The Pettingill-Mason House and the Dorr Rebellion Room

Traditionally dated to 1747, the Pettingill-Mason House is a substantial colonial home standing at the foot of Acote’s Hill. Constructed with a heavy post-and-beam frame, the house was organized around a large central chimney with four fireplaces. Its hand-hewn timbers, wide-plank floors, narrow stairways, and stone foundation preserve the character of an eighteenth-century Rhode Island home.

Dr. Reuben Mason purchased the property in 1774 and used it as both his residence and medical office. Mason practiced medicine here until his death in 1799 and served as a surgeon during the American Revolution. The house therefore had a long connection to local medicine before it became involved in the political crisis that unfolded in Chepachet in 1842.

During the Dorr Rebellion, Thomas Wilson Dorr and his supporters gathered in Chepachet to challenge Rhode Island’s established government and its restrictions on voting. Dorr used nearby Sprague’s Tavern as his headquarters while his followers constructed defensive positions on Acote’s Hill. When approximately 2,500 state troops advanced toward the village, Dorr recognized that his small force could not prevail. He disbanded his followers and fled before a major battle occurred.

After securing Acote’s Hill, the state militia commandeered the Pettingill-Mason House as a base of operations and designated it as a field hospital. Its location at the foot of the hill made it well suited for receiving soldiers if fighting broke out. Fortunately, the expected battle never took place, and the house was not required to care for large numbers of casualties.

The Glocester Heritage Society later restored the house and created the Dorr Rebellion Room inside. The room now serves as a museum and educational space devoted to the struggle over voting rights, the rival governments that divided Rhode Island, and the confrontation that brought both sides to Chepachet.

Today, the Dorr Rebellion Room brings the two histories together: an eighteenth-century physician’s home that became a field hospital in 1842 and now provides a place where the political struggle that unfolded around it can be remembered and understood.