USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume I > Part 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114
One of Judge Todd's social friends, a stonemason, a Scotchman, Campbell, came into court, and, being drunk, stumbled and fell. When he picked himself up he apologized, "Judge, I am a horse; I am a horse, Judge." Judge Todd called to the sheriff, "Take that horse out, lock him up in my stable and keep him there till I call for him." But to the sheriff privately the judge said that if Campbell could be kept out of the court room until he was sober, all would be forgiven. At one time in his career Judge Todd became financially embar- rassed and was sued in his own court. He made no defense and when he called the case he told the clerk to enter judgment against David Todd by default. Later he paid the judgment in full.
In 1840, when William Henry Harrison was nominated for President, Judge Todd was one of the delegates from Missouri and when the notification com- mittee was chosen Judge Todd was made a member of it. He had been a sol- dier under Harrison in the battle of Tippecanoe. The relations between Harrison and the judge were so close that after the election, the President-elect wrote to Todd, telling him that if there was a vacancy on the United States Supreme bench during his term in the White House, Todd would be appointed to fill it. But Harrison lived only a few weeks after his inauguration.
When William A. Hall was elected to Congress in the sixties, after having served on the Boone circuit bench, he called on President Lincoln who told him he wanted to appoint his brother, Willard P. Hall, who had succeeded Governor Gamble as war governor, to a place on the Supreme bench. Mr. Lincoln said that the only obstacle in 'the way was the opposition of a certain Republican senator. He suggested that Congressman Hall see the senator. This the Con- gressman did and learned from the senator that it had been reported to him the Congressman had said at some time he would not trust this senator any further than he could throw a bull by the tail. Congressman Hall said, "I don't remember ever to have said that but,-by -, sir, I have often thought it." Missouri missed the Supreme bench again.
Henry Hitchcock was on the eligible list of three Presidents for very high positions. Presidents Hayes, Arthur and Harrison had Mr. Hitchcock's name under consideration for vacancies, two of them on the Supreme bench. All of these Presidents recognized his fitness for the appointment in question. Some political or personal consideration. turned the scale against the distinguished St. Louisan. There was no particular reason why Missouri should receive the rec- ognition from these Presidents at the time the appointments were to be made .. There were political reasons for favoring some other states. Mr. Hitchcock stood
ยท
264
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSOURI
simply on his merits before these Presidents, and they were sufficient to bring him very close to high official honors.
Four times the American Bar Association, representing the best of the legal profession in all parts of the Union, has honored the state by selecting for its head a Missourian. When the association was formed, the first president chosen was a Missourian,-James O. Broadhead. The next Missourian to whom the distinction was given was Henry Hitchcock. In the World's Fair year, 1902, the president of the American Bar Association was James Hagerman. The fourth Missourian to be placed in the presidency of the association was Frederick W. Lehmann.
1
CHAPTER VIII
DUELING IN MISSOURI
Benton and the Code-Bloody Island-A Grewsome Record-Farrar and Graham-A Friend's Responsibility-Fenwick and Crittenden-Aaron Burr's Nephew Killed-Bar- ton and Hempstead-Code Forms Drawn by Benton and Bates-A Fearless Editor- John Scott's Wholesale Challenge-Lucas and Benton-The Election Controversy- "An Insolent Puppy"-What Benton Told Washburne-Lucas on "Origin of Differ- ences"-A Farewell Message-The Terms-Lucas Badly Wounded-Mediation by Judge Lawless-Benton Repudiates the Agreement-The Second Meeting-Lucas Killed-A Father's Lament-Benton's Promise to His Wife-Geyer and Kennerly-Army Duels- Rector and Barton-The "Philo" Charges-Senator Barton's Scorching Letter-Public Sentiment Aroused-The Belleville Tragedy-Benton for the Defense-Rev. Timothy 1 Flint's Letter-Shields and Lincoln on the Island-Legislation Against Dueling-Senator Linn's Comments-Leonard and Berry-Pettis and Biddle-A Double Fatality-Benton Again the Adviser-Edward Dobyn's Manuscript Recollection-Dodging the Statute- Rev. Dr. Eliot's Protest-Hudson and Chambers-"Old Bustamente's" Experience- Blair and Pickering-Newspaper Reorganisation-The Blair-Price Feud-Judge Fagg's . Reminiscence-Edwards and Foster-Bowman and Glover-Vest on the Duello.
