1619
William Eppes v. Edward Stallings
[A. W. Patterson, The Code Duello, with Special Reference to the State of Virginia (Richmond, Va.: Richmond Press, 1927) 23-4; 1V312; 5V340; 7V139; 19V231.]
1619..letter John Delbridge Yeardley to Sir Edwin Sandys 1619 reports “a misfortune”..upon coming to Smyths Hundred had found Eps commanding with Mr. Haull and Mr. Neman dead “a Hopefull yong gentellman” made him “Captayne over the people” totally in charge in Yeardley’s absence..but on 30 May 1619 Capt. Stalling employed by Sir Ferdinando Gorges “coming to Smythes Hundred some difference ffell betweene theme and drunkennes wch of late hath bin to Common stiring them farther to malice and blowes, so that Epps lett drive at Stalling with his sworde but scaberd and all, yett the blow was so fforcible that he Cleft him the scull and next day he died thereon, this matter is not yett tryed in regard I have bin trobled with these buisinesses of Capt Argalls, in the meane he is Commmitted to the Provost Mareshalls…I am sory for Capt Epps in Regard he is a proper yong man, and Recomended to me by Sir Nicholas Tuston for whose sake I desired to doe him all the ffurterhance I could, and I hope yett yf he be Cleared with his lyfe of this matter he may by god his grace repent and become a good member of that Plantation, wherein I shall be willing to Instruct him” [RVC3:121(19)]
Jan 1619/20 Letter John Rolfe to Sir Edwin Sandys..”These principall men [the Burgesses] being at James Citie, Cap[ten] William Epps (who commandeth Smythes Hundred Company) was arraigned (as neere as might be) according to the lawdable Lawes of England, for killing one Captaine Edward Roecroft als Stallenge” who had come for the North Colony of Gorges but forced aground in storn near Newport News had sprung leak due to neglect of master of ship and others..”This myschance happened through vncivill and vnmanly words vrged by Stallenge (there being no precedent malice) wth wch Captaine Epps being much moved did strike him on te heade wth a sword in the skabberd such an vnfortunate blowe, that wthin 2. daied he died. The Jury (whereof Capt Lawne was foreman a discreete and vnderstanfing man) hearing the Evidence, found him guilty of Manslaughter by Chaunce meddley. The Governor fynding him (though young) a proper civill gent, and of good hopes, not long after restored hm to his Command” [RVC3:242]
Capt William Eps commander of the Eastern Shore Plantations 21 Nov 1623 [RVC4:404]
shortly after Yeardley’s arrival [May?] 1619 Capt. Edward Stallings “landed at Dancing Point, where he had a private quarrel (duel?) with Mr. William Epes, in which he was slain” [Alexander Brown, The First Republic in America (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1898) 309.]
1624
Capt. William Epps v. Ensign fnu Savage
fight not duel..Epps accused Savage of slander [19V230-1.][same William Epps?]
Thomas Leicester v. Roger Stanley
sword fight..Stanley accused Leicester of lying and then drew out sword [19V230-1.]
George Harrison v. Richard Stephens
spring 1624 near James City [1V83, 216; 11V410; 19V226; Patterson 24.]
spring 1624 when his goods arrived at Jamestown, “George Harrison was sick at his plantation near Martin’s Brandon, ‘yet at length he recovered some strength and coming from his plantation to James cittie [to see about his good], there was some words of discontent past between him and Mr. Richard Stephens [merchant], with some blowes. 8 or 10 days after Mr Harrison sent a challenge to Stephens to meet him in a place, which was made mention of, and there, they metting to‑gether it so fell out that Mr harrison received a cut in the leg which did somewhat gireve him and 14 days after he departed this life. Being hurt inthe field there was a crowners quest upon him. The Doctor and Chirgions did open his bodie upon the Juries request and they found it very fowle. They did affirm that he could not have lived long and that he dyed not of the hurt which he had received. For it was but a small cut between the garter and his knee'” [Brown, First Republic 582.]
“In the spring of 1624 he [George Harrison] had a duel (probably the first in Virginia) with Richard Stephens, somewhere near James City in Virginia, in which he received a small cut in the knee only, but died fourteen days after. The jury at the inquest affirmed that he died of natural disease” [Alexander Brown, The Genesis of the United States, 2 vols. (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1891) 2: 913.]
“Among English fashions which the Virginians, very happily, did not bring with them was that of duelling, for though duels were frequent after the Revolution, they were so rare in the colony that only two of them are known to have been actualy fought. The first of these was at ‘Dancing Point,’ in Charles City County, in 1619, when a sea-captain named Edward Stallinge was killed by Captain William Eppes. In the second, in 1624, George Harrison died from a cut between the knee and garter from the sword of Captain Richard Stephens” (158-9)
1643
name unknown v. name unknown
unnamed commissioner disabled from holding office for having challenged a councillor [8V69; Wertenbaker 77.]
1653
Capt. Thomas Hackett v. Mr. Daniell Fox
challenge Lancaster Co..delivered by Hackett’s son-in-law Richard Denham..Hackett held for good behavior [2V96-7, cites Orders & Deeds, Lancaster, 1652-1657, pp. 64, 65; Stanard, Colonial Virginia 159.]
“In 1653 Richard Denham was the bearer of a challenge from his father-in-law, Captain Thomas Hacket, to Mr. David Fox, a magistrate sitting on the bench. For this disregard of the law and of propriety Denham was given six lashes on his bare back, and Hacket held without bail and his case sent on to the next General Court” [Stanard, Colonial Virginia 159]
Denham vs Fox with one of justices Major Carter horrified and harsh reproval and punishment while Fox refused challenge from gentlemen and indeed request arrest of Hackett shows no acceptance of code duello [W 77‑9 cites 2V96, Bruce Soc Life p.246]
1676
Gov. William Berkeley v. Bacon
[1V712, 184]
Giles Bland v. Thomas Ludwell
30 May 1676 account Mr. John Bland in case of Giles Bland [Copy] (21V126-7)..Mr. John Bland Merchant settled two of his Brothers in VA both dying but one leaving widow sent son Giles “whom he had bredd a merchant” to settle (126)..argument between Thomas Ludwell and Giles Bland “after they had dranke plentifully”.. “being in Drinke” Bland resents aspersiosn on his father “having both dranke of ye same Cupp and being transported with passion” exchanged gloves and agreed to duel next morning..but of £500 fine appeals to his Maj mercy court intended “rather to deter him from the like Rash Actions for the tyme to come, then to Ruin him” (127)
8 Jun 1676 Minutes CTP [CEB 104:p.133]..Answer Thomas Ludwell to Bland’s Petition [question whether this date not necessarily connected]..reports Bland came to house “being heated with Wine & brandy” came with Sir Henry Chicheley “to shelter themselves from the approaching night”..and drink “not in any quantity which might heat either party” (21V129)..”with all who know him he hath ever passed under a better character than that of being a Drunkard or forcing others to be so” (130)..”As to the pretended Challenge as the Respondt knew better what was becoming the place he exercised than to give or accept a challenge from any man” (130)..rather Bland next morning before Ludwell risen took glove..find L500 for affront to Assembly by nailing glove and note on door (130) [note Ludwell has to prove both that Bland did not act under influence of spirits and that Ludwell no part in instigating duel]
On Bland, see “The Case of Giles Bland, 1676,” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 21 (1913): 126-35.
