Darius Sessions
Encyclopedia
Darius Sessions was a deputy governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
during the buildup to the American Revolutionary War
. He was heavily involved in moderating the effects of the Gaspee affair
, and was instrumental in keeping the perpetrators from being identified.
, Sessions was the son of Nathaniel Sessions and Joanna Corbin. His family was fairly well-to-do, and owned a lot of land in eastern Connecticut. Sessions attended Yale College
, graduating in 1737, and subsequently worked in Rhode Island in the mercantile business. In 1746, during King George's War
, he was part owner of the privateer
sloop
Reprisal. Later, in 1750, he was the master of the schooner
Smithfield, working in the West Indies. He was also likely involved in the distillery business of his father-in-law, William Antram, who had a stillhouse just north of Sessions' home in Providence
. About 1763, he bankrolled the efforts of his brother, Captain Amasa Sessions, to raise a company of soldiers to fight in the French and Indian War
.
Sessions became a close friend of Brown University
's first president, James Manning, and has been credited with the university being located in Providence, instead of Newport
or Warren
. In 1763 he became an Assistant, and in 1769 was elected as deputy governor of the colony, replacing Joseph Wanton
who became the new governor.
, distrupting the traffic by stopping and searching commercial ships. Sessions requested that the governor take measures to bring the ship's commander to account. A chain of threatening correspondence ensued between the governor and the commander of the Gaspee, Lieutenant William Dudingston, and the commander's superior, Admiral John Montagu. On the night of 9–10 June, a party of incensed colonists attacked the vessel, and burned it to the waterline. Officially, Sessions was outraged at the incident, and offered the colony's assistance in bringing the perpetrators to justice. To ameliorate retribution by the British authorities, Rhode Island officials took visible steps to find the culprits who burned the ship. Behind the scenes, however, Sessions did all he could to thwart any attempts to identify and find the attackers. When a royal commission was appointed by the British to investigate the incident, they demanded that any indicted person be sent to England for trial. This agregious threat to local liberty prompted the colonists to form the Committees of Correspondence. Loyalist
Massachusetts Governor Hutchinson further aggravated the colonists sensitivities by urging Britain to rescind the Rhode Island charter.
Sessions conferred with Chief Justice Stephen Hopkins
and lawyer John Cole, then appealed to Massachusetts' statesman Samuel Adams
, who urged Rhode Island to remain defiant, or at least to stall matters by appealing the creation of the royal commission. Governor Wanton was put at the head of this commission, but was compliant with Sessions' and Hopkins' attempts to frustrate the aims of the commission. Sessions, Hopkins, and others coordinated their efforts to lose evidence, threaten potential witnesses, and discredit those who testified. In particular, Sessions attacked the reliability of Aaron Briggs and Stephen Gulley, the former of whom gave the names of some of the attackers. The vast majority of Rhode Island's citizens were supportive of the attackers, and kept quiet about their identities. A year after the incident, the royal commission was terminated without a single indictment.
, but Wanton was re-elected as governor. The hawkish state legislature prevented Wanton from being sworn in as governor, and he was deposed in November 1775, becoming a confirmed Loyalist
, and being replaced by Cooke. Sessions, on the other hand, wrote a letter to the General Assembly asking for forgiveness for his earlier positions, and "was received into their favor and friendship." Sessions had returned to his farm in Connecticut, which he had reconstituted as a stately colonial mansion. His farm then became a command center during the Revolutionary War
, and even George Washington
visited on occasion.
Following the war, Sessions stayed out of the public spotlight. In 1795 he and his son Thomas were involved in shipping between Rhode Island and St. Croix. Sessions died on 27 April 1809 at the age of 92, still with "full strength of mind." He was returned to Providence to be buried in the North Burial Ground
beside his wife. He had married Sarah, the daughter of William and Sarah (Fenner) Antram, and together had ten children.
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original English Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of North America that, after the American Revolution, became the modern U.S...
during the buildup to the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. He was heavily involved in moderating the effects of the Gaspee affair
Gaspée Affair
The Gaspée Affair was a significant event in the lead-up to the American Revolution. The HMS Gaspée, a British customs schooner that had been enforcing unpopular trade regulations, ran aground in shallow water on June 9, 1772, near what is now known as Gaspee Point in the city of Warwick, Rhode...
, and was instrumental in keeping the perpetrators from being identified.
Early life
Born in Pomfret, ConnecticutPomfret, Connecticut
Pomfret is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,798 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
, Sessions was the son of Nathaniel Sessions and Joanna Corbin. His family was fairly well-to-do, and owned a lot of land in eastern Connecticut. Sessions attended Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
, graduating in 1737, and subsequently worked in Rhode Island in the mercantile business. In 1746, during King George's War
King George's War
King George's War is the name given to the operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession . It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in the British provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia...
, he was part owner of the privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
Reprisal. Later, in 1750, he was the master of the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Smithfield, working in the West Indies. He was also likely involved in the distillery business of his father-in-law, William Antram, who had a stillhouse just north of Sessions' home in Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. About 1763, he bankrolled the efforts of his brother, Captain Amasa Sessions, to raise a company of soldiers to fight in the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
.
