USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume I > Part 31
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Besides putting on paper the origin of the differences, Lucas wrote this per- sonal note :
"St. Louis, August 11, 1817.
"Dear Father :
"Embarked as I am in a hazardous enterprise, the issue of which you will know before you see this, I am under the necessity of bidding you, my brothers, sister, friends, adieu. My brothers and sister procure to you that consolation which I cannot. I request my brothers, William and James, to pursue their studies with assiduity, preserving peace and good-will with all good men. Father, sister, brothers, and friends-farewell.
"CHARLES LUCAS."
Hempstead died the night of the 10th of August, 1817. Benton received the challenge the morning of the 11th. The copy preserved among the manuscript collections of the Missouri Historical Society reads :
"Thomas H. Benton, Esq.
"Sir: I am informed you applied to me on the day of the election the epithet of 'puppy.' If so I shall expect that satisfaction which is due one gentleman to another for such an indignity. I am,
"CHARLES LUCAS."
Lucas-Benton, First Meeting.
Another document preserved by the Missouri Historical Society reveals. the expedition with which "personal interviews" on the island were arranged in those days. Before night of that same day the terms had been arranged. At six o'clock the next morning the duel was fought in accordance with the following :
"Articles regulating the terms of personal interview between Thomas H. Benton and Charles Lucas, Esquires :
"I. The parties shall meet at 6 o'clock on the morning of the 12th inst. at the upper end of the island, opposite Madame Roy's.
"2. Each party shall choose and provide himself with a smoothbore pistol, not exceed- ing eleven inches in length.
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"3. The pistols shall be loaded on the grounds by the friends of each party in the presence of both friends and parties if the latter shall require it.
"4. The friends of each party shall have the liberty of being armed with two loaded pistols on the ground if they please.
"5. The parties respectively shall be examined by the friends of each other on the ground to see that they shall have no personal defence of any kind about them, or anything that can prevent the penetration of a ball.
"6. The parties previously to taking their ground shall strip off their coats and waist- coats to their shirts respectively, and shall fire in that situation.
"7. Each party to have leave to take a surgeon with them, if they please, to the grounds.
"8. The parties shall stand at the distance of thirty feet, and after being asked if they are ready, and each having answered in the affirmative they shall receive the word to 'fire,' after which the parties may present and fire when they please.
"9. The friends of the parties shall cast lots for choice of stands and for the giving of the word.
"10. The friends of the parties shall pledge themselves to each other that there are no persons on the island to their knowledge except those seen.
"II. If either party shall fire before the word 'fire' is given it shall be the duty of the friend of the opposite party to shoot him who has so fired.
"12. The parties by their undersigned friends pledge themselves on their honor for the strict observance of the above articles.
"St. Louis, 11th August, 1817. "LAWLESS, "J. BARTON."
Joshua Barton, the second of Lucas, had been out the year before as a prin- cipal. Now he was a second. Later he was to be a principal again and to fall. Immediately after the first Lucas-Benton meeting, Barton wrote to Judge Lucas his account :
"Charles appeared perfectly cool and collected both before and after taking his position to fire. On Colonel Benton demanding another fire or a second meeting, Charles told me to reload, that he could stand another fire. This I hesitated to do, under a belief which I have never changed, that it would be a wanton exposure of the life of a man who, to judge from the profuse discharges of blood, had already received a wound which might prove mortal. He requested me to shorten the distance, which I declined, for the same reason. It was at the earnest solicitation of Doctor Quarles and myself that he consented to adjourn the meeting. We supported him to the boat, soon after getting into which he iainted."
The second of Benton, Judge Lawless, published a statement in the Missouri Gazette:
"When the parties fired I asked by request of Colonel Benton if Mr. Lucas was satis- ned, to which he answered in the negative. Upon this I was proceeding to reload when Mr. Barton, a second for Mr. Lucas, informed me that it was the opinion of Doctor Quarles that the wound which Mr. Lucas had received was more serious than he had at first imagined, and that he considered it necessary that he should quit the field. In conse- quence, I again demanded of Mr. Lucas if he was satisfied, and if he wished for another meeting with Colonel Benton. To this question he replied that he was satisfied, and that he did not require a second meeting. Having reported the answer to Colonel Benton, he declared aloud that he was not satisfied, and required that Mr. Lucas should continue to fight or pledge himself to come out again as soon as his wound should be in a state to permit him. This promise was accordingly given, and the parties pledged themselves by their seconds to perform it."