1695-6
Daniel Parke v. Gov. Nicholson
continuing quarrel
[On Parke, see William Stevens Perry, ed., Historical Collections relating to the American Colonial Church, Vol. I.‑-Virginia (Privately published, 1870), 23-9; “Virginia Gleanings in England,” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 20 (1912): 372-81; Louis B. Wright, “Wm. Byrd’s Defense of Sir Edmund Andros‑-a Notebook in Byrd’s Handwriting in the Huntington Library,” William and Mary Quarterly, 3d ser. 2 (1945): 47-62; Ruth Bourne, “John Evelyn, the Diarist, and his Cousin Daniel Parke II,” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 78 (1970): 3-33; Fischer, Albion’s Seed, 318-9.]
1711
George Wortham v. Benjamin Davis
drunken brawl..Davis killed
[Darrett B. Rutman and Anita H. Rutman, A Place in Time: Middlesex County, Virginia 1650‑1750 (New York: W.W. Norton, 1984) 31-33, 138-42]
1730
Reodolphus Malbone v. Solomon White, Gent.
[3V89; 4N106; Patterson 24; Chesterman, March 11, 1909]
Jan. 1730 challenge in Princess Anne County..Malbone held for good behavior
1765
John Scott/Cuthbert Bullitt v. Col. John Bayliss
4 Sep 1765 in Dumfries, Va.
other principles..Bayliss’s second Skipwith White..challenger exonerated
[Mary Newton Stanard, Colonial Virginia: Its People and Customs (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1917) ; Clara S. McCarty, comp., Duels in Virginia and Nearby Bladensburg (Richmond: Dietz Press, 1976) 9-11; William Oliver Stevens, Pistols at Ten Paces: The Story of the Code of Honor in America (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1940) 14-5.]
“There were other challenges, one of which resulted disastrously. In 1765 John Scott, the eighteen-year-old son of the rector of Quantico Church, who had himself been set apart for the ministry, had a quarrel with John Baylis, an older man. Baylis spoke so insultingly of young Scott and his father that the youth sent him a challenge by his brother-in-law and chosen second, Cuthbert Bullitt. Mr. Bullitt tried to dissuade his ‘dear Johnny,’ but failing, delivered the challenge with the resolve to make another attempt to patch up the quarrel at the meeting, which was to be before sunrise, behind the church. This he did, and so angered Baylis that he opened fire, which Bullitt returned with ‘Johnny’s’ pistol and instead of a duel coming off as arranged, Bullitt gave Baylis a mortal wound. He was acquitted on a plea of self-defence, and he and his family sorrowed with the widow and children of Baylis. Young Johnny Scott fled over the sea, where he completed his education at King’s College, old Aberdeen, and while doing so lived up to his reputation for impetuousness by marrying‑-secretly, it seems, though he was forgiven‑-a daughter of one of the professors. Later he was ordained and returned to America as chaplain to the Governor of Maryland and rector of the Parish of Eversham, in that province” [Stanard, Colonial Virginia 159-60.] [no citations]
one day Aug 1765 British officer, Col. John Bayliss, publicly accused Revd. John Scott “of using his pulpit to foment the wide discontent among his parishioners” in Dumfries” [McCarty 9.]
One day Aug 1765 in the heated politics of the Stamp Act Crisis British officer Col. John Bayliss posted a notice on the Dumfries Town Notice Board: “This is to give notice that Thomas Blackburn and John Scott are arrant cowards.” I’m not sure of the exact nature of the quarrel between Col. Baylis, Blackburn, and Scott, whether Bayliss had challenged them to a duel and they had decline. But we do know that Col. Bayliss had publicly accused eighteen-year-old Johnny Scott’s father, Revd. Alexander Scott, of “using his pulpit to foment” discontent among his parishioners, a point both father and son denied. Regardless of why Col. Bayliss posted them, Blackburn and Scott responded by tacking their own note on the Town Notice Board: “The author of the above notice is a [expletive deleted] liar, which the subscribers are at any time ready to prove. [Signed] Thomas Blackburn, John Scott.” Johnny Scott added “he is a bully, and dare not engage a gentkeman on equal terms.” Taking the notice board one step further, Col. Bayliss added “The best proof of Blackburn’s and Scott’s accusation would be to present to Bayliss a pair of pistols in private.”
Johnny Scott accepted the challenge and the men met before sunrise on September 4, 1765, behind the old church at Quantico: Col. Bayliss with his second, Skipwith White, and Scott, with his second, his brother-in-law, Cuthbert Bullitt. Bullitt, who had all along between trying to dissuade Scott, attempted one last time to bring about a reconciliation. Col. Bayliss then angrily turned on Bullitt, abusing him terribly, saying he would be just as happy to fight him. Bullitt accepted. Later court evidence suggested that Col. Bayliss had all along intended to “fix a quarrel” with Bullitt, whom he disliked even more than Scott.
In the ensuing duel, in which if court testimony is to be believed Col. Bayliss acted most ungentlemanly firing several shots for Bullitt’s single shot, Col. Bayliss received a mortal wound in the thigh from which he died in about five hours. At the subsequent trial, “the examining court which consisted of seven gentlemen of character,” on a plea of self-defense, “dismissed Mr. Cuthbert Bullitt from any further prosecution.”
Cuthbert Bullitt member of Virginia Federal Convention 1788 PWC [Grigsby 2:365]
1766
Col. John Chiswell v. Mr. Robert Routledge
summer 1766..affray‑-not a duel‑-in which Col. John Chiswell stabbed and killed Mr. Robert Routledge in a quarrel in a tavern in Prince Edward County precipitated over some debts. Despite the fact that, after being thoroughly abused by Chiswell, an intoxicated Routledge had thrown wine out of his glass into Chiswell’s face‑-an indignity which even Chiswell’s most severe critics acknowledged any man of honor might react to violently‑‑no Virginian was willing to excuse Chiswell’s stabbing to death an unarmed Routledge or claim in print that this was an affair of honor. Indeed Chiswell was roundly condemned as a murderer and luckily, for him, died before he could be tried and hanged [Dikephilos, Letter to Editor, Purdie and Dixon’s Virginia Gazette, July 18, 1766; Wardlaw 273-4; Carl Bridenbaugh, “Violence and Virginia in Virginia, 1766; or, The Importance of the Trivial,” Early Americans (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981) 188-212; Lemay, “Robert Bolling,” 114-5, 125-6n36]
William Byrd III v. Robert Bolling
17 Oct 1766..near duel in Williamsburg..both held for good behavior [Lemay, “Robert Bolling,” 105, 109, 116, 142n141.]
1767
Arthur Lee v. James Mercer
28 Apr 1767..near duel in Williamsburg
Mercer (b. 1736) age 31
This account of the Lee-Mercer affair draws primarily upon the following sources: Corbin Griffin, Letter to Editor, Purdie and Dixon’s Virginia Gazette, May 28, 1767; James Mercer, Letter to Editor, Rind’s Virginia Gazette, July 23, 1767; Amicus Superbiae, “An Essay on Pride,” Purdie and Dixon’s Virginia Gazette, July 30, 1767; John Mercer to George Mercer, Dec. 22, 1767-Jan. 28, 1768, reprinted in Lois Mulkearn, comp. and ed., George Mercer Papers relating to the Ohio Company of Virginia (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1954), 203-4. For secondary accounts, see Louis W. Potts, Arthur Lee: A Virtuous Revolutionary (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981), 38-42; A. R. Riggs, The Nine Lives of Arthur Lee, Virginia Patriot (Williamsburg, Va.: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1976), 18-9.
