S3E6 - The Execution of John Gordon

Hello and welcome to the Story of Rhode Island. The podcast that tells you the story of Rhode Island’s fascinating history. In last week’s episode we watched Thomas Wilson Dorr attempt to expand suffrage to the state’s working class population and modernize Rhode Island’s outdated government via a political upheaval known as the Dorr Rebellion. Unfortunately his effort was largely thwarted by those in power and As we jump into this week’s episode we’re introduced to a man who personifies the type of people Dorr was fighting for. His name is John Gordon and although he’s only lived in America for a few months, his family is beginning to epitomize the American dream. The origins of the family’s success can largely be attributed to John’s older brother, Nicholas, an Irish Catholic immigrant who moved to America back in the mid 1830s. After starting his own General Store in Cranston, Nicholas then went on to pay for his mother and two brothers to move to Rhode Island, once again reuniting the Gordon family. John now lives in the house attached to his brother’s General Store and when he’s not helping out with Nicholas’ business he works at a nearby dye shop in Johnston. Aside from the madder dye staining most of his shirts red, he finds the work at the dye shop quite enjoyable. So in short, life is good for John Gordon. It’s positive developments like these that put John in a good mood as he sits with his friends, John and William Kingston, at their house in Cranston. Helping to further excite their already energized attitude is the fact that it’s New Years Eve. As the friends toast to the new year that’s about to arrive they have no doubt that 1844 will be just as good to them as the current one. After taking a sip of his drink, William Kingston looks at John and notices a nasty bruise on the side of his face. When William asks his friend where he got the bruise John lightheartedly responds “I told you earlier. I got it while hunting a turkey on Christmas. Accidentally fell down the side of a bridge while chasing him”. While laughing, William says “well I hope it at least tasted good”. “It did” responds Gorton cheerfully. For the next 30 minutes or so the men continue their joyous celebrations, but then, at around 7 o'clock at night two of the Kingston sisters come rushing into the house. Without even shutting the door behind them, the older sibling shouts “did you hear about the murder”? Before John or the Kingston brothers can even say a word, the younger sister states how Amasa Sprague was murdered. Absolutely stunned by the news, John asks who did it. The sisters respond by saying they don’t know yet but that it was a really gruesome murder. Apparently he was shot and then beaten to death. After hearing the news, John just stares at his friends in shock. He can’t believe that such a powerful man has been murdered. To give you a better idea of who Amasa(uh-mass-uh)Sprague is, or I guess I should say was, let's just say he was everything John Gordon is not. Sprague was a long time Rhode Islander resident whose family has lived in America for over 200 years. He was also wealthy and I don’t just mean wealthy like he could afford a nice timepiece but wealthy as in his business, the A&W Sprague Mill, employs most of the people in Cranston. In fact, the village built around his factory is known as Spraguesville. And with his success came respect, a sentiment the Irish Catholic Gordons are not familiar with. Because while Spragues wealth continued to grow, so too did the prejudiced feelings felt towards the state’s Irish Catholic immigrants. Blamed for stealing jobs from native-born citizens because of their willingness to work for such low wages and stereotyped as a community whose obsession with alcohol leads them to commit most of the crime in the state, the so-called “low Irish” are far from being beloved. Therefore, when a man like Mr. Sprague is murdered, it not only causes quite a stir throughout the entire state but also leads some to wonder if it was one of their Irish neighbors who committed the crime. Pretty soon, nearby Rhode Islanders will conclude that John teamed up with his brothers to commit the crime and the three will be arrested for murder, thrusting them into a legal system plagued with the same prejudices felt throughout the state. As the trial ensues, the prosecution team will make John the primary suspect and this once hopeful immigrant will go from believing he’s taking part in the American dream to feeling as though he’s caught up in a horrific nightmare, a nightmare that by the time it’s over will end up taking his life. The heart wrenching story of the unjust execution of John Gordon is what we’ll cover in this week’s episode of the story of Rhode Island Podcast.