A duel at St. Louis ended fatally, of which Colonel Benton has not been heard to speak except among intimate friends, and to tell of the pang which went through his heart when he saw the young man fall, and would have given the world to see him restored to life. As proof of the manner in which he looks upon these scenes and liis desire to bury all remembrances of them forever, he has had all his papers burned which related to them, that no future curiosity or industry should bring to light what he wished had never happened .- Benton's Autobiography, dictated on his deathbed.
Dueling in Missouri came with American sovereignty. It went out of prac- tice with the Civil war. Many of the duels were influential incidents in Missouri politics. Most of the duelists were lawyers or editors.
More frequently than any other is the name of Thomas H. Benton associated with Missouri duels. Benton was principal in one fatal duel. He was chief adviser in another duel which ended fatally for both principals. He was second in one of the earliest of Missouri duels and drew up the rules and forms which served as precedents in subsequent meetings. As a lawyer he defended duelists in court. He was a historian of duels. He published a defense of duels. And yet on his deathbed, referring to himself as usual in the third person, he told of "the pang which went through his heart" when he saw young Lucas fall, ex- pressed his regret "for all these scenes" and "had all of his papers burned which related to them."
Benton's relations to dueling were strange indeed. After his rough and tumble encounter with Andrew Jackson at Nashville in 1813, he wrote: "I am in the middle of hell; my life is in danger, and nothing but a decisive duel can save me or even give me a chance for my own existence."
But he also expressed himself on paper shortly after the difficulty with Jack-
265
1
266
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSOURI
son in these words: "Those who know me, know full well that I would give a thousand times more for the reputation of Croghan in defending his post ( which was Fort Stephenson) than I would for the reputation of all the duelists and gladiators that ever appeared upon the face of the earth."
After his service in the war of 1812 Benton moved to Missouri. He was prompted to make this change because of the disagreeable personal relations in Tennessee growing out of the fight with Jackson.
Bloody Island.
Most of the Missouri duels were fought on the upper part of Bloody Island in the Mississippi river. Usually the seconds selected a spot where willows and other growth screened the party so that the proceedings could not be seen from the St. Louis side. People assembled in numbers on the river bank; they occupied windows and the housetops when it was known a duel was to be fought. They could not see much, but they would hear the shots and they were witnesses to the return of the parties from the meeting. When St. Louis, to save the city's harbor, built a great dyke between Bloody Island and the Illinois mainland, the entire current was turned to the westward. This not only restored the channel along the St. Louis water front, but it wore away the western edge of the island. The river above the Eads bridge became and remains considerably wider than it was in 1810-30, when the current was divided and when duels were frequent.
Three fatalities on the cross marks gave Bloody Island the grewsome name- it bore for more than fifty years. The sandbar opposite the northern end of the settlement of St. Louis showed above the river's surface at low water about 1799. It grew steadily, dividing the current. An increasing proportion of the river's volume each succeeding year passed down to the eastward of the sandbar. That part of the channel between the St. Louis water front and the western edge of the bar became narrower and shallower as time went on. The human voice carried across easily. Willows sprouted and grew in clumps and fringes. The new-made strip of ground became known as "The Island." When there was need to distinguish it from others, Missourians of that generation spoke of "the island opposite Roy." On the St. Louis bank of the river near the foot of what afterwards became Ashley street, named in honor of the fur trader and Con- gressman, a man named Roy built a large stone tower in which he operated a " windmill. The tower stood on a curve of the shore line, where it caught the breeze blowing up the river. Long after steam power came into use the dis- mantled stone tower was a conspicuous landmark. For twenty years or more "The Island" so divided the current that neither Missouri nor Illinois claimed possession or exercised jurisdiction. This condition of no man's land favored the selection of "The Island" for duels.
And after lives had been sacrificed in these affairs public sentiment bestowed the title. Bloody Island vied with Bladensburg in Maryland for the distinction of being the principal "field of honor" in the United States. To Bladensburg, a few miles from the national capital, statesmen and officers of the army and navy and newspaper men of Washington resorted during two generations to settle differences by shooting at each other. Dueling on Bloody Island began as early as 1810. ' The record closed in 1860.
THOMAS H. BENTON
Principal in one duel; second in another; defender of duelling in court and in Senate.
