1844 · Providence
by Cleveland, Thomas, Warden
Providence: Knowles and Vose, printers, 1844. 8vo, pp. 38, [2]; removed from binding, wrappers wanting; very good. The sixth annual report of the prison, with rules and regulations, and accounts of the prisoners, although not by name. Dorr had been incarcerated for a few months when this report was issued, and he is clearly the last listed inmate. Thirty-eight years old, committed on June 27, 1844, for life, for "Treason," makes Dorr readily identifiable. Forward-looking penal philosophy of the warden, Thomas Cleveland: "It is, as I believe, the right of society to take the life of an offender if necessary, but not to take his mind, or to subject him to any process of infliction of which mental derangement shall be an ordinary, and not an unusual and unexpected result." American Imprints 5299. (Inventory #: 56010)