History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 119

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1150

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" Let the above-named officers of the navy be stricken from the roll.

"ANDREW JACKSON. "31st March, 1830."

Shortly after this was done a number of influential persons declared that the proceeding was arbitrary, that the men had been dismissed without a hearing, and petitions were circulated for signatures, asking that they might be reinstated and an inquiry could be had as to the circumstances attending the duel. William Miller, Sr., the father of the slain man, per- sonally petitioned the President that Hunter might be reinstated ; that he did not regard him as guilty of his son's death, but that his life had been sacrificed to the absurd code of honor which then maintained in the naval service of the government. Hunter was re- instated, and during the Mexican war was court-mar- tialed and dismissed from the squadron because he had captured the town of Alvarado and the Mexican forts in that vicinity without having been ordered by the commodore to do so. Ever after he was known as Alvarado Hunter.

The writer can recall Hunter just previous to his death in St. Joseph's Hospital, New York, when poor, dissipated, and broken in healtlı, it was a gleam of sunlight on his darkened life journey when those who knew him in better times nodded their recognitions or shook his trembling hand. His life had been em-

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

bittered and full of troubles, all dating from that quiet Sunday, near the Delaware, when a man he had never met but twice in his life lay dead before the unerring aim of the best pistol-shot in the American navy. James Gordon Bennett, Sr., at his own cost, placed a tombstone over the grave of an accomplished, brave gentleman, who had dare to capture an enemy's town and fortress without orders, and was suspended be- cause he was victorious.

The Webb and Marshall Duel .-- Forty years ago Thomas F. Marshall was one of the most conspicuous men in public life. As an orator he was the foremost Kentuckian of any period, and ranked superior to Clay, Crittenden, Barry, Pope, Rowan, Bledsoe, Mene- fee, the Breckinridges, and the galaxy of brilliant men who carried the name of their State to the front in the spoken literature of the nation. So potential was his eloquence that in 1841, when he offered him- self a candidate for Congress from the Ashland dis- trict, no antagonist could be found to contest with him on the hustings the issues of the hour, and with- out opposition he was elected a member of the Twenty-seventh Congress. On the floor of the House he was an earnest advocate of the repeal of the bank- ruptcy bill of 1841, while Col. James Watson Webb, editor of the Courier and Enquirer, a daily paper of large influence, published in New York City, was as earnestly enlisted on the other side, and took occasion in his editorials to criticise severely those opposed to his views. Marshall's prominence in advocacy of the measure made him a distinguished figure, and the shafts of Col. Webb's sarcasm and vituperation were frequently directed at the tall Kentuckian, so espe- cially that their purpose was not to be misunderstood.

Early in 1842, Col. Monroe Edwards had been ar- rested in Philadelphia, charged with forging drafts amounting to sixty thousand dollars on Brown Brothers, the bankers, and other well-known business men of New York. He was taken into custody on a requisition from the Governor of New York. The trial ranks as one of the American causes célèbres. The colonel had played no trivial part in the pomp and fashion of the day ; he was a man of conspicuous presence, of fine address, and a cultivated conversa- tionalist, who had mingled familiarly, abroad and in the United States, in the best society. The case at- tracted additional attention because of the magnifi- cent array of counsel employed. The defense was represented by Hon. John J. Crittenden, of Ken- tucky ; Hon. Thomas F. Marshall, of the same State; Messrs. William M. Evarts, J. Prescott Hall, and Robert Emmett, of New York. The commonwealth was represented by Hou. James R. Whiting, district attorney (familiarly known as " Little Bitters," be- cause of his sarcasm), assisted by Hon. Ogden Hoff- man, United States district attorney for the Eastern District of New York, then the most brilliant forensic orator of the United States, whose address in behalf of Richard P. Robinson, when tried for the murder of

Helen Jewett, has ever been regarded as a masterpiece of legal advocacy.

The trial began on the 7th of June, 1842, before Judge William Kent, and the Courier and Enquirer of that date published editorially the following para- graph :

" We learn from the Tribune that the Hon. T. F. Marshall, after wan- dering about the country for geme thirty days lecturing on temperance and giving his experience as a devotee of the bottle, has returned to this city to defend the notorious Monroe Edwards. When he gets back to Washington he will have been absent about forty days, for which he will doubtless draw from the treasury, with the sanction of his brother members, three hundred and twenty dollars! Now, while the editor of the Tribune was advocating the reduction of the army and navy, why did he not gently bint to Congress the necessity of reducing their own pay, and of not paying themselves anything from the public purse while making mountebanks of themselves or devoting their time to advo- cating the cause of notorious swindlers."

