USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume I > Part 32
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"I shall never agree to say no more about it until at least the immediate agents of the junta, A. L. Langham and T. Rector, are executed by the hangman, though I should prefer their commanding officers if they could be reached. My brother had talent and integrity enough to be an obstacle to the career of the leaders of this junta, and therefore he was hunted down, a particular pretext being always found in such cases. The fore- going views and opinions have been often expressed by me, and I consider you under no injunctions to secrecy in conversing upon this subject.
"When my brother fell he charged the villains with having shot him before the word was given. The swindler chief, General Rector, has been cited to make his defense upon the charge for which he caused my brother to be removed. The proof is full, and unless sham trials are in use here as well as in St. Louis he cannot escape. I was this man's friend so long as I thought him an honest man and no longer."
The Code Condemned.
Public sentiment in St. Louis grew strong against dueling. In 1823 the Missouri Republican voiced this sentiment when it said: "Two more persons have been killed in duels near St. Louis. Their names are Messrs. Waddle and Crow. It must be a vicious state of society in which the pistol is the umpire in every controversy."
Rev. Timothy Flint, who came out to Missouri in 1816, and held a pastorate, wrote back to his brother, Rev. James Flint, of Salem, Mass., that the practice of dueling was confined to a small class :
"In the towns of the upper country on the Mississippi, and especially in St. Louis, there is one species of barbarism that is but too common. I mean the horrid practice of dueling. Be it remembered this is the barbarism only of that small class that denominate themselves 'the gentlemen.' It cannot be matter of astonishment that these are common here when we recollect that the fierce and adventurous spirits are naturally attracted to these regions, and that it is a common proverb of the people that when we cross the Mississippi, 'We travel beyond the Sabbath.' It would lead me to such personalities as I mean to avoid were I to give you details, and my views of the fatal duels, of which there were so many while I was here. I can only say that I lost in this dreadful way two individuals with whom I had personal intercourse and from whom I had received many
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kindnesses. All that fell were men in office, of standing and character. I am not here going to start a dissertation upon the trite subject of dueling, the most horrible and savage relic of a barbarous age."
Illinois put a stop to dueling between citizens of that state at an early day, but did not seriously interfere with Missourians. In 1819, Alonzo G. Stuart and William Bennett fought at Belleville. The seconds conspired to prevent bloodshed and loaded the rifles without bullets. As his weapon was handed to Bennett he slipped in a bullet. Stuart was mortally wounded. Bennett was tried for murder and convicted. Appeals to Governor Bond for clemency were without avail. Bennett was hung. Some Illinois historians have claimed that that was the last duel fought within the state by its citizens and that the execu- tion of Bennett made the practice unpopular. But Illinois did not consider that its jurisdiction extended to Bloody Island.
Thomas H. Benton was concerned in the affair at Belleville. He defended the two seconds. Public sentiment was so strongly aroused that indictments were returned against the seconds, who were Jacob Short and Nathan Fike. The duel took place in February, at a time when there was a large gathering in Belleville from the surrounding country. It was arranged apparently to test Bennett. The testimony went to show an understanding on the part of all but Bennett that the duel was a sham. The place selected was a lot just north of the main street of the town. The weapons were rifles and the loading was by the seconds. The principals were stationed forty yards apart. Stuart did not fire. After he fell his rifle was picked up by one of the seconds and discharged.
Stuart was a man of some prominence in St. Clair county. Benton secured the acquittal of Short and Fike. The trial brought out testimony to the effect that Bennett had put a bullet in his gun after receiving it from the second. Bennett had been arrested and was in jail.
When the sheriff went to bring him to court for trial he could not be found. In some manner he had escaped from the jail and reached the Missouri side of the river. Two years later he was caught, tried, convicted and executed. Judge John R. Reynolds, before whom the three men were tried, in an account of the affair, wrote that it "was considered the result of a wild, drunken frolic, and it never did assume the character of a regular and honorable duel."
The Rev. Timothy Flint in one of his letters to a brother in Massachusetts gave a different version of the Belleville duel. His account was written not long after the tragedy.
