David Rorer (May 12, 1806 – July 7, 1884) was a lawyer, judge, sometime politician, author and anti-slavery advocate from
Burlington, Iowa, who played a prominent role in the early history of Burlington and in Iowa legal history, and is credited with bestowing the nickname of "
Hawkeyes" upon Iowans.
Early life
Rorer was born May 12, 1806, son of Abraham Rorer and Nancy (Cook) Rorer, on their farm in
Pittsylvania County
Pittsylvania County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 60,501. Chatham is the county seat.
Pittsylvania County is included in the Danville, VA Micropolitan Statistical A ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. He attended the local schools, and eventually
read law under local attorneys Nathaniel H. Claiborne and Henry Calaway for two years. In 1826 he was admitted to the bar and moved to
Little Rock
( The "Little Rock")
, government_type = Council-manager
, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_party = D
, leader_title2 = Council
, leader_name2 ...
,
Arkansas Territory
The Arkansas Territory was a territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1819, to June 15, 1836, when the final extent of Arkansas Territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Arkansas. Arkansas Post was the first territo ...
, where he took up practice. He owned the
ferry in Little Rock. A 1908 history states, "he kept a good house of entertainment" on the city's north side, and entertained
Territorial Governor John Pope. By the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 1830, he owned seven slaves, which marked him among the elite of the region. In 1831, he was elected
county judge
The term county judge is applied as a descriptor, sometimes as a title, for a person who presides over a county court. In most cases, such as in Northern Ireland and the Victorian County Courts, a county judge is a judicial officer with civil ...
of
Pulaski County.
Going north
According to an account by his daughter Delia, "Still under 30 years of age, he was rapidly making a name for himself in the South, but he found himself entirely out of sympathy with the people over the slavery issue." After a discussion around 1835 with an unnamed member of
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
in which the Congressman predicted the South would break away from the union, Rorer and his wife Martha elected to "throw in with the free North and the Union," Delia wrote. Rorer freed his slaves and offered to take them with his family beyond the reach of slavery. Only one came with the family: the children's nurse, called "Nin". The family and Nin left Little Rock for
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, intending to settle in
Rock Island, Illinois. But during their time in St. Louis, Rorer became friends with
Jean-Pierre Chouteau, a prominent merchant and Indian trader, who recommended a settlement called Shoqoquon, also known as Flint Hills, in the newly-opened
Black Hawk Purchase
The Black Hawk Purchase, also known as the Forty-Mile Strip or Scott's Purchase, extended along the West side of the Mississippi River from the north boundary of Missouri North to the Upper Iowa River in the northeast corner of Iowa. It was fif ...
(part of
Wisconsin Territory
The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...
).
The Rorers arrived in Flint Hills in 1836 on the steamboat ''Olive Branch''. On the voyage, Rorer met
Jackson Kemper
Jackson Kemper (December 24, 1789 – May 24, 1870) in 1835 became the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Especially known for his work with Native American peoples, he also founded parishes in wha ...
,
Episcopal Missionary Bishop of the Northwest, and eventually convinced the bishop to establish a mission in the area.
![Judge David Rorer house, Burlington, IA; first brick house built in Iowa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Judge_David_Rorer_house%2C_Burlington%2C_IA%3B_first_brick_house_built_in_Iowa.jpg)
The family and Nin first occupied a two-room log cabin, but within months Rorer had commissioned a brick house, the first to be built in what became the state of Iowa.
Public office
On July 4, 1838, part of the
Iowa District
The Iowa District was a region of north-central North America west of the Mississippi River claimed by the United States. From June 28, 1834, to July 4, 1838, it was part of the Michigan Territory and, later, the Wisconsin Territory. It includ ...
of Wisconsin Territory was split off to form
Iowa Territory
The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Iowa. The remain ...
. Rorer (newly widowed) ran for
Territorial Delegate to the
26th United States Congress
The 26th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1839 ...
. He eventually came in fourth out of nine candidates, with 605 votes (13.53% of the total), to fellow Democrats
William W. Chapman's 1,490 (33.32%) and
Peter H. Engle 1,454 (32.51%) and
Whig Benjamin F. Wallace's 913 (20.42%).
During the campaign, Rorer condemned "a damned Pennsylvania faction" within the Democratic Party, which was taken as a slam against Engle and his fellow Pennsylvania native, local journalist (co-founder of
''The Gazette'', now ''The Hawk Eye'') and politician
Cyrus S. Jacobs. On October 31, 1838 (ten days after the election), Jacobs and Rorer ran into each other on a Burlington street. When Rorer refused to apologize for his remarks, Jacobs pulled a gun, then struck Rorer with his cane; Rorer drew his own pistol and fired, killing Jacobs (who had won election to the territorial legislature in the same election which Rorer lost). It was ruled that Rorer had acted in
self-defense
Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force ...
, but he vowed, "I will never again campaign for election."
Private life
In March of 1827 in Little Rock he married Martha Martin, a Georgia-born widow (whose husband had owned the aforementioned ferry and inn on the north side of the city), with whom he had two sons and two daughters. Martha died in 1838, and in 1839 Rorer married Delia M. Viele of
Scott County, Iowa
Scott County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 174,669, making it the third-most populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Davenport.
Scott County is included in the Davenport– Moline ...
, with whom he had three daughters.
Acton, Richard. "Rorer, David (May 12, 1806 – July 7, 1884)" ''The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa''; accessed 11-10-2020
/ref>
References
{{reflist
Iowa lawyers
Iowa Democrats
Iowa Republicans
People of pre-statehood Iowa
Politicians from Burlington, Iowa
Lawyers from Little Rock, Arkansas
County judges in Arkansas