Intro Music:

It’s January 1st of 1844 and a day that would usually be filled with celebration has been tainted by the murder of Amasa Sprague. Attempting to process the violent crime while standing quietly in his brother’s general store is John Gordon. Beside him are two of his brothers, Nicholas, the owner of the store, and William. While turning to his siblings, John asks a question being asked by everyone else in Cranston as well; “who on earth could’ve committed such a heinous crime”? Without saying a word, Nicholas and William just shrug their shoulders and shake their heads in disbelief. Still in search of an answer, John tosses out the names of a few potential suspects but once again fails to get a response. Realizing that neither of his brothers are interested in pondering the topic, John decides he might as well get back to tending to the store. With the Sprague mansion being just down the road, he knows that people will likely swing by to grab a few household items after paying their respects to the family so he begins stocking the shelves with dry goods. Nicholas follows his brother’s lead and makes his way outside to tidy up the front of the store. Meanwhile, William states that he’s going to head over to their moms place so he can look after her as she hasn’t been feeling well since Christmas. John waves goodbye to his brother and continues stocking the shelves while continuously wondering “who on earth could’ve killed Mr. Sprague?” As the thought lingers on his mind for the next couple of hours he’s completely unaware that a growing portion of the Cranston population believe they have an answer to his question. Unfortunately, they all have their fingers pointed at him and his brothers. Although not a shred of hard evidence has yet to be discovered that would support such a claim, a past altercation between Nicholas Gordon and Amasa Sprague has brought them to this conclusion. The dispute started last June when Nicholas went to renew his businesses liquor license. Although he wasn’t too concerned about the process at first, that changed when he found out (uh-mass-uh) Amasa was blaming the sale of liquor at his general store for his factory workers showing up to work drunk. Before he knew it, Amasa, one of the most powerful industrialists in Rhode Island, was openly using his political power to prevent Nicholas from getting his liquor license renewed. Since the sale of alcohol was a substantial part of his business, this put Nicholas under a great deal of stress. Therefore, when his license was officially revoked, he was understandably enraged. In fact, he was so upset at the hearing that he pointed at Amasa and swore he’d get revenge. With Amasa’s murder occurring just months after that threat, people now believe that Nicholas teamed up with his brothers to kill Mr. Sprague. And so while John stocks shelves at the General Store people are not so much asking WHO did it but whether one or all of the Gordon brothers are guilty. John sis made aware of this conspiracy that evening when the front door swings open and sheriff Jabez J. Potter is seen making his way into the store. Following the sheriff is his brother Nicholas who is visibly shaking while standing there in handcuffs. John immediately asks what’s going on and is harshly informed that he and his brother are under arrest. Before John knows it, he too is in handcuffs and the two men are being walked out of the store. Along the way, the sheriff notices the bruise on his face and asks where it came from. John, shaken and horrified by the events taking place, struggles to gather his thoughts but eventually states how he fell while hunting a turkey on Christmas. But Potter, having already decided that the Gordon’s are guilty just responds with a snarky sigh and assumes it took place during the murder. Then, another one of Potter’s men returns from searching the store’s attached living area and shows the sheriff a pair of wet boots. When the sheriff asks who owns them John, not knowing what boots have to do with any of this, states that they’re his. Finally, following a nod from the sheriff, John feels one of the men roughly escort him out of the store and towards the local prison, initiating the nightmare that will eventually lead to his demise.

Shortly after the Gordon brothers are arrested thing really begin to heat up.. First, when William hears about his brothers JOhn and Nicholas being arrested he panics and runs over to the general store to hide a pair of guns owned by Nicholas. Although owning a gun in 19th century America is nothing unusual, in William’s home country it’s rare for lower class people to own a weapon and anyone who does while also being accused of murder is almost guaranteed to wind up guilty. Unfortunately, as we’ll soon find out this decision will end up being a huge mistake and go on to haunt William for the rest of his life. Then, on January 2nd, the court of public opinion begins prosecuting the Irish Catholic brothers. The Providence Journal, a newspaper whose lead editor, Henry Bowen Anthony, will eventually become a leading member of the nativist Know-Nothing party, publishes an article explaining why the Gordon’s are most likely the ones who committed the crime. With pressure mounting,
