Sullivan Dorr (1778-1858) was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Ebenezer (1739-1809) and Abigail (Cummingham) Dorr (1762-1796). Ebenezer was a leather dresser, owner of the schooner Dove, and a merchant with a store at No. 27 Long Wharf, Boston. During the Revolutionary War, while Paul Revere was warning those north of Boston of the coming of the British troops, Ebenezer was warning Roxbury and Boston Neck of the attack.
Sullivan Dorr married Lydia Allen (1782-1859), daughter of Zachariah and Ann (Crawford) Allen, on October 14, 1804. They had four sons and three daughters: Thomas Wilson (1805-1854); Allen (1808-1889); Ann Allen (Dorr) Ives (1810-1884); Mary Throop (Dorr) Ames (1811-1869); Sullivan Jr. (1813-1884); Candace Crawford (Dorr) Carrington (1815-1886); and Henry Crawford (1820-1897).
His son, Thomas Wilson Dorr, is well known as the leader of the Dorr Rebellion. Dorr had become the leader of the "Law and Order" Party that had a platform of suffrage reform. The party held a convention and adopted a "People's Constitution," in 1842, under which Dorr was elected Governor. However, the Rhode Island legislature did not recognized Dorr's legitimacy. Dorr made a failed attempt to take over the State Arsenal and failed in his attempt to convene a General Assembly. With these failures Dorr fled Rhode Island, only to turn himself in a year and a half later. He was tried in 1844 and sentenced to life in prison. Dorr was released in 1845 due to a legislative act that freed all prisoners sentenced for treason. In 1854, Dorr's record was expunged as some of those in power can to believe he had be wrongly convicted.
Early in life Sullivan was engaged in the fur trade on the northwest coast of the United States and at the age of twenty, he went to Canton, China to follow mercantile pursuits. Much of his business was for the firm of J. & J. Dorr; based in Boston and owned by his brothers, Jonathan and Joseph. He stayed in Canton for five years (1799-1803) and upon returning to the States he settled in Providence and became a prosperous merchant. He resided in a home he built in 1811 on the northeast corner of Benefit and Bowen Streets.
Sullivan served as a Brown University trustee (1813-1858) and was the second president of the Providence Washington Insurance Company (1838-1858). He died on March 3, 1858 and was buried at the Swan Point Cemetery in Providence.
There are no restrictions on access. USE MICROFILM (Call # HF3128.D7 in RIHS Library reading room) to view Dorr’s 1801 Canton, China memoranda book (box 1 folder 8) and Series 2: Receipts related to the building and furnishing of the Sullivan Dorr House, 1809-1812.
Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Rhode Island Historical Society.
Sullivan Dorr Papers, MSS 390, Rhode Island Historical Society.
This collection, ranging from 1799-1852, has been divided into two series. Series One contains personal papers, which include correspondence, a deed, a diary, and a memoranda book. The correspondence derives from his involvement in commerce in Canton, China, while the memoranda book details various events during a year (1801) in China. Very rarely Dorr will make a reference to the people of China. In 1799 he makes the comment, "being among a people between whom and ourselves there is such a dissimilarity of language, customs, etc. that your betrayer may be bargaining before your face." (Box 1, folder 1, page 27). In 1800 he goes on to say, the Chinese are "great sticklers to Religion if I may judge...vindictive, lascivious, roguish, revengeful...polygamy..." (Box 1, folder 1, page 53-59). In these several pages he describes the people and culture of the Chinese.
Series Two contains the receipts related to the building and furnishing of the Sullivan Dorr House, 1809-1812.
The diary and accompanying loose papers appear to have been deposited as part of the Carrington Papers in 1960, and then made a gift in 1962. The three volumes of typescripts were apparently donated in 1956 or before. The original memoranda book was donated by Paul Nicholson in 1953. The 1841 papers dealing with the case of Star Manufacturing versus the Providence Washington Insurance Company were part of the Albert C. and Richard W. Greene Collection. The provenance of the 1836 letter/agreement and the 1824 deeds are unknown.
There is an inscription on the first page of the bound copy of Sullivan Dorr letters, 1799-1801 which states,"These letters were evidently transcribed by Howard Corning. Not all of these appear in Mass. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, v. 67, 1941-44, p. 178-364.
There is a household account book and diary (1879-1883) of Sullivan Dorr Ames (grandson of Sullivan Dorr) in Mss 9001-A. There is also a letter to Richard K. Randolph, a prominent Newport lawyer, from Sullivan Dorr in Mss 452. This letter asks for clemency for his son, Thomas. There are also many other references to the Dorr Rebellion in other manuscript collections to be found in the card catalogue.