Robert C. Dorn
Erie Canal Commissioner
In office
1866–1868
Personal details
NationalityAmerican
Political partyRepublican
ResidenceSchenectady, New York
ProfessionPolitician

Robert C. Dorn was an American politician from New York. In 1865, he was elected Canal Commissioner on the Republican ticket.[1] In May 1868, he was put on trial by the Senate of New York in the Court of Impeachment,[2] becoming the second person tried by the New York Court for the Trial of Impeachments.

Life

Robert C. Dorn lived in Schenectady, New York.[3]

Repair Commissioner

He was appointed Superintendent of Canal Repairs for Section 2 of the Erie Canal, when he was named the Superintendent of Repairs for only section # 2 in January 1856, with William Eggleston becoming superintendent for #1.[4] He was then appointed Superintendent of Canal Repairs for Sections 1, 3, 4 and 5 until the end of 1864, and continued with Sections 1, 2 and 3 in 1865.

As of 1865, all repair sections of the canal were in charge of Robert C. Dorn as superintendent, and he was replaced in that role on January 24, 1855, when George Heath was appointed superintendent for sections four and five, with Dorn remaining in charge of one, two, and three.[5]

Canal Commissioner

He was selected to run for Canal Commissioner on the Republican ticket on September 20, 1865,[3] after being nominated at the New-York Republican Union State Convention.[3][6] In November 1865, Dorn won the race[1] in the New York state elections of 1865. He took the role of Canal Commissioner on January 1, 1866,[7] with the term to last three years.[8] He was a Canal Commissioner from 1866 to 1868.

It was published in 1870 that $16,340 had been transferred from the Fund of the Erie Canal Enlargement for enlargement and completion of the canals to the Canal Commissioners, with Robert C. Dorn of the Eastern Division receiving $376 of that total. Tolls on the Erie canal were reported to be $3,666,093, with Dorn as of September 30, 1868, holding $5,450 of the balances on hand for the Canal Commissioner. He oversaw a number of financially significant improvement investments on the canal, including $27,166 for "extraordinary repairs".[9]

Initial impeachment

Many New Yorker's felt corruption was a major cause of the canal system's troubles. In 1867 at the state Constitutional Convention, Erastus Brooks alleged canal contracts of being awarded to the highest bidder.[10] A commission was established, consisting of James Gibson, Henry C. Murphy, Charles Stanford, William Bristol, William S. Clark, George W. Millspaugh, and counsel Henry Smith.[11] It concluded there were "gross and monstrous frauds".[10]

Concerning Dorn's history of awarding contracts, a court assembled in the Albany Senate Chamber on March 31, 1868, under Stewart L. Woodford, Lieutenant-Governor of the State and President of the Senate.[7] The managers appointed to conduct the trial were John C. Jacobs, John L. Flagg, John F. Little, William B. Quinn, E. L. Pitts, Alpheus Prince, and N. B. La Ban. The honorable William A. Beach, John H. Reynolds, and Henry Smith were counsel for the Dorn.[2] Assembled to ascertain whether Dorn had, in 1886 and 1867, awarded construction contracts in a corrupt fashion while ignoring a prior law to select the cheapest bid,[7] a resolution impeaching him of high crimes and misdemeanors passed the assembly with a unanimous vote.[2]

The court re-assembled in the Senate Chamber on April 2, 1868.[7]

He was impeached by a unanimous vote of the New York State Assembly. The First Article charged him with "complicity in a combination made by contractors". Article Two charged him with "letting a contract to the highest instead of the lowest bidder". Article Four charged him with "letting contracts without advertising some".[7]