"A young gentleman, a respectable attorney, had just commenced business. He had been bullied by a man who was indeed an officer in rank, but a dubious character. The young gentleman had been cautioned against being drawn into the contest, and had been assured, that, according to the orthodox canons of honor, the character of the man did not justify fighting him. But an idea was entertained that he had not sufficient nerve to stand a challenge. It was agreed by his friends that the next time the man insulted him, he should send him a challenge and that the seconds should load both rifles-for they were to fight with rifles-with blank cartridges. The opposite party was not to be in the secret and the joke was to watch his eye and see if it did not blench. The chal- lenge was sent and the seconds on both sides made a solemn contract with each other that both guns should be loaded with blank cartridges. The young attorney went out to watch the eye of his antagonist and to enjoy the joke. The parties met. discharged and
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the attorney fell with two rifle bullets through his heart. The wretch who was second for his antagonist had violated his stipulation and had loaded the rifle with two bullets. An amiable young woman was left a widow with one orphan babe."
Shields-Lincoln. 1
While Illinois claimed to have put an end to dueling on the sacred soil of that state, through the hanging of William Bennett, this summary action did not deter citizens of Illinois from coming over to the Missouri side, or rather from making use of islands between the two states. On the 22nd of September, 1842. stage coaches rattled down the long valley between the bluffs. of Alton and unloaded an extraordinary passenger list at the Piasa hotel. People on the wide, double galleries of the three-story, hipped-roof hotel looked and mar- veled as James Shields, state auditor, accompanied by General Whitesides, and several other well known Springfield Democrats, came out of one coach and went into the hotel. Wonder increased 100 per cent when another vehicle unloaded Abraham Lincoln, the lawyer, E. H. Berryman and William Butler. About that time or a few minutes later, Elijah Lott, J. J. Hardin and other well known Illinoisans drove hurriedly into town. There was no hilarity but an air of serious business manifested. A bundle of long, clumsy dragoon sabres was lifted down from the roof of one of the coaches and carried into the hotel. All over town the news spread that a duel was about to come off. "Jim" Shields had challenged "Abe" Lincoln and they were going to cross over on Missouri soil and fight with broadswords, the regulation sabres of the United States cavalry, called at that time dragoons.
Lott and Hardin began negotiations to bring about a settlement. Notwith- standing the efforts of the peacemakers, the seconds went about preparations energetically. The seconds leading the way, and an attendant carrying the weapons, Shields and Lincoln went down to the river and on board a ferry boat with paddle wheels which were driven by horses. Alton's population flocked - to the bank or gathered in west windows which commanded a good view. The town constable was taken on board to help handle the crowd which threatened to overload the boat. One newspaper man secured passage. He was "Bill" Souther, better known in Illinois history as William G. Souther.
The Souther family is well known in both Illinois and Missouri. The Amer- ican ancestor of the family was the first secretary of Plymouth colony. Bill Souther was a printer on the Alton Telegraph and Democratic Review. Later. he became the editor of a Springfield newspaper. Other members of the Souther family moved from Alton to St. Louis and founded one of the great metal industries of Missouri. Bill Souther saw and heard all, but his paper in its next issue printed not one word about the duel.
As soon as the ferry touched the island so near to the Missouri side as to be practically part of this state, Mr. Lincoln was conducted in one direction and Mr. Shields in another. They sat down on logs while seconds and mutual friends entered into a conference. It didn't take long to determine that the proceedings were going along on a false basis. The challenge, as discovered by experts in the queer precedents of the code, had been sent prematurely. Lincoln had some time previously amused himself and entertained Springfield
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Whig readers by writing humorous gossip about the Democrats. He signed. these communications "Aunt Rebecca." Mary Todd, who afterwards became the wife of Lincoln, and Julia Jayne, her chum, conspired to make the situation even more interesting and contributed their woman's wit to an "Aunt Rebecca" letter of their own. They added some verses, which they signed "Cathleen." They were more than funny at Shields' expense. The auditor went to the editor and demanded the real name of "Aunt Rebecca." The girls were frightened. They appealed to Bunn, the banker, to help them out. Bunn went to Lincoln and said :
"We've got into an awful fix."
