Episode 6 | The Execution of John Gordon

Following the murder of wealthy industrialist Amasa Sprague, Irish immigrant John Gordon is unjustly executed for the crime. 

31 minutes | 1843 - 1845

Hear About:

📜The 19th century murder of a wealthy Rhode Island industrialist that turned the state upside down

📜The unjust trial that led to John Gordon's execution

📜The heroic response from the region's Irish community when they learned of John's execution

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Key Historical Figures Introduced
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John Gordon

An Irish immigrant who is unjustly found guilty of murdering Amasa Sprague. 

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Amasa Sprague

Wealthy industrialist and owner of the A&W Sprague Mill who is murdered on New Years Eve 1843.  

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Thomas Carpenter

A former ardent supporter of Dorr’s reform movement and lead defense attorney for John Gordon's trial.  

Visit Locations From the Show
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The Foot Bridge Where Amasa Sprague Was Murdered | Cranston, Rhode Island

Located only about a mile northwest from Amasa Sprague's mansion and his mill is the foot bridge that he was murdered at on New Years Eve 1843.  The man who initially found Sprague's lifeless body was XXXX.  As soon as he shared the news, the town of Cranston was sent into a frenzy and the hunt for Sprague's murderer began. 

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Spraguesville | Cranston, Rhode Island

By the time Amasa Sprague was murdered he was a well established industrialist.  His textile operation known as the A&W Mills were located in the heart of Cranston and employed many people in the area, explaining why the surrounding village was known as Spraguesville. 

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John Gordon's Grave | Pawtucket, Rhode Island

Although originally buried in Providence's North Burial Ground in a grave provided by the government his body was eventually moved to Old Saint Mary's Cemetery in Pawtucket. 

Maps, Graphs, and Images
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Plat map of Amasa Sprague's murder

This is the plat map that was used to incriminate John Gordon.  Although not the clearist picture, a line of dots extending from the bridge where Sprague was murdered continues south past Dyer's Pond and then arrives at the doorstep of Nicholas Gordon's General Store.  Although numerous other prints made by numerous other people were also found around the time of the murder, the only ones thoroughly investigated were those that led back to Nicholas Gordon's General Store.

What This Episode Doesn't Tell You
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John Gordon was pardoned in 2011 

Following a bill being passed by the Rhode Island legislature, Governor Lincoln Chafee, an opponent of the death penalty, pardoned John Gordon in 2011.   

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Samuel Atwell died shortly after John Gordon's trial 

By the end of the trial, Samuel Atwell was extremely ill, however he carried on to defend John Gordon anyway.  He even provided a spirited, 5-hour long closing statement. Unfortunately, shortly after Gordon's trial was over, Atwell succumbed to his illness.  

Learn More
Books:
  • The Hanging and Redemption of John Gordon: The True Story of Rhode Island's Last Execution by Paul F. Caranci
  • The Transformation of Rhode Island, 1790-1860 by Peter J. Coleman
  • Rhode Island: A History by William G. McLoughlin
  • The People's Martyr: Thomas Wilson Dorr and His 1842 Rhode Island Rebellion by Eric J. Chaput