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Efforts at Mediation.
The seconds as well as mutual friends endeavored to settle the trouble with- out another duel. In his statement Mr. Barton said :
"It was agreed on the ground at the first meeting that I should inform the friend of Colonel Benton as soon as Mr. Lucas was sufficiently recovered to meet Colonel Benton again. On Friday, the 22d of August, about 8 o'clock in the morning, I waited on Colonel Lawless for that purpose. After conversing on different subjects, Colonel Lawless inquired after Mr. Lucas' health, and his state of convalescence, to which I replied that he was then sufficiently recovered to meet Colonel Benton. Colonel Lawless asked when we would be ready to go out, to which I answered the next morning, or at whatever time should be thought best. Colonel Lawless then informed me that he was going that day to Herculaneum on important business of his own, and should not return before the next Sunday evening or Monday morning, and mentioned something of Colonel Benton calling in another friend in case the meeting took place next morning. I professed my willingness to postpone it until his return, if Colonel Benton was willing, Colonel Lawless not seeming disposed to agree to anything without previous consultation with him. We conversed freely on every- thing connected with the affair, and particularly on the prospects of peace resulting from an attempt which had been made a few days before to that end. Colonel Lawless did not know, at that time, whether his friend would drop it in the way which had been proposed, but said he (Colonel Lawless) would 'make another trial on him.' We parted with an understanding, as I thought, that Colonel Benton was to be informed of what had passed, who could then either withdraw his demand for a second meeting, call in another friend, or wait Colonel Lawless' return. I was surprised at not hearing from them sooner, and afterward asked Colonel Lawless if he had not informed his friend, before going to Her- culaneum, who told me he had called for that purpose, but did not find him at home. ₮ considered that . sufficient notice was given."
Judge Lawless thought that the efforts at mediation had succeeded. He was so confident that on the 18th of September, only nine days before the fatal duel. he wrote a full account of the settlement of differences and this appeared in the Gazette on the 20th of September :
"The earnest representations of Colonel Benton's friends and his own generous dis- position had considerably weakened those indignant feelings which, on the ground, had impelled him to exact of his antagonist the promise of another interview. His cooler re- flection informed him, that having wounded the man who had challenged him, and who, notwithstanding his wounds, declared himself satisfied, in pursuing Mr. Lucas further his conduct would assume an aspect of vengeance foreign from his heart, and that the sympathies and opinions of his fellow-citizens would probably be raised against him. On these considerations he had almost determined to withdraw the demand for a second meeting, and he did not conceal these feelings from those persons with whom he was in the habit of intercourse. Colonel Benton, in thus yielding to the entreaties of friendship and to the dictates of his conscience, did not imagine that he was furnishing a means of calumny to his enemies, or that the motives of his conduct could possibly be misunder- stood. In this idea lie found himself disappointed, and was in a very few days assailed by reports of the most offensive nature to his feelings and reputation. Colonel Benton then saw the necessity of disproving those reports either by another meeting, or by the explanation of Mr. Lucas, from whom or from whose friends he supposed them to have proceeded .. He accordingly determined to await the moment when Mr. Lucas was suffi- ciently recovered to come to the field, and then to give him an opportunity of justifying or contradicting the reports in circulation. About this time Mr. Barton called on me, whether in the capacity of Mr. Lucas' second or not, I cannot say, and in the course of conversation, in reply to a question of mine, informed me that Mr. Lucas was sufficiently recovered to meet Colonel Benton.
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"At this moment I was on the point of leaving St. Louis, for Herculaneum, and there- fore deferred conveying the information to Colonel Benton until my return, which was two . days afterward.