"What's the matter?" asked Lincoln.
"The girls have written some poetry on Shields," said Bunn. "Didn't you see it in the paper? Shields says he won't stand for it. What shall we do about it ?"
"Go back and when you meet Shields tell him that I wrote it," said Lincoln. Shields accepted this without further investigation and challenged Lincoln, who chose sabres for the weapons and let the preparations go on. In the conference on the island the true story of authorship was told by the peacemakers. The seconds saw at once that the duel must be stopped. Thomas M. Hope of Alton, prominent in the party, went to Shields and told him he would bring disgrace on the Democratic party if he let the duel proceed under such circumstances. Then, as usual under the code, the interchange of notes went on between the seconds. Shields, seeing the mistake that had been made when he learned that Lincoln had not written the objectionable matter, gave ready consent to have the challenge withdrawn.
Bill Souther, good newspaper man that he was, gave attention to what the principals were doing. He said that for some time after the landing, Lincoln and Shields sat quietly on their logs. Lincoln said nothing and to Souther he looked serious. After awhile something happened, and Souther said that when he saw it, he "nearly blew up." The bundle of sabres had been laid down near the log on which Lincoln was sitting. Lincoln reached down and took one of the weapons. He drew the blade slowly from the scabbard. Souther said "it looked as long as a fence-rail." Holding the blade by the back, Lincoln looked closely at the edge, and then, after the manner of one who has been grinding a scythe or a corn knife, he began to feel gingerly the edge with the ball of his thumb. By this time Bill Souther was tremendously interested. Holding the sabre by the handle, Lincoln stood up and looked around. He evidently saw in a willow tree several feet away what he was looking for. Raising the mighty weapon with his long arm, Lincoln reached up and cut one of the topmost twigs of the willow. When he had satisfied himself thoroughly as to the efficiency of the broadsword, he sat down. A few minutes later the correspondence was closed on terms "honorable to both parties."
.As the boat put back to Alton the spectators on the bank were horrified to see lying prone upon the deck a figure covered with blood, while a well known Altonian leaned over the figure plying a fan vigorously. Not until the boat hvas close in shore was it seen that the figure was a log of wood and that the
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"bloody" covering was a red flannel shirt. Wentworth dropped the fan, stood up and grinned.
Lincoln was six feet and four inches tall, with an arm length in proportion. Shields was five feet and six inches, chunky and short-limbed. Bill Souther marveled much over the willow tree exhibition, and wondered how long Shields could have stood up against such odds.
The Alton Telegraph and Democratic Review came out two days after the duel. Not one word about what Bill Souther saw on the island was printed. Not the slightest reference was made to the affair. But one week later the newspaper had an editorial on "Our city was the theatre of an unusual scene of excitement during the last week, arising from the visit of two distinguished gentlemen of the city of Springfield, who, it was understood had come here with a view of crossing the river to answer the 'requisitions of the code of honor' by brutally attempting to assassinate each other in cold blood." The paper at considerable length dwelt on the lawlessness of Mr. Shields and Mr. Lincoln and said "We again call upon Mr. Attorney Lamborn to exercise a little of that zeal which he is continually putting into requisition against the less favored but no less guilty offenders and bring all who have been concerned in the late attempt at assassination to justice."
The editor of the Alton Telegraph and Democratic Review was George T. M. Davis, twice mayor of Alton, and later the editor of the New Era at St. Louis. His descendants are well known Missourians of the present generation.
Lincoln's terms, as the challenged party, were unique in the history of duel- ing both as to weapons and positions :
"Cavalry broadswords of the largest size, precisely equal in all respects, and as now used by the cavalry company at Jacksonville.
"A plank ten feet long and from nine to twelve inches broad, to be firmly fixed on edge in the ground as a dividing line between us, which neither is to pass his foot over or forfeit his life; next a line drawn on the ground, on either side of said plank, and parallel with it; each at the distance of the whole length of the sword and three feet additional from the plank; and the passing of such line by either party during the fight shall be declared a surrender of the contest."
Legislation Against the Practice.