law enforcement decides to arrest William Gordon as well. Keep in mind, that means that three of the Gordon brothers have been arrested without any hard evidence against them being uncovered. Therefore, when a gun that’s believed to be the murder weapon is found at the scene of the crime it’s easy to understand how their narrow mindedness would automatically make them assume it’s owned by one of the Gordon brothers. Law enforcement believes they confirm this theory when they find out that Nicholas is a gun owner. To make it worse, since they’re unable to find any guns at the Gordon store or home they assume that the gun owned by Nicholas must be the one that was found at the crime scene. Then, While conducting that same search, they also uncover evidence that drives them to focus their efforts on John Gordon. The first is a shirt owned by John sporting a red stain that appears to be blood. On top of that, a set of footprints leading from the crime scene to the Gordon store is discovered and it just so happens that they’re the same size as John’s boots that were found when John and Nicholas were arrested. As news of the evidence leaks out to the public, pressure to prosecute the brothers becomes even more intense. This is further heightened when Amasa’s brother, William, resigns his seat in the United States Senate and returns home to help with the investigation. Eventually, Law enforcement and their prosecution team decide to have the three brothers tried by a grand jury. Following the hearing, it’s decided that John and William Gordon will be put on trial for murder and Nicholas bound as an accessory. And so, as we visit John in his cell on a January afternoon, we see a man fearing for his life. While sitting slouched over on his cold, stiff bed, Gordon thinks about his trial that’s set to begin in early April. As he shakes his head back and forth, he continuously tells his team of lawyers standing in front of him that he swears on his life he didn’t do it. “I promise” he shouts “I was with the Kingston brothers when Mr. Sprague was murdered. You can even ask them. It was their sister who told me about Mr. Sprague being killed”. While swaying back and forth, Gordon places his head in the palm of his hands and begins to sob. Feeling sorry for his client, Thomas Carpenter puts his hand on John’s shoulder and tells him he believes him. Carpenter, an ardent supporter of Dorr’s reform movement and a brilliant lawyer who unsuccessfully ran for Governor as an equal rights democrat in 1842, is John and William Gordon’s lead attorney. For years he's watched Rhode Island’s lower class citizens be unfairly treated by the state’s conservative protestant community and is committed to doing everything he can to ensure the brothers receive a fair trial. Supporting him is Samuel Atwell, a man we briefly met last episode. He too was a supporter of the Dorr Rebellion up until the draconian Algerine Laws forced him to give up the fight. As the two men comfort their distraught client, they know they have a long road ahead of them. To start, the fact that a member of his Irish Catholic family threatened Amasa just months establishes motive. Coupled with that is evidence that seems pretty damning when first examined. There’s the footprints leading from the crime scene to John Gordon’s home, his boots matching the footprints, his red shirt that appears to have blood on it, and a gun found at the crime scene that many believe to be owned by John’s brother. And to make it worse, Carpenter and Atwell have just been informed that acting as judge for the Gordon brothers trial is Chief Justice Job Durfee. Durfee is an extremely conservative individual who fiercely opposed Dorr’s political upheaval and although he might not openly share the prejudiced feelings he has towards the Irish Catholic community he undoubtedly looks down at them. And as we’ll see over the course of the trial, Durfee will go on to do everything he can to ensure one of the Gordon brothers is punished for this crime.

After a somewhat uneventful first day of trial, day 2 starts off quite well for the Gordon brothers. For instance, right off the bat their attorney Thomas Carpenter established doubt around the claim that the Gordon brothers made the tracks in the snow. Witnesses Robert Watson and Walter Beattie admitted that over half a dozen men were walking to and from the crime scene, meaning that any one of them could’ve made those footprints. And since law enforcement had tunnel vision on the Gordon brothers from the jump, none of the tracks leading in other directions were ever investigated, demonstrating that other viable suspects could very well be out there. Finally, even if the tracks were made by one of the Gordon brothers nobody can prove that they were made the day of the murder. But even after all that, Carpenter still wants to hammer into the footprints some more so he’s decided to call up John Demerritt to the witness stand. With Demerrit now seated by judge Durfee, Carpenter reveals a hand drawn map of the crime scene and its surroundings. I’ll post the diagram in this episodes webpage for anyone who’s interested