1769
Joseph Calvert v. Thomas Burke
fight took place 1769 sometime between June 6 and August 29 near Norfolk “though its results are unknown. Burke’s friend John Tazewell wrote him not long afterwards from Williamsburg deploring the violence and commenting that the accounts of both Burke and Calvert were remarkably alike. Tazewell queried Burke if reconciliation might take place between them and gently rebuked his contentious friend for his involvement. “When I hear of any fresh Broil in Norfolk,” he observed, “it is very far from being an Object of Myrth to me, especially when you happen to be concerned in it, short as life is it is subject to enough of unavoidable Ills…but when to these private quarrels and animosities are added, [it is] likely to end only with life…”” [Watterson 10.]
nothing happened to either
[Watterson, Thomas Burke, 7-10; Arner, “Muse of History,” 165-83, esp. 168-9.]
1775
Gov. John Page v. Capt. Foy
spring of 1775..Page member of the Council..Page’s second John Innes [17V434]
1778
Lt. John “Duff” Green v. Lt. Elisha White
Apr 1778 duel..Green aged 18 of Culpepper CO., Va., served in Rev War..killed at 18 in duel Valley Forge [8V215; 23V103]
“I received your favor respecting Lieutt. White, and presented the one it contained to his Excellency. I have it in command from him to desire you will have that Gentleman arrested for having killed Lieut. Greene in a Duel, when the charge is to be transmitted to the Adjust. Genl; this is a step the rules of the Army and a regard to propriety obliged the Genl. to take” [John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799, Vol. 13, quotes Richard K. Meade to Richard Parker, Nov. 25, 1778.]
“Lieut. Elisha White, of the First Virginia Regiment. After fleeing from camp he had returned to his regiment at West Point” [n.22]
“Lieut. John Green, of the First Virginia Regiment. He had died Apr. 29, 1778” [n.23]
on October 14, 1778, Washington wrote to Gov. Patrick henry, by John Parke Custis, “in reply to Henry’s interposition in the case of Lieut. Elisha White, of the First Virginia Regiment, who had fled from camp after killing a Mr. Green in a duel. He wished to return to the Army without the stigma of desertion. The Commander in Chief was willing to ignore the matter if Green’s friends did not prosecute. He suggested that Col. John Green, of the Fourteenth Virginia Regiment, be sounded out by White. According to Heitman, the Army records show that White was dropped from the rolls for absence in May, 1778, and did not reenter the service” [n.62]
late 1770s-early 1780s
name unknown v. name unknown
one Virginia officer gave as his reason for lateness in return from furlough that had been involved in a duel [Stevens 26.]
name unknown v. name unknown
Account of James Ford from Rootsweb
1780
Capt. Martain v. John Graves
brothers-in-law..no exact year suggests two years before end of Rev War [7V116-7]
1783
Philip Thornton Alexander v. Lawrence Washington, Jr.
March 1783 affray at Waterloo in King George Co..Alexander (1760-1783) of Chotanck killed..Washington (c. 1760-1809)
both young men around age 22
“PHILIP THORNTON ALEXANDER of Salisbury, b. 14 Oct. 1760 in Stafford Co., d. about a week before 19 Mar. 1783, m. (1) 1779 to Jane Willis, c. 1761-1780/1, daughter of Col. Lewis Willis (11 Nov 1734-15 Jan 1813) and his first wife Mary Champe (c. 1737-ante 1776) of Fredericksburg, and granddaughter of Henry Willis (1691/2-1740) and Mildred Washington, d. 5 Sep. 1747. Philip m. (2) 23 Sep 1782 (bond by Moore Fauntleroy) in Richmond Co. to Lucy Brockenbrough of Richmond Co. Philip was killed in a duel with Lawrence Washington (c. 1760-1809) at Waterloo in King George Co., ang left a will dated 6 Mar. 1783 which was filed in King George Co. 4 Dec 1783, exec. by Col. Lewis Willis, Dr. William Gibbons Stuart and Townshend Dade, wit. by William Thornton, Henry Washington and Nathaniel Washington.”
Letter dated 19 Mar. 1783 from George Mason of Gunston Hall, Virginia to General George Washington: “Dear General, My Motives for troubling your Excellency, at this particular time, are Motives of Humanity. Mr. Lawrence Washington, Junr. who will deliver this, has been unfortunately engaged in a Duel, or rather an Affray, with Mr. Philip Alexander of Chotanck; in which his Antagonist was mortally wounded, & died six or seven Days after. I have taken some Pains to inform myself of the real Truth of the Case, and have seen several Testimonials, signed by unprejudiced Persons of Credit; and tho’ Mr. Washington may not be strictly justifiable in a legal Sense, I am entirely of Opinion that he has done no more than any Man of Sensibility & Honour wou’d have thought himself obliged to do, under the same Circumstances of Provocation. Mr. Alexander appears to have been, in every Instance, the Aggressor; the Provocation given Mr. Washington was of the most interesting, & aggravating kind – an Attempt to blast the Reputation of a young Lady of Family, & Character, allied to him, by the nearest Ties of Blood.”
[Wesley E. Pippenger, John Alexander: A Northern Neck Proprietor; His Family, Friends and Kin (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1990) 337, cites 3C534, Robert Allen Rutland, The Papers of George Mason, 1725-1792, 3 vols. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1970) 2: 763-4.]
Thornton in letter to Gov. Benjamin Harrison charges that Robert Stith, Justice of the peace and Col. of KGC “had brought about a duel between Lawrence Washington and Philip T. Alexander, and lay concealed to give direction to the former; and subsequently lent the pistols to Washington ‘with which he put Alexander to death’ & then rescued Washington from the hands of the officer'” [Calendar of Virginia State Papers (Richmond: James E. Goode, 1883) 3: 534.]
Charles Stuart v. F. Thornton
challenge ca. Sept. 1783 which F. Thornton also accused Robert Stith of instigating
Thornton had “charged Stith with great partiality and prejudice as a Justice in a suit against himself‑-refused to try a warrant against himself for keeping his mill out of repair & ‘swore he w’d be damned if he was cncerned with it’ and abused the Constable for applying to him. Having forbid Jno. Berryman and Charles Stuart from hunting on his [Stith’s? Thornton’s?] land, Stith had urged Stuart and furged him with pistols to challenge him (Thornton)” [CSP 3:534]
mid-1780s
Revd. John Dunbar v. … name unknown
“A few years after the return of peace the notorious Reverend John Dunbar, once rector of Westover Parish, fought a duel within sight of the very church of which he had been the pastor. This ecclesiastic’s quarrel was over a horse race” [William Oliver Stevens, Pistols at Ten Paces: The Story of the Code of Honor in America (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1940) 15.]
1786
Dr. John Shore v. Col. Joseph Jones
[14V89, quotes The Virginia Gazette and Petersburg Intelligencer, Petersburg, Sept. 28, 1786; Patterson 24.]
Sep 1786..near Petersburg
nothing happened
James Breckenridge v. fnu Younghusband
Dec 1786 in Richmond [1W(2)48-9.]
Breckenridge (b. Mar 1763) age 23
Francis Preston second to Breckenridge (b. May 1765) age 21
both Breckenridge and Preston students at W&M [see W&M file]
nothing happened
1788
Col. William Fountain v. Mr. Macon
duel 19 Jun 1788 in Fredericksburg..over election in Hanover
[13V425, cites Fredericksburg Gazette; Patterson 24; Chesterman, March 11, 1909]
1790
William Glassell v. Robert Ritchie
[4W(2)228-30; “Diary of Col. Francis Taylor, Orange County, Virginia, 1786-1799,” Library of Virginia, Archives and Records Division, 167-8.]
27 March 1790 Alum Spring Rock near Fredericksburg..Ritchie killed..Glassell acquitted trial in Spotsylvania Court
challenger acquitted
Howison says ca. 1815
[related to Thomas Ritchie?]
