No. 69.

Deposition of Lyman A. Taft.

I, Lyman A. Taft, of Smithfield, in the State of Rhode Island, depose and say: That the above statement which has been read to me, so far as it relates to the taking of my gun by Sylvester Hartshorn, is true. Mr. Hartshorn took me with the gun, and carried me to the hall over the market, but did not take me in, and there left me. Afterwards I saw him, and asked him by what authority he took my gun. He replied, by the authority of the United States. I asked him if the United States did not authorize every man to keep arms? He said it did, but not in a case of insurrection. I told him I did not consider it an insurrection; I was sent for by the governor. He asked, Governor who? I said Governor Dorr. He replied, Dorr is not governor, but a rebel. Afterwards he returned the gun to me, but made no explanation.

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, Bristol, ss:

LYMAN A. TAFT.

PAWTUCKET, May 11, 1844. Personally appeared the above-named Isaiah Barney and Lyman A. Taft, and severally made oath to the foregoing, and subscribed the same, reduced to writing by me in their presence. Before me,

B. F. HALLETT,

Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace through the Commonwealth.

No. 70.

Deposition of Jedediah Sprague.

1, Jedediah Sprague, of Glocester, in the county of Providence, State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, aged forty years, do depose and say: That I now am, and have, for the space of about four and a half years past, been the innholder of the Chepatchet Hotel in said town of Glocester; that I was the keeper of said hotel in June, A. D. 1842, at the time of the encampment of the suffrage party, or a portion thereof, on Acote's hill, near said village of Chepatchet. On Thursday, June 23d, 1842, late in the afternoon, the suffrage people aforementioned commenced encamping on said hill; early Saturday morning following, (to wit, the 25th of June,) Gov. Dorr arrived and took rooms in my house. Two or three days previous to said 23d of June, persons known to be in the interest of the charter party, (so called,) and hostile to the suffrage party, were reconnoitring this section of the State, both in the day and night time. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, the 21st and 22d of June, 1842, expresses arrived from Providence, bringing the intelligence that armed companies were forming in Providence for the purpose of making an attack on the village of Chepatchet; in conse quence of this information, a portion of the citizens of said village, together with a few persons from other towns, formed a patrol to watch and protect the place. On Wednesday night aforesaid, (which was the first night of

the streets being generally guarded,) information was received that large numbers of persons had passed the turnpike gate, about four miles east of this village, on the direct road to Providence, who were approaching the village at about 12 o'clock at night, which is an unusual time for travellers to be on the roads in this part of the country. About 4 o'clock on the morn ing of Thursday, the 23d June aforesaid, Messrs. Shelley, Keep, Harris, and Peckham were apprehended, all armed with pistols; about which time, sev eral carriages, apparently approaching from towards Providence, hastily turned off from the main or turnpike road, some eighty or one hundred rods below. The persons taken by the patrol aforesaid were supposed to be an advance guard of the company, which, from the intelligence received, it was expected would attack the village; and it was supposed that the discharge of cannon which took place in the village immediately after the arrest of said persons deterred others from entering the village. It being believed that the village of Chepatchet would not be strong enough to hold out against any considerable number of armed men or strong force, the persons appre hended were marched, with said company of patrol, to Woonsocket, where said Shelley, Keep, Harris, and Peckham were discharged. On Thursday, the 23d aforesaid, said patrol returned, accompanied by a part of two military companies from Woonsocket, and commenced the encampment on Acote's hill, as before stated. Said Acote's hill was in possession of the suf frage party, as aforesaid, until the afternoon of Monday, June 27th. During the occupancy of said hill and the village, the suffrage people were quiet, orderly, and peaceable, and the personal rights of the citizens were respected. On Saturday morning, the 25th of June, the bar of my house, where liquors were sold, was by me, at the request of Gov. Dorr, closed, and remained so until Tuesday morning, the 28th. On the afternoon of Monday, the 27th, the military on Acote's hill disbanded, and nearly all of them quietly retired from the village. An express started from my house on Monday afternoon, bearing a communication from Gov. Dorr to Walter S. Burges, esq., Providence, acquainting said Burges with the fact that the forces on Acote's hill were to be disbanded, and requesting said communication to be published in the Express, the organ of the suffrage party, published in Provi dence.