The Missouri legislature of 1822 considered a bill making death from a duel murder and prohibiting from office holding all who engaged in it. The preamble to this law declared: "Experience has evidenced that the existing remedy for the suppression of the barbarous custom is inadequate to the purpose and the progress and consequences of the evil have become so destructive as to require an effort of the general assembly to arrest a vice the result of ignorance and barbarism justified neither by the precepts of morality nor by the dictates of reason." Three fatal duels within a year prompted this strong expression by the law-making body of the new State of Missouri.
Missouri endeavored in various ways to put a stop to dueling. Sentiment had grown strong upon the evil. But, as often in reforms, sentiment overreached itself. The opposition to the code found conditions so favorable to remedial legislation that the legislature of 1824-5 passed a very drastic bill. Imprisonment
MADAME CHOUTEAU, LA MERE DE ST. LOUIS (Marie Thérese Bourgeois)
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was not deemed sufficient penalty. The bill provided that those who engaged in dueling should be whipped. Governor Frederick Bates declined to approve the measure. He said to the legislature : "I am happy on this occasion to record my utter detestation and abhorrence of dueling. My duty to my neighbors and to myself would compel me as well in my private as in my public capacity to discountenance and put down, if possible, so barbarous and so impious a prac- tice." But he could not see the way clear to sign a bill which made the lash the punishment for fighting a duel. The state senate mustered the necessary two- thirds vote to pass the bill over the governor, but the house failed to do so.
Leonard-Berry.
In 1819 a slender Vermont youth walked from St. Charles to Old Franklin, near Boonville. He carried all he possessed in a bundle at the end of a stick. One of these possessions was a license to practice law. While the young New Englander was gaining a professional foothold in Missouri he had a difficulty with Major Taylor Berry, who struck him with a whip. The impression in the community was that the Yankee would not fight a duel. Abiel Leonard wrote at once to Berry: "Sir, I demand a personal interview with you. My friend, Mr. Boggs, will make the necessary arrangements."
The challenge. was sent on the 26th of June, 1824. Berry accepted. He named Major A. L. Langham as his friend. In accepting, he wrote: "My business, which embraces many duties to others, will require my personal atten- tion until after the Ist of September next, after which time any further delay will be asked from you only."
The principals and their seconds traveled down the Missouri to St. Louis and thence to New Madrid. The time set for the duel was the first of Septem- ber. Berry was mortally wounded. Under the law of Missouri Leonard was disfranchised and disbarred. Long petitions for the removal of his disabilities were signed and sent to the legislature. At the next session Leonard was restored to all of his rights. Ten years later he was elected to the legislature. Subsequently he became a judge of the supreme court of Missouri.
Possibly Benton did not enjoy dueling. Certainly he took intense interest in these "affairs of honor." Into his "Thirty Years' View of the History of the Workings of the American Government" he wrote a defense, or, perhaps, better, an apology for the code. Following the death of Congressman Cilley at the hand of Graves of Kentucky, Congress made the penalty for dueling in the Dis- trict of Columbia death to all of the survivors when one of the principals was killed and five years in the penitentiary for sending or accepting a challenge. This legislation was the text of Benton's comment :
"Certainly it is deplorable to see a young man, the hope of his father and mother-a ripe man, the head of a family-an eminent man necessary to his country-struck down in a duel, and should be prevented if possible. Still this deplorable practice is not so bad as the bowie knife and the revolver, and their pretext of self-defense-thirsting for blood. In the duel there is at least consent on both sides, with a preliminary opportunity for settle- ment, with a chance for the law to arrest them, and room for the interposition of friends as the affair goes on. There is usually equality of terms; and it would not be called an affair of honor if honor was not to prevail all round; and if the satisfying a point of honor, Vol. I-19
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and not vengeance, was not the end attained. Finally, in the regular duel, the principals are in the hands of the seconds (for no man can be made a second without his consent) ; and as both these are required by the dueling code (for the sake of fairness and humanity) to be free from ill will or grudge toward the adversary principal, they are expected to terminate the affair as soon as the point of honor is satisfied, and the less the injury so much the better."
Senator Linn on the Code.