1792
John Randolph of Roanoke v. Robert Barraud Taylor
[William Cabell Bruce, John Randolph of Roanoke, 1773-1833, 2 vols. (1922; New York: Octagon Books, 1970), 1: 123-6; 7W(2)8; Patterson 25.]
Taylor challenger, slightly wounded
John Thurston v. John Harrison
[Patterson 25.]
1794
Gen. James Wood v. Mr. Thomas Madison
[2W(2)187; Dorman, Preston Family 50.]
Nov 1794..following argument over election of the Governor..John Preston and Col. Steel seconds
no one hurt
1795
John Preston v. Alexander Smyth
[Dorman 50.]
duel..no one hurt
1796
John Pride v. William Fauntleroy Carpenter
[33V184.]
Aug 1796 in Hyde Park, London..both from Virginia although Carpenter born in England..followed quarrel at the Virginia Coffee House..Carpenter condemend members of Congress who had opposed the treaty with England..Pride probably son of the Speaker of the Senate..Carpenter died
1797
Alexander Hamilton v. James Monroe
[Harold C. Syrett, ed., The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ? vols. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1974) 21 136-8, 161-2, 181-6, 193, 200-12, 316-20, 346; Mary-Jo Kline and Joanne Wood Ryan, eds., Political Correspondence and Public Papers of Aaron Burr, 2 vols. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1983) 1: 306-321.]
1798
Harrison Gray Otis v. William Branch Giles
[Joanne B. Freeman, “Aristocratic Murder and Democratic Fury: Honor and Politics in Early National New England,” SHEAR, July 20, 1996, 8]
1799
Meriwether Jones v. James Rind
[Durey 152.]
[Recorder, June 2, July 14, 1802.]
“About this time [ca. 1799] Meriwether Jones fought a duel wuith James Rind, a rival editor” [29V177.] [was he a rival editor? what newspaper?]
Meriwether Jones v. William Alexander Rind
Aug 1799..letter to Virginia Federalist mentions the editor had recently gotten involved in a duel [Virginia Federalist, Aug. 24, 1799..mentions reference in “last Friday’s Examiner”]
[need to check Aug 1799 Examiner]
“Another early duel between editors was that between Meriwether Jones and William Rind. I have not been able to find any particulars…He edited the Examiner…which was a red-hot Jeffersonian organ, and he never measured his words” [Robert M. Hughes, “The Fighting Editor,” William and Mary Quarterly 2nd ser. 7 (1927), 9.]
1800
James Mozeley v. Joel Yancey
near duel Feb 1800 Richmond
e-mail from Lonny J. Watro 3/3/99:
quotes from William Moseley Brown, History of Marshall Lodge
I have the book on loan. The information appears on page 98.
“The dispute between James Mozeley and Joel Yancey occupied the attention of the Brethren at a stated meeting on February 5, 1800 (see Chapter 10 for a full account of this matter)”
Then on page 121
“Mozeley versus Yancey”
“That Brother Samuel Irvine was not the sole warm-tempered member of Marshall Lodge in those days is attested amply by the fact, that he seems to have had somewhat of a rival in this respect in the person of Brother James Mozeley. The latter “exhibited a complaint” against Brother Joel Yancey and requested the Master, Thomas W. Cocke, to call a Lodge meeting for the adjudication of the matter. “It was accordingly so done”, and the Lodge met in special communication on the M.M. degree on January 25, 1800. We read:”
“…Brother James Mozeley who complains of Brother Joel Yancey in an unhappy difference that took place between them some time past, both present and acknowledge themselves duly summon’d, the Lodge proceeded to hear and determine their case; after hearing Brother James Mozeley’s complaint and Brother Joel Yancey’s answer thereto, also the witnesses that were examined on the occasion together with the letters that had passed between them, &c. A motion was made and seconded, that Brother Joel Yancey had infringed on the Sacred Rules of Masonry towards Brother James Mozeley, which was agreed to by a majority. On a motion made and 2nd that Brother James Mozeley, the complainant, hath Broke through the good order of Masonry towards Brother Joel Yancey by scurrilous abuse and challenging him in writing contrary to the Rules of Masonry, which was agreed to by a majority.”
“On a motion made, It is” “Ordered, that whereas it is the opinion of the Lodge that Brothers Joel Yancey and James Mozeley hath both violated the Constitution & Landmarks of Masonry and that they be suspended from all the privileges of the Order during the will and pleasure of this Lodge.”
“The record speaks for itself, of course. Although the language is ungrammatical in places, it is nevertheless entirely intelligible. Not that Brother Mozeley had actually challenged Brother Yancey to a duel, and that in writing, this action having been censured by the Lodge as much as any of the allegations in the original complaint.”
“Joel Yancey, however, was not satisfied with remaining in a suspended status. Only a few weeks passed before he petitioned the Lodge for re-instatement.”
The book goes on to quote the actual records of the Lodge regarding his re-instatement request and that he was re-instated on 5 March 1800. The book also says that Brother Mozeley was also re-instated in the early part of 1800.
I hope this helps.
Lonny
Capt. T. v. Lieut. S.
Feb. 28 duel at the Sycamores near borough of Norfolk..Capt. T. master of a brig now in harbor shot through the body but wound not mortal..Lieut. S. of the United States frigate Congress [Examiner, March 21, 1800]
Col. John Mayo v. Mr. William Penn
duel August 1, 1800..duel following election at Hanover courthouse..Mayo candidate for legislature..Mayo slightly injured..some weeks later brawled and Penn challenged but dropped
Skelton Jones second to Penn, Capt. King second to Mayo
[29V178; Rhys Isaac, Transformation 319.]
“Col. Mayo seems to have been in frequent disputes with Republican opponents. A year or so later we read of a violent quarrel between him and John and Lewis Harvie, both staunch Republicans” [29V178.] [see 1803]
Joseph Allen v. Charles Brooks
Sept. 1800 “Commonwealth vs. Joseh Allen, late of Rockbridge County‑-Indictment for challenging Charles Brooks, of Augusta, schoolmaster, to fight duel”
[Lyman Chalkley, Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement of Virginia, Vol. 2, pp. 24-33, cited on rootsweb, Chalkley website]
Richard Baugh v. James Clarke, Junr.
Sep 1800 challenge in Manchester, Chesterfield Co.
Clarke challenged Baugh but refused..Clarke posted in the Examiner followed by several weeks of exchanges [Richmond Examiner, Sept. 12, 19, 26, 1800]
Col. John Mayo v. Mr. William Penn
brawl Oct 1800
Mr. William Penn v. Col. John Mayo
challenge Oct 1800
Meriwether Jones second to Penn
[Richmond Examiner, Oct. 24, Nov. 4, 7, 18, 1800..need to see Virginia Gazette, Oct. 1800 for Mayo’s account]
name unknown v. name unknown
in Kentucky
“In 1800 two Virignia clergymen, who had just moved into Kentucky, fought a duel in which one of them was killed” [William Oliver Stevens, Pistols at Ten Paces: The Story of the Code of Honor in America (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1940) 15.]
1801
Skelton Jones v. Gill Armistead Selden
duel ca. May 1801..Selden killed
[See Examiner April 23, May 4, May 11, Aug. 27, 1803; Recorder May 1, 5, June 2, 9, July 14, 1802; April 20, 23, 30, May 7, 1803.]