Mr. Marshall, when he came to make his address to the jury at the close of the evidence, alluded to this attack on him, and said, ---

" Now, I would venture to assert that under all the circumstances of the case, so far as the public are acquainted with them, that the parallel of that paragraph cannot be found in the whole history of the press of this country. ... But to the attack itself, gentlemen, let me explain the nature and cause of it. It is, let me tell you, a mere personal mat- ter. It is intended for me alone, and for the sole gratification of wreak- ing private revenge in certainly the moet dignified manner and under the most humane circumstances. In short, I did not believe that human revenge on one individual could be conceived in so lofty, so exalted a manner; but I do believe that I was alone the motive, the sole victim sought. But so elevated were the feelings of thie writer, so intent was he of gratifying his revenge on me, that he entirely forgot the cruel and unmanly manner in which he was wreaking it upon the unfortu- nate prisoner, who had never done him the slightest injury or ill-will. I regret exceedingly that this thing ie so, and I regret that it occurred, and that this explanation is necessary. I feel the awkwardness of it, and I am aware if the counsel on the opposite side choose to make an un- generous use of it, it may be made a subject of attack on me. But I felt compelled to make this statement, and it has happened to be my misfortune, my most unpleasant situation, to have had to notice this same disreputable source of attack twice recently, and both times in discharge of my public duties, and I will explain to you the circum- stances that drew forth thie noble mode of revenge, the precious morsel against myself. Last winter this same writer made a charge against Congrese-I state the substance of the charge-that a quantity of British coin had been brought to this country for the purpose of bribing the members of Congress, of which I was one, and that they had been bought to the tune of one hundred thousand dollars apiece! I, in my place in Congress, instantly repelled the charge, and in very mild language for so gross an attack. This brought a letter from the writer of the article asking me to retract what I said. Well, I reviewed the ground, and I didn't. retract it, and haven't retracted it, and I never would retract it on the face of the earth till I die! This brought a second letter, but no retraction followed, and there stuck the correspondence and here is the revenge. Well, I don't know that I am exactly the thing represented in this corrupt paper, but I believe that I can lay some claim to the character of a gentleman, that I am a tolerably good judge of what pertains to the character of a gen- tleman,-at least as well as the man who wrote that article, and who pretends to be a gentlemau. But I will simply remark that in Congress, at the bar, before the people, in all these various characters,-all of which I consider are merged in the character of a gentleman,-that I stand ready at any time aad at all times for whatever I am responsible, and for anything that may have occurred in this eo perfectly filthy a quarrel. Under any circumstances, I pledge my bonor that I shall plead no privilege that pertains to my position as a member of Congress, and I do hope that such gentlemen as have any personal revenge to gratify against me will seek some other mode and place, if they can, and not by means of the public prints gratify their malice against me by attacking my client,-ench time and place as gentlemen can eeek, and they will always find me ready to meet them."

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LOWER CHICHESTER TOWNSHIP.

Although Marshall had thus publicly intimated that he not only expected, but would accept, a chal- lenge from Col. Webb, no such message came. The conviction of Monroe Edwards, and the remarks the prisoner made to the court, complaining that he had been hounded by the press, doubtless deepened the impression on the mind of Marshall that he had been most grossly insulted and ill-used. He, therefore, at the termination of the trial, addressed a note to Col. Webb, demanding satisfaction, and gave it to Lieut. Duke to present to the colonel. When the epistle was delivered to the latter, he, through Mr. Charles Livingstone, informed Lieut. Duke that in the city of New York Col. Webb could not receive such a mes- sage, but that he would be in Wilmington, Del., with his friend, Maj. Morell, on Friday, the 24th day of June, at two o'clock in the afternoon, and he would then receive any communication Mr. Marshall might desire to send him.

