By Michael Simmons
At 311 South Adams Street in downtown Pensacola sits the elegant Dorr House. The website, Great American Treasures describes it as “Beautifully Restored and lovingly furnished jewel of the late 1800s. It is a highlight of the Pensacola Historical District.
Ebenezer Dorr (or Eben, as he was called), and his wife Clara, were respected citizens of Pensacola. In 1841, Eben was asked to assume the title of U. S. Marshal after Judge Charles Evans resigned to run for mayor (he was elected). After he agreed to accept the position, he was appointed to the position by President John Tyler.
It was while he was serving in this position that a case of his gained national attention, and he was in the middle of it. Jonathan Walker was born in 1799 in Harwich, Massachusetts, but came to Pensacola to salvage a ship. While there, he agreed to take seven slaves to freedom. Slavery was a huge topic, soon to develop into a war. They slipped away on a boat on June 22, 1844. Within a few weeks, the party was caught and returned to Pensacola, where Walker stood trial for “Slave Stealing.”
Walker was found guilty, fine $150, and sentenced to be placed in the pillory and have garbage and rotten eggs thrown at him, and then to have “SS” branded on his hand by Marshal Dorr. He then spent a year in the Pensacola jail, located at Alcaniz and Intendencia. As soon as he was released, he fled to Michigan. The incident, however, became known throughout the nation as a poem was written about the hot topic that helped usher in the U.S. Civil War.
The popular marshal was also elected as Escambia County’s eleventh sheriff, serving in both roles until Florida became a state in 1845. Although his position as U.S. Marshal went away due to redistricting, he remained sheriff. He ran again the same year and was re-elected.
After his death, his wife Clara had the house on Adams Street built and lived there until her death in 1899. Interesting.
Michael Simmons