[need to check notice of duel published in the Petersburg Intelligencer on or about April 16, 1801, quoted in Examiner, April 23, 1803]
“A Mr. Selden (son of Miles Selden) killed in a duel with a Mr. Jones” [McCarty 12, cites Col. John Lewis Marshall (of Fredericksburg, Va.) to his son Gabriel Lewis (in Georgetown, Ky.), April 21, 1801, in the Lewis papers, Alderman Library, M. 1215]
“In like manner, Callender, when he had turned coat, and was making his violent attacks on the Republicans in ‘The Recorder,’ repeatedly called the duel at Bloody Run, in which Skelton Jones, of the Examiner, killed young Armistead Selden, a ‘murder'” [29V178.]
in posthumous letter, Callender exonerated Jones, published in Examiner, Aug. 27, 1803
“It seems strange that the men of that generation, so ready with the pistol as they were, should have allowed Callender to live a day after some of his publications” [29V179.]..notes Federalist plot hatched at Swan Tavern to run Callender out of Richmond [29V177.]
“The fact of their opponents being military men, however, did not intimidate the Republicans, for many men of that party, like Meriwether and Skelton Jones, for instance, were great fire-eaters, and experts with the pistol” [29V177.]
1802
William K. Blue v. … name unknown
Blue killed [Patterson 25.]
fnu Lee v. John Orfeur Yates
duel ca. Feb 1802..two students expelled from College of William & Mary “on a vague report for having fought a duel” led to riot [Thomas L. Preston to Andrew Reid, Jr., 22 Feb. 1802, 15 Apr. 1802, “Glimpses” 216-7.]
possibly John Orfeur Yates..bio says member of law class of W&M in 1801 or 2 where he fought a duel [“The Yates Family,” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 7 (1899): 91.]
[see W&M file]
name unknown v. name unknown
duel ca. May 1802 Norfolk..young man killed [Recorder, June 9, 1802.]
Richard N. Thweatt v. Edwin Fort
duel (in Petersburg?) originated over political differences..Fort killed..Thweatt in 1808 second for John Daly Burk
[James G. Scott and Edward A. Wyatt, IV, Petersburg’s Story: A History (Petersburg, 1960) 55.]
1803
“this year (1803) was peculiarly prolific of duels” [Patterson 26.]
William Chapman v. James Breckenridge
[16W(1)126; 7W(2)8.]
duel ca March 1803..students at William & Mary..seconds James B. Gilmer and Thomas Preston..all expelled “on account of a late duel” per statute
[“Punishment for Duelling,” William and Mary Quarterly 16 (1907): 126.]
Skelton Jones v. Col. David Holloway
challenge ca. Apr 1803
[VG&GA, Apr. 13, 16, 1803; Examiner, Apr. 9, 13, 16, 1803.]
Holloway refused to challenge Jones when called coward in public
Lewis Harvie v. Col. John Mayo
challenge ca. Apr 1803
[Recorder, April 9, 16, 1803; Examiner, April 13, 1803.]
Charles Wyndhamn Grymes v. fnu Terrell
[Patterson 26; Chesterman, March 11, 1909.]
duel 14 April 1803..Grymes killed..challenger acquitted
[See Examiner, April 23, May 11, 1803; Virginia Gazette and General Advertiser, April 16, 20, 27, 1803; Recorder, April 20, May 4, 1803.]
“Charles Wyndham Grymes, a friend of the Harvies [see above], was killed in a duel by a man who happened to be a Federalist, and immediately the Republican papers cried out that it was a political murder” [29V178.]
James Hughes v. James Tucker
duel ca. June 1803 Petersburg..Hughes killed
[Patterson 26; Recorder, June 11, 1803.]
name unknown v. name unknown
duel ca. June 1803 Petersburg..one of parties killed, other wounded in the groin
[Recorder, June 11, 1803]
name unknown v. name unknown
challenge ca. June 1803 Richmond
[Recorder, June 11, 1803]
Meriwether Jones v. Henry Pace
brawl ca. Jul 1803 Richmond
[Examiner, July 16, 1803; Recorder, July 20, 1803.]
William Randolph v. James Walker
challenge ca. Sept. 1803 Charles City County
challenge refused and posted [Examiner, Jan. 10, 1804]
Powell v… name unknown
duel near Richmond..Powell “a notorious duellist” killed [Patterson 26.]
Francis Fitzhugh Conway v. William Thornton
27 Dec 1803 two miles from Fredericksburg in the rear of the Marye House..both Conway and Thornton killed, both shot in the abdomen
Conway (b. Dec. 10, 1772)
[Patterson 26-7; Stevens 44-5; 4W(2)230-5, copied in McCarty 32-4; Chesterman, November 13, 1908; Jan. 11, 18, March 11, 1909; Georgia Dickinson Wardlaw, The Old and Quaint in Virginia (Richmond: Dietz Press, 1939) 274-77.]
Howison says ca. 1817
Winter 1803-1804
George Tucker v. Lewis Harvey
near duel
[Robert Colin McLean, George Tucker (1961), cites Tucker, “Autobiography,” p. 21]
1805
John F. Bowie v. Enoch Taylor Lysles
duel 7 Aug 1805
[McCarty 14-6, cites Alexandria Gazette, Aug. 8, 1805]
1806
Armistead T. Mason v. Bartholomew Henley
[8W(1)220.]
near duel..both students at William & Mary..”both young men of undaunted courage” but discovered in time by Bishop Madison.. William Wirt security for Mason.affair since made up
[W. Radford to Andrew Reid, Jr., 1 May 1806, “Glimpses” 220.]
John Randolph of Roanoke v. Thomas Mann Randolph
June-July 1806..near duel
JR’s second James M. Garnett.TMR’s second Isaac A. Coles
[William H. Gaines, Jr., Thomas Mann Randolph: Jefferson’s Son-in-Law (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1966) 60-63; Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (Washington, D.C.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1905) 18: 247-8; Thomas Jefferson, The Works of Thomas Jefferson, 12 vols., Federal edition, ed. Paul Leicester Ford (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1905) 10: 274-5; William C. Bruce, John Randolph of Roanoke, 262-65..Bruce and Gaines cite series of letters from seconds in Richmond Enquirer: June 17, 24, July 1, 4, 1806]
Meriwether Jones v. name unknown
[Durey 114 says b. 1766 d. 1806]
Aug 1806 duel
“According to the obituary in the Richmond Enquirer of August 22, 1806, Jones in 1799 frequently superintended his press with his pistols within reach” [Joseph I. Shulim, The Old Dominion and Napoleon Bonaparte (1952), 61n44]
“Jones was killed in a duel, but I cannot say whether it was in this [duel between Meriwether Jones and William Rind] or another” [Robert M. Hughes, “The Fighting Editor,” William and Mary Quarterly 2nd ser. 7 (1927), 9.]
1807
John Randolph v. James Wilkerson
“a near duel” following exchange of words 24 Dec 1807 [Patterson 27.]
John T. Mason v. Andrew Reid, Jr.
near duel, Mason bound over to keep the peace [8W(1)213.]
Armistead T. Mason v. Andrew Reid, Jr.
near duel..Armistead T., brother of John T., challenged because brother bound over to keep the peace..mutual explanations made and duel avoided [8W(1)213.]
see 1819 duel Gen. Armistead T. Mason v. John M. McCarty
1808
John Daly Burk v. Felix Coquebert
duel 23 Apr 1808 near Petersburg..Frenchman Coquebert killed Irishman Burk
Richard N. Thweatt, Burk’s second
Samuel Myers says learned from the papers “that Mr. Coquebert was the successfull adversary of Burke, the latter is so great a favorite here, that Mr. C. is repobated & execrated in the most malevolent manner, but I am neverthless persuaded that he [Mr. C] had the justest cause of provocation & deported himself a gentleman of sensibility and honor” [Samuel Myers to John Myers, April 21, 1808, in Faculty-Alumni File, Samuel Myers, Swem Library]
[Patterson 28; M. Clifford Harrison, Home to the Cockade City!: The Partial Biography of a Southern Town (Richmond, Houe of Dietz, 1942) 24-5; 7W(2)9,11; James G. Scott and Edward A. Wyatt, IV, Petersburg’s Story: A History (Petersburg, 1960) 54-5; Chesterman, November 14, 16, December 3, 1908.]
