Local historian and author speaks on John Gordon

Jen Cowart
Posted 3/12/14

The eighth-grade students on The Dream Team at Western Hills Middle School had the privilege of hearing local author, historian and Rhode Island Deputy Secretary of State Paul F. Caranci speak to …

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Local historian and author speaks on John Gordon

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The eighth-grade students on The Dream Team at Western Hills Middle School had the privilege of hearing local author, historian and Rhode Island Deputy Secretary of State Paul F. Caranci speak to them about his new book, “The Hanging and Redemption of John Gordon: The True Story of Rhode Island’s Last Execution.”

Caranci was a guest of social studies teacher and former Secretary of State Edward Inman. Caranci’s book details the arrest, framing and subsequent hanging of John Gordon, an Irish immigrant businessman living in Cranston, for the murder of a prominent, wealthy and powerful Cranston politician and industrialist Amasa Sprague.

The body of Sprague was found on a footbridge in Johnston in December 1843, and today remains Johnston’s longest unsolved murder, with the hanging of Gordon the last Rhode Island execution.

“Within a day after Sprague’s murder, rumors were flying without any evidence to back it up. There was no agreement of witnesses, and very few people got the Providence Journal, which was the only local paper at the time. One or two people would read the paper and as they spread and retold the news, their own accounts were very prejudiced. The editor of the paper himself, Henry Bowen Anthony, was very anti-Irish Catholic, and he embellished rumors in the paper, writing them as if they were fact,” Caranci said. “The accounts of Amasa Sprague’s murder were very biased, because he hated the Gordons.”

The murder – and subsequent arrest and execution of John Gordon – caused the demise of Gordon’s entire family, affecting the lives of his mother and brothers and even causing the arrest of the Gordon family dog.

Calling himself an “accidental author,” Caranci described to the students just how he stumbled upon the story of Gordon and came to write about it.

“I never set out to write this book, I’d never even heard about this incident,” he said. “I happened to take a different route home after a meeting one night and I drove past the Park Cinema. I noticed that on the marquee it said ‘The Trial of John Gordon.’ I knew nothing about it, but I stayed for the show and was astounded by the story. I came out of there thinking ‘This can’t be true, this couldn’t have been real,’ but I did some research and found that not only was it true, but the stage show only touched on a small part of it, really only talking about the trial.”

Upon further research, Caranci found the whole story to be very relatable to today’s themes, even though it took place almost 170 years ago. After being targeted for his ethnicity and put to death at age 29 by hanging with no evidence and no witnesses in 1845, Gordon was later pardoned by Gov. Lincoln Chafee just a few years ago, in 2011, creating what may be the coldest case in Johnston’s history. The hanging took place on the grounds of what is today the Providence Place Mall.

During his presentation to the students, Caranci read from several sections of his book, later explaining why he’s chosen to read those particular sections.

“I recount the murder scene to show just how brutal the beating of Amasa Sprague was,” he said. “I recount the arrest of the family dog to show just how biased the local paper was at the time, and I recount the remarks of John Gordon in the courtroom and the remarks he made when he was hung, which point to the fact that he proclaims his own innocence to both the judge and the priest rather than showing remorse just before his death.”

As Caranci speaks to the students and to many of his adult audiences, he connects the events and themes of 1843 to today, noting that in many ways, not a lot has changed.

“As sad a story as this was, it wasn’t an isolated story and the themes of bigotry, hatred, corruption and prejudice are still with us today. Throughout history the targeted groups have changed – the Jews during Babylonian times and again during World War II, the Irish Catholics, the Italians in Rhode Island, the African-Americans through the ’60s, and now the Hispanics. There’s always a group that’s the object of bigotry and hatred,” he said.

Caranci said Gordon’s story contains lessons that still have yet to be learned, citing the recent trial and 2011 execution of Troy Davis in Georgia by lethal injection for the murder of a security guard.

“There was no murder weapon, no evidence, and yet he was put to death, just as Gordon was all those years ago,” Caranci said.

“When I speak to the students I let them make up their own minds on the death penalty. I’ve really gone both ways myself through my life, but when I wrote the book I realized that I don’t see the need for the death penalty. Life without parole is sufficient.”

Caranci believes that the lessons from the death of John Gordon still have not been learned today.

“Today, we still live with religious and ethnic bigotry,” he said, citing the examples of both John F. Kennedy and Mitt Romney, who both dealt with criticism of their religious practices as a Catholic and Mormon, respectively, throughout their presidential campaigns.

“John F. Kennedy had to deal with these issues during the 1959 presidential election, and in 2012 Mitt Romney was still dealing with them,” he said. “Essentially, nothing had changed. Human nature isn’t changing anytime soon to eliminate any of these prejudices, and as long as these things exist, innocent people like John Gordon and Troy Davis will still be put to death.”

Caranci’s book is used in several school systems, including Cranston, Warwick and North Kingstown. For more information about Caranci, “The Hanging and Redemption of John Gordon,” his other book, “North Providence,” and his upcoming speaking engagements, visit www.paulcaranci.com.

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