At the time designated the parties met at Wilming- ton, I believe at the Indian Queen Hotel, on Market Street. In this, however, I may be in error. Here the challenge was again proffered by Marshall, and was accepted by Webb, who, it was understood, went there to be challenged. Marshall was accompanied by Dr. Carr, of Baltimore, in the capacity of second, and Dr. Gibson, of the same city, a son of Professor Gibson, of Philadelphia, as surgeon, Mr. Hunt, of Kentucky, and his (Marshall's) brother being present as friends. Col. Webb was attended by Maj. Morell, proprietor of the New York Courier, as second, Dr. Tucker, formerly of Virginia, then of Philadelphia, as surgeon. Josiah Randall, Esq., father of ex-Speaker Samuel J. Randall, of Philadelphia, and George Bryer, Esq., were present as his friends. After the prelim- inaries were arranged, and articles written providing for the manner in which the duel was to be con- ducted, both the principals, accompanied by their friends, left Wilmington, intending that the encounter should take place the same evening. The presence of Marshall and Webb in that city quickly became known, and as the intelligence of the bitter blood be- tween the gentlemen had preceded them, the purpose of their visit was surmised, and the authorities were immediately on the alert. The duelists drove in their carriages to Marcus Hook, or rather the present Linwood, but as a number of persons, said to have been nearly one hundred, were following them, they stopped at the Union Hotel, at Hook Cross-roads, then kept by William Appleby. Here Col. Webb (for the purpose of quieting the suspicions of the authorities of Delaware County, for he learned that Hon. John Larkin, Jr., then sheriff, was in the neighborhood, and would use every means at his disposal to prevent the proposed breach of the public peace) left his carriage, went to Marcus Hook, embarked in a boat, and was rowed across the river to the Jersey shore. The impression then became general that Marshall would shortly follow Webb, and that the duel would

be fought in New Jersey during the following day.

The crowd that had gathered stood on the pier watching the movements of the boat, which was rowed slowly along the opposite shore, without indi- cating any disposition on the part of the inmates to disembark on that side of the river. Several persons followed the course of the boat by the use of tele- scopes, until evening coming on, darkness screened the movements of the little craft from further obser- vation. Then the assembled crowd reluctantly dis- persed.

Col. Webb, taking advantage of the darkness, lingered on the river in the boat until late at night, when he returned quietly to Appleby's, about eleven o'clock, and passed the remainder of the night in his carriage. Marshall and his friends were comfortably housed in the Union Hotel. An hour before day- break all the parties interested in the dnel assembled, and a few minutes before four o'clock the carriages, closely following each other, left the hotel and started for the place designated for the enconnter to take place,-an open field on Samnel T. Walker's farm, a few yards to the south of the King's Highway, and just within the Delaware State line. Two gentlemen from Philadelphia, who had not been invited, were present, as well as between thirty and forty persons who resided in the neighborhood.

When the seconds had measured the ground-ten paces-they marked the extremities of the line with stones, one at each end, where the principals were to be stationed. By this time it was daybreak. Maj. Morell tossed a coin to determine the choice of posi- tions, and the silver fell in the grass, a fact which gave rise to some controversy between Dr. Carr and Maj. Morell, the seconds, as to which of the parties had won, both gentlemen resolutely declining to yield. Marshall hearing the dispute, cried in an impatient tone of voice to Dr. Carr, --

"Give it to them, doctor, give it to them. I came here to have a shot at him, and I do not mean to be baffled by trifles."

"We ask you to give nothing," proudly and angrily replied Maj. Morell. "We ask but what is our right."

Marshall's second, however, having yielded the point as instructed by his principal, he, Dr. Carr, tossed a coin to determine whose second should give the word. In this fortune again favored Col. Webb.

