 25 June a demonstration in his favor was made at