Benton's colleague, Doctor Linn, was not without experience in the code. As a surgeon he was present when Biddle and Pettis inflicted fatal wounds upon each other. As senator he took part in the debate upon the legislation sug- gested by the death of Cilley. What he said was especially interesting because he cited Missouri illustrations to sustain his arguments. Senator Linn urged that too drastic legislation would defeat the purpose. What community could be found, he asked, that would pronounce a man either a murderer or a felon, who might have chanced to kill another in fair and equal combat? No man, he was persuaded, who came to act on his responsibility as a juror, would be pre- pared to render such a verdict. Many of the states had passed severe penal enact- ments in relation to the matter, and yet where was the state where such laws had been carried into effect ? Other legislatures had sought milder remedies, such as punishing dueling by disfranchising their citizens, rendering them forever after incapable of holding offices of profit or trust, honor, or emolument. Such laws, he maintained, had a more wholesome action than those unjust and cruel enactments, because the one was generally carried into effect while the other was little better - than a dead letter. To illustrate the effect of public opinion on the subject, Sen- ator Linn instanced a case in his own state, where the people were as much averse to fighting as those of any other in the Union (though he was aware that a contrary opinion prevailed among many in relation to Missouri)-where a small man, for a supposed offense, was cruelly lashed by a large one, the result . of which was a challenge on the part of the small one to fight, in which duel the large man was shot twice, the last wound mortal.
The survivor was found guilty under the laws of Missouri, when a petition was gotten up, signed almost unanimously by the people, and presented to the legislature, which body remitted the penalties almost by acclamation. And so, Mr. Linn said, it would be in all like cases-either the legislature or the execu- tive would step in to counteract the law. If such a bill could be introduced as would strike at the root of the evil it would cheerfully have his support. He was aware that dueling was not defensible on principles of Christianity. All the legislatures of the Union have concurred in denouncing the practice of dueling as evil in itself, and yet have we not seen them come in to stay the law? From what little he had seen it appeared to him that fighting was like marrying -the more barriers that were erected against it, the surer were they to come together.
Farther along in the debate, Senator Linn held up Missouri experience for the enlightenment of the United States Senate. He said they had now a law in his state which was more effectual for the prevention of dueling than any other law that had ever been passed. In cases of assault, all abusive words and defama- tory language went to the jury in mitigation of the offense.
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Mr. Benton-As a justification ?
Mr. Linn-Yes, sir, as a justification: and if that abusive member, the tongue, was permitted to have too free a license, the same license was permitted to the individual to redress his grievance. He thought if the same law applied to the Senate of the United States, there would be a little more decorum than he had witnessed. This law, of which he had spoken, had had a better effect in the prevention of dueling than any other that had ever been passed, and he thought it would be better for the peace and harmony of society if such a law was more generally prevalent throughout the United States. The reference in Sen- ator Linn's remarks to a Missouri case was undoubtedly to the Leonard-Berry fatality.
Benton the Adviser of Pettis.
Manuscript collections of the Missouri Historical Society give Benton a much closer relationship to the Pettis-Biddle duel than is attributed in printed accounts of the tragedy. Thomas Biddle was an officer of high standing in the United States army. He was a brother of Commodore Biddle of the navy and of Nich- olas Biddle, president of the United States Bank. He' had distinguished himself by gallantry in the war of 1812, and especially at the battle of Lundy's Lane. Making St. Louis his home, Thomas Biddle married a daughter of John Mullan- phy. His wealth and social position made him one of the most conspicuous per- sonalities in St. Louis. Spencer Pettis was a member of Congress, the only representative from Missouri. He had just been elected for a second term. He was of Virginia birth, a young man of fine family and very popular.
The congressional election was on the second of August. In his speeches during the campaign, Pettis attacked the United States Bank. He was a follower of Benton. But he not only assailed the bank on principle, he reflected on the management in such a manner as to arouse the indignation of Major Biddle. The latter replied in one of the St. Louis papers, calling Pettis "a dish of skimmed milk." Pettis published his answer. Early one morning Biddle went to the hotel where Pettis was stopping. He found the Congressman in bed, pulled off the cover and used a whip. There could be but one outcome for such an insult.
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