The principals took their places when told to do so with alacrity, and with the utmost coolness. Neither had attired himself in apparel best calculated to fight a duel in with the least danger to the wearer. Marshall's tall form, six feet two inches in height, erect, symmetrical, and lithe, was clad in a blue cloak, dark coat and pantaloons, and a light vest. Col. Webb, above the average height in stature, was dressed in a dark coat, vest, and light-brown pair of pantaloons. Each of these two men, as they stood at

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

the places assigned them, placed his left foot against the stone, before mentioned, so as to stand firmly, the right leg advanced slightly towards his antagonist, the weight of the body being supported mainly by the left leg. The pistols-ordinary dueling-pistols- having been loaded, Dr. Carr, Marshall's second, then desired that the articles of agreement which were to govern the encounter should be read by Maj. Morell. One of the clauses stipulated that the friends of the duelists on the ground should be searched. Col. Webb's second and friends insisted that under the terms of the agreement Marshall should himself be searched. Thereupon Dr. Carr walked over to where Col. Webb stood, and received from him his watch, which was worn on the left side of his vest, in a fob- pocket, with a slight gold chain extending across the right breast. Col. Webb, as he took these trinkets from his person, did not move from the position in which he had been placed by his friends. Maj. Morell remained standing at the place when he had read the agreement, and Marshall, noticing this, approached him, and requested the major to search him. This the latter persistingly declined to do, whereupon Marshall produced a small pocket-comb and several other trifling articles, stating that they were all he had in his pockets. He then returned to his place.

Maj. Morell, in a clear, distinct voice, inquired, " Gentlemen, are you ready ?"

"I am," responded Col. Webb.

" No, I am not," replied Mr. Marshall. And for a moment he paused, while every person gazed earnestly and wonderingly at him. He looked fixedly and searchingly at Col. Webb for a minute or two, then unfastening his cloak, and slowly lifting his hat from his head, he tossed both articles of apparel from him without having apparently altered his position in the least.

"Now, sir," he said, " I am ready."

During this peculiar proceeding on the part of his antagonist Col. Webb preserved the utmost coolness and self-possession.

Maj. Morell glanced hastily at the combatants, and then in full, audible tones exclaimed, " Fire ! One- two-three !"

Just before the word "one" the pistols were dis- charged, and so simultaneous were the reports that for a moment it was believed that Col. Webb had not fired his weapon at all. The ball from his pistol, however, had fallen in a direct line, and entered the ground almost at the feet of Marshall, while the lat- ter's ball struck the earth ten feet in front, and about three feet to the right of where Col. Webb stood.

Marshall then raising his pistol in the air above his head, cried, " Auother shot."

A parley was thereupon had between the seconds, who consulted with their principals, and it was deter- mined that another fire should be exchanged. The pistols were accordingly loaded once more and placed in the hands of the two men who stood facing each

other, without having changed position from that in which the first fire had been had.

Again the word was given, and again the pistols were discharged.

At the word "Fire!" both men brought their weapons to a level, and before the word "two" was spoken, as at the first discharge, the reports mingled together. The ball from Col. Webb's pistol passed in close proximity to the person of Marshall, but he escaped without a scratch. Col. Webb for a moment after the firing kept his position, apparently unhurt, then he faltered on the left foot. Maj. Morell, his second, believing that his principal was unharmed, was looking in the direction of Marshall, when Dr. Carr suddenly exclaimed,-

"Sir, your friend is falling. Why don't you catch him ?"

Dr. Carr, as soon as he noticed that Col. Webb was staggering, had called thus to Maj. Morell, but with- out waiting for a response he sprang towards and caught Col. Webb in his arms and gently laid him on the grass, supporting his shoulders. Dr. Tucker, the wounded man's surgeon, came forward and examined the injury. The ball had entered the left leg just below the knee, on the back part of the inside, and had passed out on the outside of the leg. After the wound had been examined Dr. Carr returned to Marshall, when the latter inquired where Col. Webb had been hit. The doctor stated that he was wounded below the knee.

"What!" exclaimed Marshall, " hit in the knee! It is the damnedest lowest act of my life ! We must exchange another shot. That man has injured me more than any other being on earth. If he can stand I expect and demand that we shall exchange another fire."

Dr. Carr immediately walked over to Maj. Morell and told him that Marshall desired a third shot. The major quickly responded that it would depend upon Col. Webb's condition, and Dr. Tucker would decide as to that. The wound by this time was bleeding profusely. Maj. Morell, addressing himself to Dr. Tucker, said, ----

" Dr. Carr informs me that Mr. Marshall insists on a third shot if Col. Webb can possibly stand. The demand strikes me as unwarrantable, as Col. Webb's wound, it seems to me, will put him at most serious disadvantage; but I desire that you, doctor, shall decide this matter."

Quite a number of the bystanders by this time had gathered around the seconds, and listened anxiously to the conversation.