MAJOR THOMAS BIDDLE Principal in the fatal Pettis-Biddle duel
Courtesy Missouri Historical Society THE ROY WINDMILL TOWER OPPOSITE WHICH THE DUELS WERE FOUGHT ON BLOODY ISLAND
269
DUELING IN MISSOURI
The Next Friend's Responsibility.
The Farrar-Graham meeting was among the earliest Missouri duels, if it did not inaugurate the practice of morning expeditions to Bloody Island. It illus- trated one of the strangest phases of the code. James A. Graham and Dr. Far- rar were very close personal friends. One day Graham saw an army lieutenant cheat in a game of cards at the hotel. He exposed him. The army officer declared he must have satisfaction. He sent a challenge to Graham by the hand of Farrar, who was a relative. Under the rules a relative could not refuse to perform this duty when asked. Graham refused to accept the challenge on the ground that the army officer, by his act of cheating, had shown himself to be no gentleman. The code required the second in each case to make the princi- pal's quarrel his own. Farrar was compelled by the rules to challenge his most intimate friend. The two went to the island and fired at each other three times. Both were wounded, Graham so badly in the spine that he kept his bed for four months. When he got up, he tried to make a horseback journey to his old home in the East, failed on the way and died.
In 1811 Thomas H. Crittenden and Dr. Walter Fenwick, two of the best citizens of Ste. Genevieve, met on Moreau Island opposite Kaskaskia landing. General Henry Dodge, afterwards United States senator from Wisconsin, and John Scott, afterwards member of Congress, were the seconds. Crittenden had some trouble with Ezekiel Fenwick, who sent a challenge by his brother, Dr. Fenwick. When Crittenden refused to meet Ezekiel Fenwick, the doctor was compelled, under the code, to make the quarrel his own. He was wounded mortally at the first fire. Crittenden was unhurt. The pistols used in that duel were made by an expert slave gunsmith who belonged to John Smith T. They are preserved in the great collection of curiosities made by the Missouri His- torical Society.
Firman A. Rozier, in his History of the Mississippi Valley, told of a duel between John Smith T. and Lionel Browne, a nephew of Aaron Burr. Browne was then a resident of Potosi. The meeting place was on the Illinois side of the Mississippi opposite Herculaneum. Browne was the challenger; he was shot in the center of the forehead and killed instantly.
Benton and the Precedents.
, The last of the political duels in which blood was shed was in 1856. It was coincident with the passing of Benton in Missouri politics-fought in the month that Benton went down to final defeat at the polls. Intense feeling between the Benton and anti-Benton factions was the prompting cause of this last duel. Nowhere in the correspondence relating to the duel did the name of Benton appear, but it was understood that Benton was sympathizing and advising with B. Gratz Brown, the editor of the Democrat, in his controversies with Thomas C. Reynolds, the district attorney and anti-Benton candidate for Congress. Forty years previously, in 1816, the year he came to St. Louis to make his home, Benton went out as second to Thomas Hempstead, Edward Bates acting for Joshua Barton, the other principal. This was not the first St. Louis duel, but
-
270
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSOURI
it was one of the earliest and is notable for the punctilious care with which the rules were drawn. The seconds made a formal report upon the affair. Prece- dents were established to govern in later meetings. Although Benton destroyed all of his papers relating to dueling, the copies of the Barton-Hempstead docu- ments are in the possession of the Missouri Historical Society. The most inter- esting of the papers is the following:
"Rules of the meeting between Mr. J. Barton demanding and Mr. T. Hempstead answering :
"1. The ground will be measured off to six paces.
"2. The gentlemen will stand back to back at the distance of six paces from each other.
"3. At the word 'March!' the gentlemen will instantly step off three paces and turn and fire without further order.
"4. If either party reserves his fire and continues to aim after the other has fired he shall be shot instantly by the adverse second.
"5. The seconds shall decide by lot which gives the word.
"6. The only words shall be, 'Are you ready?' and being answered in the affirmative, the word 'March' shall be the order for stepping off and turning and firing, as above stated.
"7. The meeting at 5 o'clock this evening on the island in the Mississippi, opposite LeRoy, on the upper end of the island.
"8. The weapons smooth-bore pistols.
"9. The pistols to be delivered cocked to the gentlemen after they have taken their places, and to be held hanging down by the side until after the word 'March.'