in checking it out. While pointing at the drawing, Carpenter points his finger at the footprints leading from the crime scene, past Hawkin’s Hole and to the Gordon residence. Then, while narrowing in on a conspicuous pencil mark near the Gordon Residence front door, Carpenter asks Mr Demerritt if the map was altered. With a nervous tremble in his voice, Demerritt confirms that it was, causing a small stir in the courtroom as people are shocked by this new piece of information. Then, Demerritt goes on to explain how the map was altered because some of the footprints by the Gordon residence had disappeared. Following a large gasp from the crowd, Carpenter logically concludes that Demerritt’s testimony has sufficiently established reasonable doubt around the footprints. However, deciding he isn’t quite finished with the witness, he inquires about the boots that were found at Nicholas and John Gordon’s home. Since they are believed to match the size of the footprints found on the ground, he asks if the boots are of a common size. Demerritt responds by saying that QUOTE “It is not very remarkable for men to wear boots of the same number. If the boot was the same size I do not know that I could tell whether it was worn by the man who made the track” UNQUOTE. In other words, it’s plausible to assume that somebody else with the same boots could’ve made the footprints in the snow. For his Next move, Carpenter addresses the murder weapon found at the scene of the crime, the gun that’s wrongly believed to be owned by Nicholas Gordon. However, Since Nicholas Gordon isn’t on trial yet, Carpenter knows he just needs to prove that neither John or William have ever been seen in possession of the weapon. To do this, he calls up Gardner Luther, the Cranston citizen who found the gun in the snow. With Luther on the stand, Carpenter walks up to the witness and places the murder weapon in front of him. As Luther stares at the gun, Carpenter asks if he ever knew of John or William being in possession of the gun. Luther responds with QUOTE “I do not know that Nicholas Gordon ever owned this gun. I have seen him with a gun. I think it was two weeks previous to the murder. Can’t say whether the gun resembled the gun in court or not” UNQUOTE. Satisfied with the response, Carpenter passes the witness over to the prosecution team who proceeds to ask Luther if he ever knew of Nicholas Gordon having a gun at the time of the murder. As soon as the question is asked, Carpenter's supporting attorney, Samuel Atwell, rises and very justifiably states QUOTE “I object to that question. It has nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of these men whether Nicholas Gordon owned a gun or not.” UNQUOTE. Then, he points to his clients sitting nervously in the courtroom and reminds Judge Durfee that John and William are on trial, not Nicholas, so the prosecution first must show that John and William were brought into contact with the gun. Following his statement, Atwell, knowing very well that any reasonable judge would agree with his objection, confidently returns to his chair and waits for Durfee’s agreement. However, Atwell is quickly reminded of the prejudice they are battling when Durfee states that he’ll allow the question. John and William, although not familiar with the intricacies of criminal law, realize just how outrageous Durfee’s decision is when they see the shocked look on their attorney’s faces. But luckily for them, Luther states in a jumbled manner how he’s actually not sure if Nicholas ever owned a gun. Although this allows Atwell and Carpenter to breathe a sigh of relief they can’t help to be disturbed by Durfee’s decision. Thankfully, the day ends in their favor as other witnesses are also unable to prove that any of the Gordon’s were in possession of the murder weapon. However, after a somewhat uneventful third day of trial, day four ends up presenting some challenges. First, several witnesses claim to have seen John Gordon in the vicinity of the crime scene the day the murder was committed. Then, Durfee allows the prosecution team to prove that Nicholas Gordon was not at the crime scene at the time of the murder, thereby insinuating it must have been one of the other Gordon brothers who committed the crime. Carpenter objects to this tactic, once again stating how Nicholas Gordon isn’t on trial, but Durfee allows it to continue. To make it worse, durfee then guides the jury’s thinking by insinuating that if Nicholas Gordon didn’t commit the crime then it naturally incriminates the two other brothers. The prosecution capitalizes on this decision when several witnesses testify that Nicholas Gordon was at church the day of the murder. And so, as the fourth day of trial comes to an end, Carpenter and Atwell once again fear that the outcome of this trial might have been determined before it even began. But John refuses to allow that idea to creep into his mind. He still believes that the American justice system will do him right and when it’s all said and done he’ll be able to return to the life he was working so hard to build with his family. Unfortunately, as we’re about to see, John Gordon will not be blessed with such a happy ending.

