He was twice married. His first wife was Polly Whitman, daughter of Jacob Whitman of Providence, who owned the “Turk’s Head” property. His second wife was Mrs. Amy Clark, widow of Dr. John Clark and daughter of Commodore Esek Hopkins. John Dorrance had previously removed from Foster to Providence and lived at the corner of Westminster and Exchange streets, where the National Exchange bank was afterwards located. He studied law and in 1794 was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Providence county. This eminent position he also filled by annual election until 1801. He was then defeated. The defeat was owing to the bitter opposition of Gov. Arthur Fenner, which arose over a lawsuit between the two. Judge Dorrance was likewise a member of the General Assembly for several terms. In 1789 he was an assistant (senator) to Gov. John Collins, and, with George Sears, was appointed by the Assembly a committee to audit the accounts of “the late intendants of trade for the ports of Newport and Providence.” In 1790 his name appears as a member of the Providence Society for the Abolition of Slavery. The _Rhode Island American_, Jan. 8, 1811, notes his election as a director of the Exchange bank of Providence. In 1792 or 1794 he was a candidate for congress and received a flattering vote. Speaking of Judge Dorrance, Dr. Pardon Bowen declared that “he possessed an adequate law knowledge and was a man of the strictest integrity.” The judge died June 29, 1813. That excellent authority, the _Providence Gazette_, in its issue of July 3, the same year, had a notice of his death, and after stating that “the Honourable John Dorrance” had departed this life, it went on to say: “Judge Dorrance was descended from Irish parentage, but was himself born in Foster, in this state. He received a degree from Rhode Island college, and afterwards became a tutor and since a member of the corporation of that institution.” Continuing, it states that he was of unblemished integrity and undeviating patriotism; that for many years he was a member of the state legislature from Providence, “both in the senate and as a representative.” It likewise chronicled the fact that for the last sixteen years of his life, the citizens of the town (Providence), manifested their confidence in him by making and continuing him president of the town council. The obituary notice referred to thus concludes: “His intimate knowledge of the science of jurisprudence made him the adviser of all who were in distress. His life was marked by an honesty that neither power nor wealth could swerve from its duty.” Judge Dorrance’s death was deeply regretted throughout the state. He left a widow and “a large train of relatives.” The deceased was prominent all through the Revolution, and by his patriotic activity rendered incalculable service to the cause of liberty.