Sessions became a close friend of Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
's first president, James Manning, and has been credited with the university being located in Providence, instead of Newport
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
or Warren
Warren, Rhode Island
Warren is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 10,611 at the 2010 census.-History:Warren was the site of the Indian village of Sowams on the peninsula called Pokanoket , and was first explored by Europeans in 1621, by Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins...
. In 1763 he became an Assistant, and in 1769 was elected as deputy governor of the colony, replacing Joseph Wanton
Joseph Wanton
Joseph Wanton was a merchant and governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations from 1769 to 1775. Not wanting to go to war with Britain, he has been branded as a Loyalist, but he remained neutral during the war, and he and his property were not disturbed.Born in Newport of a...
who became the new governor.
Gaspee Affair
In March 1772 Sessions, working in Providence, sent a letter of concern to Governor Wanton in Newport. He expressed alarm at a British schooner that had been cruising the Narragansett BayNarragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. Covering 147 mi2 , the Bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor, and includes a small archipelago...
, distrupting the traffic by stopping and searching commercial ships. Sessions requested that the governor take measures to bring the ship's commander to account. A chain of threatening correspondence ensued between the governor and the commander of the Gaspee, Lieutenant William Dudingston, and the commander's superior, Admiral John Montagu. On the night of 9–10 June, a party of incensed colonists attacked the vessel, and burned it to the waterline. Officially, Sessions was outraged at the incident, and offered the colony's assistance in bringing the perpetrators to justice. To ameliorate retribution by the British authorities, Rhode Island officials took visible steps to find the culprits who burned the ship. Behind the scenes, however, Sessions did all he could to thwart any attempts to identify and find the attackers. When a royal commission was appointed by the British to investigate the incident, they demanded that any indicted person be sent to England for trial. This agregious threat to local liberty prompted the colonists to form the Committees of Correspondence. Loyalist
Loyalist
In general, a loyalist is someone who maintains loyalty to an established government, political party, or sovereign, especially during war or revolutionary change. In modern English usage, the most common application is to loyalty to the British Crown....
Massachusetts Governor Hutchinson further aggravated the colonists sensitivities by urging Britain to rescind the Rhode Island charter.
Sessions conferred with Chief Justice Stephen Hopkins
Stephen Hopkins (politician)
Stephen Hopkins was an American political leader from Rhode Island who signed the Declaration of Independence. He served as the Chief Justice and Governor of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and was a Delegate to the Colonial Congress in Albany in 1754 and to the...
and lawyer John Cole, then appealed to Massachusetts' statesman Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams was an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. As a politician in colonial Massachusetts, Adams was a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and was one of the architects of the principles of American...
, who urged Rhode Island to remain defiant, or at least to stall matters by appealing the creation of the royal commission. Governor Wanton was put at the head of this commission, but was compliant with Sessions' and Hopkins' attempts to frustrate the aims of the commission. Sessions, Hopkins, and others coordinated their efforts to lose evidence, threaten potential witnesses, and discredit those who testified. In particular, Sessions attacked the reliability of Aaron Briggs and Stephen Gulley, the former of whom gave the names of some of the attackers. The vast majority of Rhode Island's citizens were supportive of the attackers, and kept quiet about their identities. A year after the incident, the royal commission was terminated without a single indictment.
Later life
In 1774 Sessions was put in charge of Rhode Island's military preparedness. Both he and Wanton did not want a standing army in Rhode Island, out of fear of inspiring British retribution. In the election of 1775, Sessions was replaced as Deputy Governor by Nicholas CookeNicholas Cooke
Nicholas Cooke was a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations during the American Revolutionary War, and after Rhode Island became a state, he continued in this position to become the first Governor of the State of Rhode Island. Born in the maritime town of Providence, he...
, but Wanton was re-elected as governor. The hawkish state legislature prevented Wanton from being sworn in as governor, and he was deposed in November 1775, becoming a confirmed Loyalist
Loyalist
In general, a loyalist is someone who maintains loyalty to an established government, political party, or sovereign, especially during war or revolutionary change. In modern English usage, the most common application is to loyalty to the British Crown....
, and being replaced by Cooke. Sessions, on the other hand, wrote a letter to the General Assembly asking for forgiveness for his earlier positions, and "was received into their favor and friendship." Sessions had returned to his farm in Connecticut, which he had reconstituted as a stately colonial mansion. His farm then became a command center during the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, and even George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
visited on occasion.
Following the war, Sessions stayed out of the public spotlight. In 1795 he and his son Thomas were involved in shipping between Rhode Island and St. Croix. Sessions died on 27 April 1809 at the age of 92, still with "full strength of mind." He was returned to Providence to be buried in the North Burial Ground
North Burial Ground
The North Burial Ground is a cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island, dating to 1700. Providence had no public burial ground and no Common until the year 1700 because Rhode Island's religious and government institutions were so rigorously kept distinct, dating back to its founding by Roger...
beside his wife. He had married Sarah, the daughter of William and Sarah (Fenner) Antram, and together had ten children.
See also
- List of lieutenant governors of Rhode Island
- List of colonial governors of Rhode Island
- Colony of Rhode Island and Providence PlantationsColony of Rhode Island and Providence PlantationsThe Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original English Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of North America that, after the American Revolution, became the modern U.S...