"On my arrival, I lost no time in stating to Colonel Benton the conversation I had with Mr. Barton, and at his request immediately called upon the latter gentleman. As I was one of those who were of opinion that he should release Mr. Lucas from the pledge he had given, I felt considerable regret that the generous intentions of my friend should be affected by reports which might have been circulated without the knowledge of Mr. Lucas, and considered it, therefore, my duty to exert myself in every way consistent with the honor of Colonel Benton to avert a result which would certainly prove more or less calamitous.
"With this view I stated to Mr. Barton the motives which might have disposed Colonel Benton to release Mr. Lucas from his promise to meet him, and the causes that counter- acted this disposition. I then proposed that Mr. Lucas should sign a declaration disavowing the reports in question. To this proposition Mr. Barton assented, and a declaration to the above effect was drawn up and agreed to by us. The declaration, which appeared to me sufficiently full, was submitted to Mr. Lucas, who consented to sign it. Colonel Benton, however, did not consider it sufficiently explicit, and rejected it. This decision appeared to leave no other alternative than a meeting, which was accordingly agreed upon between Mr. Barton and me, and was fixed for the morning after the rising of the superior court, which was then sitting.
"It may, perhaps, be necessary to state that on Mr. Barton's suggestion that the dis- tance should be shortened, I consented on the part of my friend to any distance from ten paces to five, which latter was mentioned by Mr. Barton as best calculated to place the parties on an equality.
"In this situation matters remained for three or four days, during which my own reflection and the opinions of honorable and sensible men whom I consulted, convinced me that the cause of the quarrel at present being perhaps ideal, I should omit no effort to prevent the fatal consequences of such a meeting. In this opinion the personal safety of my friend was my least consideration, as upon such occasions it ever has been.
"With this view I drew up a second declaration more explicit and full than the former, precluding all possibility of mistake as to the motives or conduct of either party, and, as it appeared to me, consistent with the honor of both. Mr. Barton, having examined and approved of it, obtained from Mr. Lucas his consent to sign it. I on my part submitted it to Colonel Benton, and, supported by his other friends, succeeded in inducing him to accept it. The terms of this declaration are as follows :
"'In consequence of reports having reached Colonel Benton of declarations coming from me respecting the shortness of the distance at which I intended to bring him at our next meeting, I hereby declare that I never said anything on that subject with a view of its becoming public or of its coming to the knowledge of Colonel Benton, and that I have never said or insinuated, or caused to be said or insinuated, that Colonel Benton was not disposed and ready to meet me at any distance and at any time whatsoever. " 'CHAS. LUCAS.'
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"Having now stated the transactions between these gentlemen as accurately as I am able without entering into details of minute particulars, or a report of expressions used by the one party or the other-details which might irritate, without answering any useful purpose-I submit the whole to the fellow-citizens of Colonel Benton, in the perfect persuasion that if the reports to which I have referred, and which have drawn from me this statement, should have produced an impression injurious to the reputation of my friend, the facts which I have thus detailed will disabuse the public and will convince them that those reports are false and absurd, and that the authors of them, whoever they may be, are deserving of the contempt and execration of every man of generosity or sense of honor.
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"St. Louis, September 18, 1817."
"L. E. LAWLESS."
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J. B. C. LUCAS President Jefferson's commissioner to Louisiana Territory
Courtesy Missouri Historical Society
LUKE E. LAWLESS One of the early judges
BOWLING GREEN COURTHOUSE The Temple of Justice of Pike County, one of the oldest in Missouri. Scene of Champ Clark's early legal and political triumphs
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Lucas-Benton, Second Meeting.
Three days after the publication of the statement of Judge Lawless on the 20th of September, Benton repudiated it and demanded the second meeting, giving his reasons :
"St. Louis, September 23, 1817.
"Sir-When I released you from your engagement to return to the island, I yielded to a feeling of generosity in my own bosom, and to a sentiment of deference to the judgment of others. From the reports which now fill the country it would seem that yourself and some of your friends have placed my conduct to very different motives. The object of this is to bring these calumnies to an end and to give you an opportunity of justifying the great expectations which have been excited. Colonel Lawless will receive your terms, and I expect your distance not to exceed nine feet.
"T. H. BENTON."
Lucas was attending superior court at Jackson. As soon as he returned to St. Louis he accepted the challenge but denied any responsibility for the reports on which Benton based his challenge.