of

About 7 o'clock, (according to the best of my recollection,) on the morn ing of Tuesday, June 28th, the advance guard of Col. Brown's regiment arrived at my house in carriages, under the command, as I understood at the time, of Lieut. John T. Pitman, (clerk of the United States conrt for the district of Rhode Island,) who was well known to me at that time, and for several years previous. There were in my house at the time said advance guard arrived, only eight male persons, besides my own family and domestics, three of whom were gentlemen from Boston, who had arrived that morning; one gentleman from Long Island, and three persons with him, who had stopped with me over night as travellers, and who had not, to my knowledge, had anything to do with the matters at that time agitating the State; and a Mr. Lyman Cooley, who had left the village the night before, and had returned that morning to my house, through fear, as he stated, that he could not make his escape. Said Cooley was from New York city; was taken prisoner in my house that morning; imprisoned in the county jail and State's prison in Providence in a state of insanity, and soon after died an inmate of the asylum for the poor in said Providence. Mr. Cooley was formerly a Providence man. I considered him to be in a state of insanity from

his appearance and conversation on the morning of the 28th, before he was taken prisoner. None of the persons in my house, at the time of the arrival of the advance guard as aforesaid, were, to my knowledge, in any way armed; there was no such instrument as a musket, gun, pistol, sword, or the like, to be seen in said house. As said advance guard drove up in front of my house in carriages, the citizens of the village soon collected in the front piazza, and about the doors, to the number of ten or a dozen, which number gradually increased for a few minutes; none of whom were, to my knowledge, armed. I was standing ou the piazza in front of the entry door leading to the barroom; the persons comprising said advance guard having alighted from their carriages, came along scatteringly, and advancing towards me. I observed one shaking hands with Mr. Alexander Eddy, a citizen of this place; heard them in conversation while approaching the spot where I was standing. As they came on to the piazza, I, turning partly around, invited them to walk in; they not heeding my invitation, I repeated it. At this juncture they all stood apparently hesitating what course to take. I stepped over the threshold of the door, and again invited them to walk in. At the last invitation, one of the advance guard placed his musket across the door afore alluded to, in the act of guarding it. Mr. Alexander Eddy at that moment attempted to pass in at the door, and the guard dropped the muzzle of his gun to prevent him from passing in; the guard then turned his left eye over his left shoulder to the street, and whilst he was looking to the street, Eddy raised the muzzle of said guard's musket, and passed into the entry. When said person who was guarding the door as aforesaid turned his face fronting the house, and saw Eddy in the entry, he brought his musket to bear upon him, (said Eddy,) and, calling him a God damned rascal, told him to come out, or he would shoot him down. At this time there was a general cry amongst the persons of the advance guard-" God damn 'em, shoot 'em down," and simultaneously a rush for the doorway. I was standing near the person who first brought his piece to bear upon Eddy, and raised the muzzle above the head of any one in the entry, by putting my hand under his gun.

There was a general rush at this time of the armed soldiers and unarmed citizens and spectators for the doorway, and the entry was immediately filled with both classes-the armed soldiers attempting to shoot the unarmed, and continually keeping up the cry of "God damn'em, shoot 'em down." I was in the midst of the scene, and was continually raising and brushing off the muskets, pistols, carbines, &c., with which they were armed; commanding them not to shoot; telling them they were not resisted by any armed force; stating to them that they produced the whole confusion and disorder, and that if they would be quiet, order would be restored; that I could and would maintain order in my house. I should think that, during this confusion, I brushed from my own person, and other unarmed persons, muskets, guns, pistols, and the like, as much as a dozen times. During the squabble aforementioned, I was pushed some seven or eight feet from the doorway into the entry, into about the midst of the crowd. In the mean time the door was pushed to, and locked by an unarmed man, and held by unarmed persons; the armed persons on the outside attempted to break said door down. Knowing that the unarmed persons in the entry could at that time protect themselves against those that were armed, I passed through the bar-room from said entry, and went on to the piazza outside of the house, through one of the bar room windows, thinking I might be ser