Maj. Thomas Lewis v. John McHenry (of MD)
duel 9 May 1808 in Christianburg, Montgomery County
Lewis a distinguished lawyer from Montgomery Co.
[Patterson 30; McCarty 23-8; Chesterman, March 16, 1909.]
Chesterman claims the first duel with rifles in VA..both killed
“The Lewis clain, first and last, probably engaged in more ‘affairs of honor’ than any other family in Virginia, if not in the whole country” [Patterson 30.]
“Another Maj. Thomas Lewis, cousin to the one in question here, and a U. S. army officer, fought Dr. Bell, of South Carolina, and killed him some time prior to 1804, in which year this Major Lewis died” [Patterson 30..Chesterman says this Lewis died 1804]
see 1817 duel Wm. I. Lewis v. Thos. H. Cushing below
also 1881 duel Hon. L. L. Lewis v. Gen. Peyton Wise [Patterson.]
“We shall presently see something of the Lewis fighting blood in more recent years” [Patterson 30.]
Scotch-Irish network in Valley of Virginia centered on James Patton coming directly from Ulster inc Lewis, Lynn, Preston, Buchanan, and Thompson families [Patricia Givens Johnson, James Patton and the Appalachian Colonists (Verona, VA: McClure Printing Company, 1973) 3-26.]..”The Scotch-Irish are noted for their contentious, temperamental natures and quick tempers” (103)..the Patton-Calhoun feud with the Calhoun uncles of John C. Calhoun relative of John Lewis whose mother was Mary Calhoun naturally drawn to Beverley Manor appeared in Augusta County early 1740s..”The Patton-Calhoun feud kept the county in a state of continual alarm. None of his other feuds seemed to reach quite the fever pitch of his fight with the Calhouns” (105)
E-mail from Carole Anderson 3/5/99:
I know of two duels, if you are interested in them, I’ll look up the info and >> mail it to you, if it’s not too obscure (for you). They both took place in >> Montgomery County VA. One is “honored” with a historical marker, that states >> that this duel (known as the Lewis-McHenry duel) led to the passage of the >> Barbour bill which outlawed dueling in Va in 1811 (not sure of date) Both men >> died. The second one I have from an article in Va Cavalcade I believe, and it >> took place after the outlawing of duelling, whcih I didn’t understand (1870s >> maybe). I have a newspaper article from about early 1900s which recounts the >> L-Mc duel. All this info is just off the top of my head. Let me know how much >> more info you want? If any? And, do you have any others in Montg. Co? > Thanks. Carole Anderson
William Nivison v. name unknown
ca June 1808 duel
a William T. Nevison, Norfolk, listed a W&M student 1806
John Myers, Norfolk, to his brother, Samuel attending William & Mary, 12 Jun 1808-
“William Nivison has been here some days. You have heard no doubt of his duel, he gave me the correspondence to read. Reports were unfavorable to him, but he has to much pride to be a coward. The dispute was however a foolish one. He is in unfortunate in a hasty temper. William is clever, but unfortunately pedantic.” [John Myers to Samuel Myers attending William & Mary, June 12, 1808, Myers Family Papers, Chrylser Museum?]
Dr. Benjamin Powell v. name unknown
former resident of Fredericksburg killed in duel in SC
[Fredericksburg Virginia Herald, Nov. 5, 1808]
Peter V. Daniel v. John Seddon
duel 1 Nov 1808 in Maryland..Seddon killed
[Patterson 28-9; James Dudley Hall, “An Affair of Honor: Stafford County, November 5, 1808,” Northern Neck Historical Magazine 9 (1959), 793-5; 4W(2)224-8; McCarty 18-22, cites [Fredericksburg] Virginia Herald, Nov. 9, 1808, LOC.]
Howison says ca. 1810-20
1809
Samuel Myers v. William Sommerville
Jan 1809 near duel Samuel Myers v. William Sommerville..both students at W&M
Myers challenged Sommerville..just a few months earlier Samuel wrote to his brother the he was boarding with two other students, and that Somervell and he had become very initimate and shared the same pursuits and ideas..they boarded together with Severn Parker at Mr. Tazewell’s house
the duel never occurs because the two are arrested
Myers relates a confrontation with Bishop Madison where he gave his reasons for feeling justified in his anger toward Somervell
Tazewell and Parker both report that public opinion holds that both men behaved wrongly
Augustine Smith discusses appealing to re-enter College and hopes of having statute against duelling abolished..talks as if Myers had been expelled for duelling
Nivison family close family friends with the Myers family as show up in Myers letters fairly regularly..Nivison says Myers wrong, dishonorable in his behavior
[Samuel Myers to Moses Myers, Jan. 30, 1809; Littleton Tazewell to John Myers, Feb. 5, 1809; Severn Eyre Parker to John Myers, Feb. 7, 1809; Augustine C. Smith to Samuel Myers, July 11, 1809; in Faculty-Alumni File, Samuel Myers, Swem Library; Nivison to William C. Somerville, Feb. 18, 1809, in Blair, Banister, Braxton, Horner, and Whiting Papers, 1765-1890, Swem Library]
E-mail from Suzanne Cooper Dorrier 3/13/97:
Source: Faculty-Alumni File, Samuel Myers, WM 1808/09
April 21, 1808; Samuel Myers to John Myers (brother)
he does not come right out and say this confrontation was a duel but it does sound like it: he describes a confrontation between Mr [Coquebert] and Burke, calling them adversariess; Mr. C being successful, but “reprobated” in Williamsburg, because Burke is a favorite there; says he believes “he [Mr. C] had the justest cause of provocation and deported himself a gentleman of sensibility and honor.”
January 30, 1809; Samuel Myers to Moses Myers (father)
writing home give his father his side of the story; he challenged Somervell [Somerville in other letters] to a duel; he gives a detailed description of what led tothe confrontation. [Note: this is interesting because just a few months earlier Samuel had been writing to his brother that he was boarding with two other students, and that Somervell and he had become very intimate and shared the same pursuits and ideas; they boarded together with a Mr. Severn Parker at Mr. Tazewell’s house]. The duel never occurs because the two are arrested. He also relates a confrontation with Bishop Madison where he gives his reason and feels he justified his anger toward Somervell.
February 5, 1809; Littleton Tazewell to John Myers [Note: a letter requesting his view of the conflict from John was handed to Littleton by Samuel]
Tazewell relates his observations of the confrontation and the challenge for a duel. Says that pubic opinion is that both men behaved wrongly.
February 7, 1809; Severn Eyre Parker to John Myers [Note: a letter requesting his view of the conflict from John was handed to Parker by Samuel – apparently John and Samuel’s father wanted an impartial observation of what occurred]
relates his perspective of the duel; blames Samuel, says public opinion [John and his father wanted to know what public opinion was] is that both men were wrong.