It’s the fifth day of trial and as we look at John Gordon sitting beside his lawyer we’re reminded that everything is relative. Although given his current situation it might be hard for an outsider to consider him anything but depressed, John actually feels quite good about how things are going. Not only has a considerable amount of doubt been placed on the prosecution’s case but numerous members of the local Irish catholic community have just vouched for his whereabouts on the day of the murder. This is critical because it helps to negate the other witnesses who claimed to have seen him in the vicinity of the crime scene. Wanting to share this positive feeling with the one person who is as invested in the outcome of this trial as much as he and his brothers are, John turns around to look at his mother. While locking eyes with her son, Mrs. Gordon does everything she can to hold back tears. She wishes more than anything that she could just scoop her family up and sneak them back to the country they came from. With John sensing the despair deep inside of her, he gives her a wink, letting her know that it’ll all be okay and that pretty soon this will all be over. Then, with a new witness being called to the stand, John gives his mother one last smile and redirects his vision forward. Sitting beside Judge Durfee is Patrick Hawkins, a man who worked alongside John for months at the Dye shop. Carpenters called on Hawkins to help him analyze John’s shirt that was found in his room shortly after the murder. Although the prosecution is claiming that the red stain on the shirt is blood, a conclusion they came to without even testing it, the defense has an alternative theory. Following a few routine questions to prove why Hawkins is a credible witness, the defendant's lawyer asks about the type of work he saw John do at the shop. The witness responds by saying he QUOTE “helped the madder dyer about his works” UNQUOTE. Then, he continues by explaining why this is significant. He states how QUOTE “Madder makes a stain like blood. A man working there could not help staining his clothes. UNQUOTE. Finally, he wraps up his testimony by telling the jury that because of this work pretty much all of John’s shirts have red stains on them. Hawkin’s testimony is pivotal as it pokes yet another hole in the prosecution's case by providing another plausible explanation for why John’s shirt had a red mark in it. By the time day 5 of the trial comes to an end John really begins to believe that he’ll come out of this thing unscathed. And when we think about what his attorney’s have accomplished throughout the trial it’s easy to understand why he would feel this way. Along with reasonable doubt having just been established around John’s red stained shirt, it's also been established with the murder weapon and the footprints. On top of that, several people have testified that he wasn’t at the scene of the crime the day of the murder. Over the next couple of days, his team continues their defense and by the time they provide their closing arguments John is even more hopeful than before. But unfortunately, along with being hopeful, John is also forgetful. It seems to have slipped his mind that he’s living in a world that doesn’t see him as an equal. Instead, John and his brothers are members of the so-called “low Irish” community that’s believed to be a threat to their society. And since not one of the jurors is Irish catholic, such a stigma is less likely to be refuted. Even Judge Durfee, the very man who's supposed to be an unbiased overseer is tainted by this prejudice. He proves this once again by giving weight to the prosecution's case right before the jury is about to be sent off to deliberate. First, he tells the jurors about the importance of circumstantial evidence, a core part of the prosecution’s stance. Then, he really makes his sentiments clear when he speaks to some of the conflicting statements shared about the Gordon brothers' whereabouts during the murder. Durfee tells the jurors that since the Irish Catholics are too poor to afford timepieces that their testimonies shouldn’t be considered ti be as credible as the testimonies shared by the yankee villagers who claimed to have seen John Gordon near the scene of the crime. While today such a level of judicial prejudice would undoubtedly lead to a retrial, that is not a luxury John and William Gordon brothers are afforded. Following Durfee’s unjust remarks, the jury is sent off to discuss their decision. Then, when they return after just a couple of hours, it becomes clear to the defense that the verdict has most likely not gone their way. Now while the title of this episode makes it perfectly clear how things go for John Gordon, you’ll be happy to hear that William Gordon is found not guilty. On the other hand, when the jurors share John Gordon’s guilty verdict John is crushed. He’s so shocked that his knees give out from underneath him and he collapses into the arms of his attorney. After being helped back to his feet, he then feels the unforgiving hand of one of the guards grab the collar of his shirt and escort him back to his jail cell. But before he is separated from his brother, John makes a statement to William. He tells him QUOTE “It is you, William, who have hung me” UNQUOTE. Carpenter overhears what John says and at first he doesn’t know what to make of the statement. But before long he learns the meaning behind John’s words when William confesses to hiding Nicholas’ guns. The confession is devastating because by hiding Nicholas’ guns the defense was never able to use it to prove that the murder weapon found at the crime scene was not owned by Nicholas Gordon. As for why he didn’t come forward with this information sooner, well, unfortunately that has been lost to history so we’ll likely never know. Carpenter attempts to use this discovery to get John a new trial but the courts and those in power refuse to budge. Finally, after all avenues pursued by John’s defense team prove to be unsuccessful, John and his family are forced to accept his fate and we are left to end this episode by witnessing one of the darkest moments in Rhode Island history.