viceable in preventing mischief on the outside. As I passed the first bar. room window from the entry, in my attempt to get outside, some one of the soldiers thrust a pistol through a pane of glass in said window, directed or aimed at me; I passed to the next window, raised it, and went out. Being outside, and on the piazza aforesaid, the first thing that attracted my atten tion was said John T. Pitman with the muzzle of his musket or carbine at the key-hole of said entry door, and attempting to get it off. I was within about fifteen feet of said Pitman when I alighted from the window, and immediately approached him, and ordered him not to fire; my language was, "For God's sake, don't you fire in there." This expression I think I made directly as I alighted from the window as aforesaid. I intended, if I could, to prevent said Pitman from firing in, and approached him for that purpose; but his piece was discharged when I was within about three feet of him. I recollect said Pitman's language at the time of firing was, "I don't care a God damn; I mean to kill somebody." After said Pitman had discharged his piece as aforesaid, he rushed a few steps to the north, on the piazza, and then back towards the door, rapidly, appearing perfectly frantic, infuriated, and fiendish. About this time the main body of Colonel Brown's regiment were in sight, and such as had arrived proceeded to surround the house. I entered the front door, which is about twenty feet north of the one aforementioned, passed through one of the front rooms into the aforementioned entry, and unlocked the door through which said Pitman had discharged his piece. The ball which was fired through the key hole as aforesaid, passed through the thigh of Mr. George H N. Bardine, making a deep and severe flesh wound. Said Bardine was at the time in said entry, and near the door. Up to this time I heard no other discharge of fire-arms near or about my house, and am very positive there had been none; had there been any, I must have heard and known it. In a very few minutes my house was completely filled with armed men, and was entirely in their possession every door guarded by soldiers. Soon after, or about the time the matters just spoken of were transpiring, I retired into the back part of the house, and discovered a soldier standing at one of the back doors with his musket cocked and bayonet fixed, and aimed into the house, and ordering the males and females to march into the back yard, one at a time. This, however, was abandoned by my assuring them that the ladies were unarmed, and would most certainly do no harm to any of them. The soldiers who took possession of my house were abusive and rough in their language and be. havior, from the time they entered as aforesaid, during my continuance on the premises, which was up to 4 o'clock, p. m., of Wednesday the 29th. This I do not mean to apply to all of them; but it was the fact with very many. They took possession of every room in the house, and of all my effects, and ransacked from garret to cellar. There were neither arms nor munitions of war in the house, to my knowledge, at the time, except a small bird gun or fowling piece, which was taken and carried off. Soon after the main body of Colonel Brown's regiment arrived, about half a dozen pieces of cannon were planted on the south and west sides of my house, and aimed towards it. They (that is, the soldiers) swore they would "blow us all to hell." They were prevailed upon not to fire into the house, by the interposition of two of the citizens of the village, who informed them that they were for "law and order," but disapproved of their firing into the house. The guns were afterwards wheeled about, and fired a number of times, to the great destruction of windows in my house, and of other houses in the

immediate vicinity. There are side lights to the door, (through the keyhole of which said Pitman discharged his piece,) with glass 9 by 12, through which he might easily see everything which was going on in the entry aforesaid, there being four lights on each side of said door, of the aforementioned size; and the aforementioned front door, about 20 feet further north on said piazza, was open during the aforementioned squabble in the entry. Nothing prevented any one, if he chose, from passing through said lastmentioned door.

About sunrise on the morning of Tuesday, the 28th, I directed my domestics to set the table the whole length of the dining room, (one range of tables in said room will accommodate about sixty persons at a time,) and to put upon it all the victuals it would hold, and to be prepared to supply it as soon as need might require it; all of which was accordingly done. Immediately after the arrival of the troops, as aforesaid, the table aforesaid was filled, and continued to be filled from the time of their arrival in the morning, until between 4 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon; as fast as one got up, another would supply the vacant place. In addition to those seated at the table eating, others were standing and eating victuals, which they took and had reached to them from the table.

There were also persons in the kitchen when the cooking was going on, who were taking victuals as the same were cooked, and others helping themselves from the closets and cellar. The table was also set for them again that evening, and a great many were victualed as aforesaid on the two suc+ceeding days.

In taking possession of my barns, stables, and granary, they took possession of about twenty tons of hay, between eight hundred and one thousand bushels of oats, and from fifty to seventy five bushels of corn, and between one and two tons of rye straw; all of which was used and destroyed, with the exception of something less than one ton of hay. They also took possession of six horses at that time in the stable, five or six carriages, and as many harnesses, buffalo robes, and whips; five of the horses were used, and I believe the other one, by the charter party (so called;) two of said harnesses have never been returned; four of the buffalo robes, and some half dozen or more of whips which were taken, have not, as yet, been recovered. During the Tuesday and Wednesday aforementioned, up to the time of my departure from the village, my house, barns, &c., were constantly guarded, and I was denied access to my barns and stables, and to many of the rooms in my house.

The troops of the charter party (so called) also had full possession of my liquor bar and cellar, and helped themselves to cigars, wines, and ardent spirits, according to their pleasure; several hundred dollars worth of property was consumed or destroyed in liquors and cigars. I was generally a spectator to the scenes before described, after they had taken possession of my house; but was occasionally ordered about, at the muzzle of a presented musket or pistol, to perform some service about the house or bar, One man in two instances ordered me, in an authoritative tone, with a pistol presented at me, "to feed his horses;" previous to this, all of the white males in my employ had been taken prisoners, and put under guard.

On Wednesday morning, the 29th, my wife and the females in the kitchen were put under guard, and set to work cooking; said guard was armed. Immediately after this, I was taken prisoner, but was released on parole