"St. Louis, September 26, 1817.
"Sir-I received your note of the 23d inst. this morning on my arrival from below. Although I am conscious that a respectable man cannot be found who will say he has heard any of these reports from me, and that I think it more than probable they have been fabricated by your own friends than circulated by any who call themselves mine; yet, with- out even knowing what reports you have heard, I shall give you an opportunity of grati- fying your wishes and the wishes of your news-carriers. My friend, Mr. Barton, has full authority to act for me.
"CHARLES LUCAS."
They met the next morning. The seconds made the distance ten feet. The ball from Benton's pistol went through the right arm of Lucas and entered the body near the heart. Barton said of his principal :
"At the last interview he appeared equally cool and deliberate. Both presented and fired so nearly together that I could not distinguish two reports. Others, who stood on the shore, state that they heard two echoes. It was remarked that Mr. Lucas raised his weapon in good intention; hence it is to be supposed that the ball of his adversary struck his arm before or at the moment his pistol exploded, and destroyed the effect of his shot."
A Father's Lament.
Judge J. B. C. Lucas mourned the death of his son. He wished that he might have died on the battlefield. Charles Lucas enlisted as a private in the war of 1812. He was promoted to captaincy but did not have the opportunity to do actual fighting. Some time after the duel Judge Lucas wrote feelingly, regretting that his son had not been in battle: "O that he had had the good fortune to meet the enemy! He would, I am persuaded, have willingly died fighting for his country, at the head of his little band; or if having done his duty his life had been spared, then, being conscious that his courage could not be questioned, he would probably have had fortitude enough to have been still more forbearing, and being contented to act only on principles of self-defense. he would not have descended to the level of the professional duelist, and staked a valuable life against-nothing."
Benton was challenged repeatedly in after life, once, it is said, by Judge
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J. B. C. Lucas, father of Charles Lucas. He declined to go out again as prin- cipal. He said he had made a promise to Mrs. Benton that he would not fight another duel. But he had several fistic affairs. Mayor John F. Darby told of seeing Benton engaged with two men at one time. The senator got the best of them. using brickbats. When he had a personal affair with Senator Foote upon the floor of the Senate. Benton declared that he never carried weapons.
Henry S. Geyer and George H. Kennerly exchanged shots on Bloody Island. Their meeting took place in 1817. The terms were pistols at twelve paces. Kennerly was wounded in the leg so severely that he was lame the rest of his life. Both Geyer and Kennerly were quite young when their duel occurred. They became close friends afterwards, living to be among the foremost citizens of St. Louis. For both of them avenues were named. According to the late Judge T. T. Gantt, of St. Louis, who had the circumstances from the best pos- 1 sible source, Geyer withheld his fire. When Kennerly had fired and Geyer found himself unharmed, the latter pointed his pistol upward and discharged it. In this case the other principal demanded a second interchange. Geyer aimed to disable, but not to kill. He inflicted a not fatal wound. After Geyer's death Judge Gantt told the story of the duel and of the subsequent relations between the principals. "I have heard Mr. Geyer, without reference to his former rela- tions of hostility to his opponent, speak of him as not only a man of high honor, but one of whom he cherished high regards."
Army officers stationed at or near St. Louis occasionally resorted to Bloody Island to settle differences. Captain Martin and Captain Ramsay, of the First United States Rifles, met on the cross marks in August, 1818. Ramsay was mortally wounded.
Rector-Barton.
Nepotism led to one fatal duel. In the summer of 1823, there appeared in the Republican a letter signed "Philo." It criticized severely the official acts of William C. Rector, surveyor general of the land district which included Mis- souri. One of the chief charges was that Rector had given out lucrative survey- ing contracts to his relatives and personal friends. In those days such action on the part of an officeholder was considered highly dishonorable. The charge of nepotism was made against Rector when he was a candidate for reappoint- ment, and also when his nomination came up for confirmation: Senator Barton was opposing Rector. The surveyor general was in Washington looking after his political interests when the "Philo" letter was printed. The Republican com- mented editorially :
"We have inserted the communication signed 'Philo' on the principle that men in office are bound to answer to the people for the manner in which they discharge their public duties ; and that if charges are made against them from a respectable and responsible source, and are couched in decorous terms, the press would defeat the object of its institution if it refused to permit them to come before the public. By this course the innocent cannot be injured. If the charges are untrue, he who utters them is disgraced; if they are true, the people are interested in knowing it, while the party implicated has nothing to complain of in the development."