Court of Impeachment, May 1868

In May 1868, the Court of Appeals and the New York Senate met jointly as a Court of Impeachment to settle the matter of Dorn's case.[12] The trial before the Court of Impeachments opened on May 26 at Albany.[13] During the first meeting, there was a motion from the defense to quash the Fourth Article accusations of Dorn awarding contracts without advertising them first.[14] On May 27, 1868, the Court of Appeals and the Senate again met jointly as a Court of Impeachment, with counsel for the defendant arguing that senator Sandford, as Chairman of the Canal Investigating Committee, had prejudged the case on several points.[12] On June 12, 1886, Dorn was acquitted with a vote of 8 for conviction, among them Martin Grover, Theodore Miller, and 19 against,[15] among them Ward Hunt, Lewis B. Woodruff, Charles Mason and William J. Bacon.[7] He was acquitted of all charges.[16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "THE LATE ELECTIONS.; Further and More Gratifying Returns. Names of the New-York Senators and Assemblymen. REPUBLICAN GAINS IN BOTH HOUSES, Nearly Four Thousand Union Majority in New-Jersey.", The New York Times, November 9, 1865, archived from the original on June 2, 2023, retrieved June 1, 2023
  2. 1 2 3 "The Impeachment or Canal Commissioner Dorn" (PDF), Albany Argus, May 25, 1868, archived from the original (PDF) on June 2, 2023, retrieved June 1, 2023
  3. 1 2 3 "Our State Convention.", The New York Times, p. 4, September 21, 1865, archived from the original on June 2, 2023, retrieved June 1, 2023
  4. ↑ "STATE AFFAIRS.; ...Canal Appointments" (PDF), The New York Times, January 23, 1856, retrieved June 1, 2023
  5. ↑ Commissioners, Canal (1866), Annual Report of the Canal Commissioners for 1865 - Report of the Commissioners of the State of New York on the Canals from Lake Erie to the Hudson River and from Lake Champlain to the Same, T & W Mercein, archived from the original on June 2, 2023, retrieved June 1, 2023
  6. ↑ "New York Union State Ticket" (PDF), Cattarangus Freeman, September 27, 1865, archived from the original (PDF) on June 2, 2023, retrieved June 1, 2023
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Journal of the Court for the Trial of Impeachments in the Case of Hon. Robert C. Dorn, a Canal Commissioner of the State of New York, Van Benthuysen & Sons' Steam Printing Press, 1868, p. 1375, archived from the original on June 2, 2023, retrieved June 1, 2023
  8. ↑ Manual for the use of the legislature of the State of New York: 1866, Weed, Parsons, 1866, p. 293, archived from the original on June 2, 2023, retrieved June 1, 2023
  9. ↑ Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, Volume 1, New York Legislature, 1870, p. 58, archived from the original on June 2, 2023, retrieved June 1, 2023
  10. 1 2 Eisenstadt, Peter (2005-05-19). Encyclopedia of New York State. Syracuse University Press. p. 255. ISBN 9780815608080.
  11. ↑ Archdeacon, Thomas J. (1978). "The Erie Canal Ring, Samuel J. Tilden, and the Democratic Party". New York History. 59 (4): 410. ISSN 0146-437X. JSTOR 23170015.
  12. 1 2 "NEW-YORK.; The Impeachment of Canal Commissioner R. C. Dorn--Organization of the Court. The Sportsmen's convention at Buffalo.", The New York Times, May 27, 1868, retrieved June 1, 2023
  13. ↑ "NEW YORK; The Impeachment of Canal Commissioner R. C. Dorn - Organization of the Court" (PDF), The New York Times, May 27, 1868, archived from the original (PDF) on June 2, 2023, retrieved June 1, 2023
  14. ↑ "Impeachment of R. C. Dorn", The New York Herald, p. 7, May 27, 1868, archived from the original on June 2, 2023, retrieved June 1, 2023
  15. ↑ "The Dorn Impeachment Trial at Albany" (PDF), The New York Times, June 13, 1868, retrieved June 1, 2023
  16. ↑ The Dorn Impeachment - Conclusion of the Trial Before the Senate at Albany - Acquittal of the Prisoner on All the Charges, New York Daily Herald, June 13, 1868, retrieved June 1, 2023
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