It’s February 14th 1845 and in less than an hour John Gordon will be executed for a crime he was wrongly convicted of. And while one might expect such a miscarage of justice to make him resentful, nervous, or perhaps even angry, he feels none of those emotions. After learning that all hope of getting a retrial was lost he bravely accepted his fate. He’s also repeatedly told his brother William that he forgives him and how he knows that when hiding Nicholas’ guns he was simply doing what he thought was best. While calmly sitting alongside William and Father John Brady in his cell, we hear John recite the prayers that mean that much more to him now that he finds himself on death’s doorstep. Then, at around 11:00am the Sheriff walks over to John and lets him know that it’s time. After serenely rising from his bed, he begins making his way towards the prison yard. On his way to the gallows, he comes across his brother Nicholas who he hasn’t seen in almost a year. As the two embrace each other for the last time, Nicholas begins sobbing uncontrollably while John tells him to remain strong and to not let this weigh too heavily on him. Then, after giving his brother one last hug, he bids him farewell, and walks out into a prison yard filled with a crowd of 60 onlookers who have been allowed to attend his execution. With not an ounce of anger in his heart, he continues reciting his prayers while Father Brady walks beside him. Once at the top of the platform, a strong, frigid breeze brushes against Gordon’s face. Knowing that he doesn’t have many sensations left to feel in this world, he warmly embraces the wind’s bite while the onlookers turn to avoid it. By the time it passes, he can hear Father Brady sharing a few last words to the brave irishman. While looking his way, Brady states QUOTE “Have courage John; You are going to appear before a just and merciful judge. You are going to join myriads of your countrymen, who, like you, were sacrificed at the shrine of bigotry and prejudice. Forgive your enemies”. Knowing that these will be the last words he ever speaks, John responds by saying QUOTE “I do. I forgive all my enemies and persecutors. I forgive them for they know not what they do.” UNQUOTE. Moments later, a blindfold is wrapped around John’s eyes, leading his vision to go dark. Then, his heart begins to race when he feels a noose being wrapped around his neck. Finally, the signal is given and the board holding him up is removed from beneath his feet, bringing the life of John Gordon to an abrupt end. Of all the episodes I’ve written for this podcast so far, this one has probably been the hardest. To start, I struggled with wrapping my head around all of the information shared about the case and choosing which details I could leave out to ensure the episode is concise. In the end, I had accepted the fact that I interpreted the information the best I could and as for this episode being a bit longer than most, well I decided that I could spare a few extra minutes for a man who had his life unjustly cut so drastically short. Lastly, it was difficult diving so deep into such a heart wrenching story, a story that only gets more depressing when one learns about what John’s execution does to his family. Although the state never obtains a guilty verdict for Nicholas Gordon, he dies just 18 months after being released from jail . As for William, he never got over the fact that he chose to hide Nicholas’ guns. It weighs so heavily on him that he becomes an alcoholic and dies while living in the dexter insane asylum. By the time of Mrs. Gordon’s passes away she’s witnessed three of her sons die. But within this dark story is a shimmer of light and a reminder that no matter how unjust or truly horrific a situation might be, we get to choose how we respond. Following John’s execution, many in Rhode Islanders fear that the so-called “low irish” will revert to their violent ways and unleash a series of unruly protests. But that’s not what happens, not at all. Instead, 1,500 Irish Americans, some coming from as far as Massachustts and Connecticut, peacefully march alongside John’s casket as it’s carried from the Gordon family home in Cranston all the way to the North Burial Ground in Providence. I like to think that their stoic response in the face of such a miscarriage of justice convinced at least one or two of their prejudiced contemporaries to rethink how they viewed those who are different from them. And so, although that wraps up the time we’ll spend with the Gordon family, our time with the Sprague’s has just begun. Because following the death of the Sprague patriarch, Amasa’s 13 year old son, William, returns home from school so that he can begin preparing to take over the family business. Then, After over a decade and a half of hard work, he not only goes on to grow the fortunes of the Sprague empire but is also elected the Governor of Rhode Island at just 29 years old. Unfortunately, at the same time his career is on the rise so too are tensions between America’s northern and southern states. Before long, a war that’s been decades in the making will finally unfold and Amasa’s son will be tasked with leading his state into the fury of the American civil war. But that’s a story for next time in next week’s episode of the story of Rhode Island podcast.