July 11, 1809; Augustine C. Smith to Samuel Myers
discusses appealing to re-enter College and hopes of having statute against duelling abolished – talk as if he were expelled for duelling
February 11, 1810; Augustine Smith to Samuel Myers
talks about duelling as a mistaken sense of honor – hopes the “dissemination of Christian religion in it original purity and the progress of science, may speedily exterminate this scourge of humankind”
Blair, Banister, Braxton, Horner, and Whiting Papers, 1765-1890
February 18, 1809; Nivison to William C. Somervill [Note: the Nivison family seemed to have been close family friends with the Myers – they pop up in Myers letters fairly regularly]
says he though Myers was wrong, dishonorable in his behavior; then goes into a long diatribe about dueling, women, and true honor. I haven’t completely deciphered the meaning, but at first glance in looks like the duel may have been fought over a woman. I need to look at it more closely.
fnu Jones v. fnu Cabell
Mar 1809 duel students at W&M
duel Mr. Jones v. Mr. Cabell..both expelled
[Jane C. Charlton to Sarah C. Watts, March 19, 1809, Sarah C. Watts Papers, Swem Library]
E-mail from Suzanne Cooper Dorrier 3/13/97:
Sarah C. Watts papers
March 19, 1809 Jane C. Charlton to Sarah C. Watts [they attended school in Williamsburg, Jane is still there, but Sarah has returned home]
mentions a duel between Mr. Jones and Mr. Cabell – both were expelled. Also mention a trial of Mr Tucker – but doesn’t say what he was being tried for.
Col. Nathaniel Pope v. Richardson
[Patterson 29-30; Stevens 46; Chesterman, March 2, 1909.]
11 Mar 1809 at Chilton, near Taylorsville, in Hanover County..Pope died
[check out 24W(1)196 on dueling in Pope family]
William Cabell Rives v. name unknown
May 1809 William Cabell Rives aged 16 was dismissed from W&M “an acct of his yielding to that false notion of Honour, which is unfortunately, so prevalent” [Rev. James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 31 May 1809, “Letters of Rev. James Madison, President of William and Mary College, to Thomas Jefferson,” William and Mary Quarterly 2nd ser. 5 (1925): 156.]
[On later nose puling incident between William Cabell Rives and Thomas Walker Gilmer in July 1833, see Kenneth Greenberg, Honor & Slavery (1996), 16-19.]
James S. Barbour v. name unknown
May 1809 James S. Barbour expelled from W&M for duel/challenge [web search of Fredericksburg Virginia Herald, May 13, 1809]
Charles S. Todd v. name unknown
Sept 1809 near duel..both students at W&M
“The sincere Regard which I have for your Son, both on Account of his Virtues & his Talents will not permit me to withhold a Communication which must be very interesting to you, & which he would, most probably, not make. Whilst at College a Disagreement took Place between himself & another Student. A Challenge ensued. Your son, very correctly, postponed a Meeting until the Term at College was closed. I had too good Reason to believe that a Challenge had been given & that your Son, yielding to the dreadful Custom which has become so prevalent, would meet his Adversary soon after he left College. Under this Impression, I had him bound for one Year & became his Surety. But I fear an Engagement exists, by which the Parties are to meet in Tennessee, at the Expiration of their respective Recognizance; indeed, from the Conversation which I have held with a very respectable Student, I think there is little Doubt of such an Engagement. In this Situation, you will best know what precautionary Measures ought to be adopted & I do hope, will be able to avert the Calamity which might otherwise ensue. You will consider this Communication as proceeding altogether from the most friendly Disposition towards your Son & I trust, he also will not view it in any other Light” [Osborne 135-6, cites James Madison to Judge [Thomas] Todd, 17 September 1809, James Madison, Faculty-Alumni File, Archives, College of W&M]
Bernard Hooe v. James Kempe
Oct 1809 duel on Maryland shore
Hooe killed..both of Prince William County
Kempe said to have moved to Natchez, MS in Oct. 1809
[10C74-5; VA-Roots Log March 1997]
Andrew Hunter Holmes v. Peyton Bull Smith
Nov 1809 duel in Maryland across from Shepherdstown [McCarty 31.]
“The most tragic duel ever fought by Winchester men was engaged in by Andrew Hunter Holmes, son of Joseph Holmes, and Peyton Smith, son of Gen. John Smith of ‘Hackwood Park.’ Because their families were among the most prominent and influential in the Lower Valley, the affair created a great sensation” [McCarty 31, cites Everard Kidder Meade, “Local History,” Winchester Evening Star]
“From the little evidence now available, it would apear that the trouble started while they were playing cards in the long weatherboarded building on Braddock Street, then used as recruiting headquarters. It stood where the bus depot now stands. A dispute arose over the games. Holmes is said to have challenged Smith. The duel was fought across the Potomac, opposite Shepherdstown. Pistol shots were exchanged and Smith fell, mortally wounded” [M 31]
“He was hurried to the Entler Hotel in Shepherdstown, where he soon died. He had recently graduated from William and Mary with the highest honors” [M 31]
“The two men were close and devoted friends. Holmes was so distressed over the outcome that he soon left Winchester. He was commissioned Captain in the U. S. Army in 1812, became a major for his victory at 20 Mile Creek and was killed August 4, 1814, in action during the Mackinaw expedition” [M 31]
“Virginia presented a sword to his nearest male relative in his honor. By direction of his brother, David, it was given to his nephew, the Rev. Dr. Andrew Hunter Holmes Boyd” [M 31]
November 1809 Smith “fresh from William and Mary with its highest honors, was killed in the famous duel at Shepherdstown, Va.”
Eldest son of Gen. John Smith, born 1747 at “Shooters Fill” family seat in Middlesex Co., settled in Frederick county 1772 near Winchester
1st cousin John Augustine Smith
[See Va-Roots log, Dec 1998, transcription of J.E. Norris, History of the Lower Shenandoah Valley, 666-69; “The Smiths of Virginia” 4W(1)95-101]
Joseph Pearson (of NC) v. John George Jackson (of VA)
duel Dec 1809 Bladensburg
[Stephen W. Brown, “Satisfaction at Bladensburg: The Pearson-Jackson Duel of 1809,” NCHR 58 (Jan 1981) 23-43]
1812
Col. James Bankhead v. fnu Buckner
[Patterson 30; Chesterman, March 16, 1909.]
in Vauter’s Churchyward, Essex County, during the War of 1812
[is Buckner minister who fought duel mentioned elsewhere?]
Col. John Stanard v. Dr. fnu Bronaugh
[Patterson 30-1; Chesterman, March 16, 1909.]
both in military service fought near Canadian line
Gen. Alexander Smyth (of VA) v. Gen. Peter B. Porter (of NY)
[Patterson 31.]
on the Niagara River, six miles from Buffalo
1813
Skelton Jones v. name unknown
Jan. 1813 duel..Jones killed
[7W(2)9; Jay B. Hubbell, “William Wirt and the Familiar Essay in Virginia,” 141 and n.]
1815
Wilson Jefferson Cary v. John Randolph of Roanoke
April 1815 challenge
Wilson Jefferson Cary student at W&M 1803, born at Richneck, studied law at Richmond in the office of his kinsman Edmund Randolph, admitted to the bar..undermined his health by exposure at a military camp during the War of 1812
“Having a certain characteristic aloofness from popular contact, he eschewed public life, although he was the largest landholder in Fluvanna and bred in the tradition of such occupations. He went to the Assembly much against his will for two terms, 1821-23, at the request of his uncle Mr. Jefferson, to assist in promoting legislation in aid of the University of Virginia. He was at all times a staunch supporter of Mr. Jefferson’s politics, despite his grandfather’s disapproval, and in 1815 engaged in a political controversy with his kinsman John Randolph of Roanoke which was expected to result in an affair of honor. See his spirited card in the Richmond Enquirer newspaper, April 1, 1815″ [Fairfax Harrison, The Virginia Carys: An Essay in Genealogy (New York: De Vine Press, 1919) 112.]