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There were nine brothers and four sisters in the Rector family. They came west from Virginia and settled first in Kaskaskia, early establishing a wide repu- tation for physical courage. Several of the brothers served in the war of 1812 and received commissions. The family moved to Missouri. It was the practice of the Rectors to make the affair of one the business of all.
Thomas C. Rector, brother of the surveyor general, came to the Republican office and demanded the name of "Philo." He was informed that the letter had been received from United States Attorney Joshua Barton, brother of the Senator. He immediately challenged. The result was announced by the Re- publican :
"On Monday, 30th ult., a meeting took place between Joshua Barton, Esq., District Attorney of the United States, and Thomas C. Rector, in consequence of a communication signed 'Philo,' which appeared in last week's paper. The parties met at 6 P. M., on the island opposite this place. They both fired at the word, when Mr. Barton fell mortally wounded. Mr. Rector escaped unhurt. Mr. Barton expired on the ground. In him Mis- souri has lost one of her ablest and worthiest citizens."
Surveyor General Rector returned to St. Louis the day after the duel. He published a card asking a suspension of public opinion, saying he would answer the charges against him. At the same time he notified the editors of the Re- publican that he would hold them personally responsible for any further publi- cations reflecting upon him. The response to this came in the form of a letter signed by Edward Bates which appeared in the Republican of the 16th of July : "I lose no time in giving my public pledge to substantiate every material state- ment in the piece signed 'Philo.' I very unwillingly obtrude my name upon the public as a newspaper writer, but the long intimacy and more than brotherly connection between Mr. Barton and me have identified us in the public mind, and caused the people to look to me as the inheritor of his principles and feel- ings for a vindication of his name and character. In this just expectation they shall not be disappointed."
Senator Barton also published a card. He said: "I now assert before the public that every material allegation in the article signed 'Philo' is true, and that I can prove it in any mode of investigation calculated to admit the truth in evidence and the production of testimony."
He gave a list of twelve relatives and personal connections of the surveyor general who had been appointed deputy surveyors. He stated that in 1822 of 254 townships surveyed the contracts for 195 had been given to connections of the Rector family. He concluded: "If General Rector should take offense at what I have written, the courts are open to him, and if I have wronged him the laws will afford him a vindictive remedy. _ If he will venture to take this course, I will justify these statements and prove the facts upon him before a jury."
Senator Barton's Scorching Letter.
Barton continued his fight to avenge his brother's death. The Bartons were opposed to dueling. The senator took the ground that his brother had been forced into the fatal meeting as the result of a conspiracy. He even associated
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that conspiracy with the wrecking of the Bank of Missouri which had taken place a few years previously. John Hardeman, of Franklin, the man who, a century ago, demonstrated the possibilities of floriculture and horticulture in Missouri with a Missouri bottom garden which was the admiration of that gen- eration, suggested that the agitation over the duel be dropped. In reply the - senator wrote Hardeman :
"In your general expression of opinion respecting the practice of dueling I concur, but in your conclusion in reference to my brother's case we differ widely. So far from consid- ering his acceptance tantamount to an acknowledgment of the propriety of the practice, I know it proves nothing in his case, except it be a band of villains composed of Missouri bank directors and surveying contractors had conspired to remove him, and pursued that object for more than twelve months, some under the mask of friendship, and some in other character, until they procured an acceptance, dictated by provocation and not by his judgment; and, although I do not know, I am satisfied of the fact that when they got him on the ground they (A. L. Langham and T. Rector and B. G. Farrar) were just as certain of their victim as a set of blacklegs would be of a gentleman's money who should be provoked to play with them, and by the same means. I believe my brother was swindled out of his life on the ground as clearly as the public was swindled out of the public and private deposits in the Bank of Missouri by the same junta.
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