"Signed in duplicate, August 10th, 1816, at St. Louis.
"T. H. BENTON, for Mr. Hempstead. "EDWARD BATES, for Mr. Barton."
Three days after the meeting the seconds issued a formal report, and thus the incident was closed :
"The undersigned, present at the meeting between Mr. Thomas Hempstead and Mr. Joshua Barton on the evening of Saturday, the 10th instant, state :
"That as soon as the parties met, the ground was measured off by the undersigned and the pistols loaded in each other's presence.
"The choice of positions and the right of giving the word was decided by lot.
"The gentlemen immediately took their station and fired as nearly as could be in the same instant, and exactly conformable to the rules agreed upon. Each conducted himself in a firm, cool and collected manner.
"After the first fire the party demanding satisfaction declared that it had been given, and no explanation, concession or even mention of the cause of difference was made upon the ground, but the gentlemen shook hands as friends, upon mutual declaration that they owed each other no ill will; and upon the unanimous declaration of the friends and sur- geons present that the affair ought not to proceed any further.
"The undersigned state it as their opinion that the conduct of both gentlemen was perfectly honorable and correct.
"Signed in duplicate, August 13th, 1816.
"THOMAS H. BENTON. "EDWARD BATES."
The Press and the Code.
Joseph Charless, who established the first newspaper in St. Louis, was a fearless editor at short range. He did not hesitate to express editorial opinion on duels. When the fatal meeting between Benton and Lucas took place, this comment on the result appeared in the Gazette: "The infernal practice of
-
271
DUELING IN MISSOURI
dueling has taken off this morning one of the first characters in our country, Charles Lucas, Esq., attorney at law. His death has left a blank in society not easily filled up."
At one time Mr. Charless was threatened with incendiarism because of some vigorous editorials in the Gazette. Apparently, as a result of the rumors that the editor was to be burned out, the Gazette published this: "D. Kimball requests the incendiaries of St. Louis to defer burning Mr. Charless' establishment until his removal, which will be on the 20th of April next." While walking in his garden, Mr. Charless was fired upon but was not hit.
The affair with Congressman John Scott was a newspaper sensation which continued some weeks in St. Louis. The Gazette printed several articles on Scott, who denounced them and demanded the name of the author. Threats were made, to which Mr. Charless replied : "I may be threatened, but I will continue an independent course. If I am attacked for exercising the honest duties of my profession, I know how to repel injury." That was in 1816. Mr. Charless at length gave Mr. Scott the names of the writers of the articles. Five highly respectable citizens were involved. Scott challenged each of them. Fir- man A. Rozier's version of John Scott's wholesale appeal to the code was this: "During the time that he was a candidate for Congress, there were written by some correspondents, who were his political enemies, severe strictures upon his character, in the Gazette, published in St. Louis. He demanded of Mr. Charless, the editor, the names of the authors, which were given him. Next morning, whilst in St. Louis, through General Henry Dodge, and that before breakfast, he challenged to mortal combat five of these correspondents, among whom were Hon. Rufus Easton, delegate from Missouri Territory; Mr. Lucas, afterwards killed in a duel by Benton; Dr. Simpson, and others whose names are not now remembered. They all declined with the exception of Lucas. The difficulty with Lucas was afterwards compromised through friends. Hon. Rufus Easton's reply to Scott in declining to fight was, 'I do not want to kill you. and if you were to kill me I would die as the fool dieth.'"
Benton, the Principal.
A year and a day after his first dueling experience in St. Louis and the sec- ond year of his residence, Benton was principal in a duel. Like the rest of the Benton duels, that of August 12, 1817, had its origin in politics. Many years ago Richard Dowling wrote into the minute book of the Missouri Historical Society Benton's version of the trouble with Lucas :
"The election which was held on Monday, the 4th of August, 1817, at which members of Congress were to be chosen, John Scott and Rufus Easton being the candidates, and the former, receiving the nomination, was known as 'the military election.' The United States officers stationed at Bellefontaine, then the western post, were quite active on the occasion, going through the streets with drum, fife and flag, Lieut. Thomas F. Smith taking a conspicuous part.