"Col. Webb's wound might, of course, have been more dangerous," replied Dr. Tucker. " As it is, it may be serious, for my examination has not yet been sufficiently thorough to determine whether any of the nerves or muscles have been permanently injured. It fortunately now appears to be only a flesh wound. | Under any circumstances, however, it is impossible

William éTramer

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LOWER CHICHESTER TOWNSHIP.

for Col. Webb to continue the matter at present. I will not listen to it, sir."

Marshall's brother, who had withdrawn some dis- tance from the ground where the duelists stood dur- ing the firing, now joined the group, and said, with much warmth of manner,-

"It is absurd to talk about another shot. This matter has already gone far enough. Tom has no right to ask it of Col. Webb, but he should rather thank God that things are not more serious than they are."

The bystanders now joined in and declared that they would not permit the duel to be continued ; that both the gentlemen ought to be satisfied, at least for the time being. Col. Webb, who was lying on the ground, supported in the arms of Maj. Morell (who, after he had told Dr. Tucker the import of Marshall's demand, had returned to the side of his principal), inquired what was the subject-matter of discussion. Maj. Morell stated that Marshall was not satisfied, and had demanded another exchange of shots.

" I have entertained no unkind feelings towards Mr. Marshall at any time," replied Webb; “ nor do I now feel unkindly towards him. I do not know why he should bear such uncompromising malice against me."

When it was announced to Marshall that the second and surgeon of Col. Webb, and even the bystanders, would not consent to the continuation of the duel at the present time, he shrugged his shoulders, remark- ing,-

" We've no further business here; we may as well return to the hotel." And almost immediately Mar- shall and his friends left the grounds, both parties ap- parently entertaining the same hated feeling towards each other as when they met. In a few moments after Marshall left, Col. Webb was assisted to his feet by his friends, and partly lifted over the fence and placed in his carriage, which drove off to Appleby's.

Marshall and his party went to Marcus Hook, in- tending to get aboard the steamboat, but finding that they could not do so, they returned to the Union Hotel for breakfast. Marshall meeting Mr. Randall on the porch, inquired how Webb was, trusted that his wound would not be a serious one, and expressed re- grets that he had insisted upon the third shot. His excitement and anger, seemingly, had entirely abated. Marshall and his party, later in the day, went directly to Baltimore and Washington.

At the Union Hotel, Col. Webb had his wound dressed anew, and while the surgeon was probing he is said to have watched the movements of the doctor with interest, but without exhibiting the least fear or indicating in anywise that he was suffering pain. At an early hour Col. Webb's party drove to Philadel- phia, reaching that city at half-past nine o'clock in the forenoon, and stopped at the United States Hotel, where the wound was again examined, and some ap- prehension expressed that it might be necessary to

amputate the leg. This anticipation was not realized. Col. Webb in a few days became much better, and his flow of spirits never deserted him. On one occasion when a friend asked him if he was not tired of being confined to his bed, he, with a good-natured laugh replied, " I can't help it; I am under Marshall law."

On the return of Col. Webb and Maj. Morell to New York, they were arrested for violating the statutes of that commonwealth, which made it penal to leave the State to accept, fight, or be anywise con- nected with a duel. The grand jury found a true bill against Webb ; he was tried, and the jury rendered a verdict of guilty. The case excited general public attention, and Webb was for a season one of the noted sensations. His friends brought enormous pressure on Hon. Silas Wright, then Governor, who made him the object of executive clemency.

On June 9, 1845, Washington Keith and Morris Meredith, both of Philadelphia, fought a duel on the old field,-where, it was said, the stones marking the spaces where Hunter and Miller stood remained un- disturbed, and every spring were whitewashed to make them conspicuous. By a stupid blunder of the seconds, at the word only one of the principals (Keith) fired, his ball lodging in Meredith's thigh. The wounded man, too badly injured to return the fire of the man who had shot without being shot at, was brought to Chester, where Dr. McClellan, who had attended as one of the surgeons, extracted the ball, and after many weeks the wound healed kindly. There was, however, no further effort made to give Meredith a chance to rectify the error. He had es- caped with his life, and honor's demands had been fully met.

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History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Part 119

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Ashmead, Henry Graham, 1838-1920
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1150