George Granberry v. fnu Campbell
June 1815 duel at Christians [near Norfolk?]
Samuel Myers, Norfolk, to John Myers, Baltimore, 14 Jun 1815 –
“Geo. Granberry & young Campbell, who is with Christian, fought a duel this mng. Granbery was wounded in the right hand.” [Samuel Myers, Norfolk, to John Myers, Baltimore, June 14, 1815, Myers Family Papers, Chrysler Museum]
Moses Myers, Norfolk, to his son, John c/o Messrs Robert Gilmor & Sons, 15 June 1815 –
“Geo. Granbery wounded in the arm yesterday in a duel with young Campbell at Christians – from nonsense. His wound not serious.”
John Corbin v. name unknown
[Patterson 31-2; 30V403; Chesterman, March 16, 1909.]
7 Dec 1815 duel..students at Carlisle College, Pa. [so 1808 affair not last in PA?]
Bolling Robertson (of LA) v. John Randolph of Roanoke
[Patterson 32.]
both members of Congress..Randolph declined Robertson’s challenge on religious grounds
Thomas H. Cushing v. William I. Lewis
[Patterson 32; Sabine 137; Chesterman, March 16, 1909.]
“Then Col. Wm. I. Lewis, of Campbell County, member of Congress from Virginia, fought Gen. Thos. H. Cushing, who was saved from death only by Lewis’ bullet striking his watch” [Patterson 30.]
1816
Capt. Thomas Wells v. Col. William C. Greenhill
May 29, 1816 gunfight..Wells shot and dangerously wounded Greenhill as he and Judge Randolph were entering the tavern yard at Nottoway Court House..Judge Randolph also wounded..both recovered
“Wells was tried but acquitted, and later went to Georgia, where he was subsequently hanged for murder in that State”
[W.R. Turner, Old Homes and Families in Nottoway (Blackstone, Va.: Nottoway Publishing Co., 1932) 16-7, as transcribed on Rootsweb cite]
1818
Col. William C. Greenhill v. Col. Tyree G. Bacon
challenge July 1818
Col. William C. Greenhill challenged Col. Tyree G. Bacon
Greenhill and Bacon both prominent citizens of Nottoway County..feud began when Greenhill promoted over head of Bacon
Dr. John S. Hardaway
Dr. George S. G. Bacon v. Dr. John S. Hardaway
duel July 1818
“Colonel Bacon’s son, Dr. Bacon, was at the time living in Mecklenburg County. Dr. John S. Hardaway, being unaware of the nature of the communication, bore the challenge from Colonel Greenhill to Colonel Bacon. Colonel Bacon placed the blame on Dr. Hardaway. Dr. Bacon and Dr. Hardaway met at Nottoway Court House afterwards, and staged a stabbing match, in which Dr. Hardaway was mortally wounded. The fight took place just at the gate on the path leading from the Court House to the old tavern. Dr. Hardaway lived one or two days after the duel and died in the Jackson house…Dr. Bacon was tried but acquitted” (p.16)
Hardaway died on July 4th, 1818, buried at Somerset (p.101)
“It is said that Mrs. Hardaway never allowed the word ‘bacon’ to be used in her presence, so painful was the recollection of the affair between her husband and Dr. Bacon” (p.101)
“Dr. Bacon himself was severely wounded by Dr. Hardaway, and is said to have died from the effects of his wounds” (p.76)
[W.R. Turner, Old Homes and Families in Nottoway (Blackstone, Va.: Nottoway Publishing Co., 1932) 15-17, 55, 76, as transcribed on Rootsweb cite..draws upons account in Notes on Southside Virginia, by Hon. Walter A. Watson]
Francis S. O’Reilly v. James Madison Pleasants
31 Oct 1818 stabbing
[The Evidence in the Case of Commonwealth against Francis S. O’Reilly for stabbing James Madison Pleasants, on the 31st October, 1818 (Richmond, Va.: Franklin Press, 1819), in Shaw & Shoemaker, Early American Imprints, Second Series, no. 48990]
1819
Gen. Armistead T. Mason v. John M. McCarty
9 Feb 1819 in Bladensburg, Md..second cousins..Mason Senator from VA..Mason killed
[Patterson 32-3; Sabine 240; Stevens 45-6; 4V438; 35V74-6; 2W(2)130; McCarty 35-9, cites Harper’s Monthly Magazine, March 1808 [1858?]; Chesterman, Nov. 14., 1908; March 3, 1909.]
[is McCarty Scotch-Irish?]
[also need to find duel between McCarty and Mordecai mentioned 2W(2)130.]
see also 1883 duel John B. Mordecai v. W. Page McCarty [Patterson 57-8..also discussed in Page McCarty, comp., Duels in Virginia and Nearby Bladensburg..is she any relation?]
John Green v. John Strother
Dec 1819
[McCarty 40, cites Stafford County Petitions (to the Legislature), 11 Dec 1819]
1820
Richard Stuart v. Townsend S. Dade
[Patterson 34.]
May 1820..kinsmen living in King George County, Va.
Robert C. Adams v. James B. Boisseau
[Patterson 34-5; Harrison 25-6; Chesterman, Nov. 25, 1908.]
Petersburg duel
E-mail from Andy Boisseau 3/11/99:
I have some information about the duel between James B. Boisseau and Robert C. Adams. I have James’ family history, but I do not have Robert’s. The duel was reported in almost a dozen newspapers across the state, I have copies of them.
Basically, the newspapers in Petersburg reported the story and the other papers around the state repeated it, bur I can send you copies of all of them, if you like.
The duel is mentioned in Dinwiddie County Data, page 6. It states that the duel was was fought due to an insult to a Miss Ellen Stimpson Penniston, who had returned home from finishing school. The exact insult is not mentioned. This source mentions her marriage to Dr. Irea E. (Illis) Smith on November 26, 1821. The compiler of Dinwiddie County Data, Tomas P. Hughes, Jr. was/is a descendant of this couple, and he states that many of the descendants of this couple have letters mentioning the duel but never the cause of it.
Another source I have a copy of a page from Genealogy.com, which states that Ellen Penniston had gotten engaged to both men, which was the cause of the fued.
The story I have heard is that after the duel, a doctor (Dr. Smith) came to check on the two young men, and Ellen married the doctor. Genealogy.com does mention her marriage to a Dr. Smith of Petersburg. I am not sure where I heard this story, perhaps at Blandford Cemetery.
At Blandford Cemetery, there is a display in the gift shop, which mentions the duel. I can’t remember if there is a picture of the type of gun used, or an actual gun in the display. You might write to them, and ask them what they might know. I will send a copy of the everything I have regarding this duel to you within a couple of days.
E-mail from Anne Stiller 3/2/99:
The story runs that about the year 1820, Ellen Peniston, of Petersburg, Va., engaged herself to two young men at the same time, in a spirit of harmless coquetry, but the two gentlemen took the matter seriously enough to fight a duel over it. They were named Adams and Boisseau, and the fatal encounter took place just back of the old Blandford church, in a pine grove now marked by the graves of the Hamilton family. The two former friends fell dead at the first shot, and the vain and thoughtless girl lived to mourn their hot-headed deed the rest of her life, which continued to a ripe age. (Annals of the Fowler Family Author: Glenn D.F. Arthur Call Number: CS71.F681x, p. 149)
James Barron v. Stephen Decatur
[McCarty 41-5, cites Harper’s Monthly Magazine (1858); Chesterman, Dec. 4, 14, 1908; Wardlaw, 278-83]