"The polling took place on the west side of Third, between Almond and Spruce, at the courthouse, the judges being inside the door, and the people coming up to vote, which they did by handing in a printed ticket, which was read aloud, each name of a voter written down at the moment and on a line with it his vote. This was the only voting precinct in the county. At this time a property qualification was the law. Col.
272
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSOURI
Thomas H. Benton, living in a two-story house, frame, on the north side of Washington avenue, between Second and Third, presented himself to vote. As he handed in his ticket his right to vote was challenged by Charles Lucas. Colonel Benton explained to the judge that he owned slaves in St. Louis, on which he paid taxes. After this explana- tion he offered to vote. Notwithstanding the explanation, Charles Lucas renewed his challenge. Whereupon Colonel Benton called Lucas 'an insolent puppy.' I had this account from the lips of Colonel Benton himself on our return from Manchester, where a large political meeting had been held, I think in 1842."
One of the occasions on which Benton talked of the Lucas duel was in 1856, the year of the Brown-Reynolds affair. Elihu B. Washburne was in Washing- ton as a member of Congress from Illinois. His wife was Adele Gratiot, a daughter of Henry Gratiot and Susan Hempstead. Benton was a close personal friend of the Hempsteads. Washburne was making a call upon Benton. His alliance with the Gratiot-Hempstead families prompted conversation upon the pioneer days of St. Louis. Washburne was so impressed with what Benton said that when he returned home he made a memorandum of it. Years after- wards, while on a visit to Jefferson City to present to Missouri the portrait of Edward Hempstead, who had been the first delegate in Congress, he referred to this written statement. Benton told Washburne that Hempstead would have been the first senator from Missouri if he had lived. Hempstead received an ugly fall from his horse, and although the immediate effects did not seem serious, he was taken ill suddenly in the midst of trial and died in a short time. Benton was with Hempstead when he died and recalled the circumstances as he talked with Washburne. Then he went on: "Sir, how we did things in those days! After being up with my dead friend all night, I went to my office in the morn- ing to refresh myself a little before going out to bury him five miles from town. While sitting at my table writing, a man brought me a challenge to fight a duel. I told the bearer instanter, 'I accept, but I must now go and bury a dead friend ; that is my first duty. After that is discharged I will fight, to-night, if possible ; if not to-morrow morning at daybreak. I accept your challenge, sir, and Colonel Lawless will write the acceptance and fix the terms for me.' I was outraged, sir, that the challenge should have been sent when I was burying a friend. I thought it might have been kept a few days, but when it came I was ready for it."
The Statement of Lucas.
The sending of the challenge by Lucas, the acceptance by Benton, the funeral of Hempstead, the agreement upon terms and the arrangements for the "per- sonal interview" the next morning, all took place in one day. More than that, Lucas wrote the evening of the same day and left for publicity this paper :
"Origin of state of differences between Thomas H. Benton and Charles Lucas. "St. Louis, August 1I, 1817, 9 o'clock at night.
"The causes of differences between T. H. Benton and me were as follows : At October court of last year, Mr. Benton and I were employed on adverse sides in a cause. At the close of the evidence, he stated that the evidence being so and so he requested the court to instruct the jury to find accordingly. I stated in reply that there was no such evidence to my remembrance. He replied, 'I contradict you, sir.' I answered, 'I contradict
273
DUELING IN MISSOURI
you, sir.' He then said, 'If you deny that, you deny the truth.' I replied, 'If you assert that, you assert what is not true.' He immediately sent a challenge, which I declined accepting, for causes stated in my correspondence. The jury in a few moments returned a verdict for me, and opposite to his statement. He never even moved for a new trial. Since that time we have had no intercourse except on business. On the day of the election at St. Louis, 4th of August, 1817, I inquired whether he had paid taxes in time to entitle him to vote; he was offering his vote at the time. He applied vehement, abusive and ungentle- inanly language to me, and I believe some of it behind my back, all of which he declined to recant, to give me any satisfaction other than by the greatest extremities. I make this declaration that, let things eventuate as they may, it may be known how they originated. "CHARLES LUCAS."
The challenge, which Benton sent after the trial, Lucas declined on the ground that he had simply done his duty as a lawyer to his clients and the verdict of the jury had sustained his view of the evidence, justifying the lan- guage he had used. Lucas added: "I will not for supporting that truth be in any way bound to give the redress or satisfaction you ask for, or to any person who may feel wounded by such exposure of the truth."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.