Dueling In Carolina
.Many of (lie most prominent citizens «if
\orili ( nrolina were inv«»lv«‘il in duels, par¬
ticularly <lurin<> the early part «if the iiin«k-
teenlli c«kntury. Ur. Lawrence nienf ions
some «if the «iiilslanding ones.
OMK of till* most famous IIM-II "f
our nation liccaino involved in
duel*, and tin* same was true here
in Carolina. Probably the niosl
famous duel in our national history
was that between Alexander Hamil¬
ton, Secretary of the Treasury, and
Aaron Hun*. Vice President of the
I'nited State., in which Hamilton wa*
killcd. Andrew Jackson «himself a
Carolinian) fought several duel* and
lcnj>ed party, the right to prescribe
the terms under which the encounter
should bo held. The condition* laid
down hv him were so humorous, that
the partie* were not only reconciled
hut became fa.t friends.
Laws Against Dueling
Here in Carolina dueling wit* *<•
prevalent that rigorous laws wet . n
acted to prevent it, and it wa* made
a capital felony to engage in one
(either a* a principal or as a second I.
which had a fatal ending. Of eour*.-
in such a ea*c one of the partie* could
not be reached. hut the survivor «lid
both the seconds were liable to the
penalty of the la", unles. pardoned
by the (iovernor.
Notwithstanding the rigor of the
law, some of the most famous name,
in our history Cabinet officer*.
United State* Senators, Governor*
and Cong re*, men have liecomo in¬
volved in duels, and the diidge- them-
selvcs were by no mean* exempt from
the seductive temptation of dueling.
Karliest duel of moiueut wa* in
1 7
«*•».
between Alexander SilllpSOII,
master of the British .sloop of war
Viper lying in Cape Pear, and
Thomas Whitcehurst, army Lieuten¬
ant attached to that vessel. The
patriots of lower Caje Fear under
General John Ashe had risen in revolt
against the odious stamp act and "ere
having a sharp controversy with the
royal Governor Tryon. Simp-on
I*»/ R. C. LA WHENCE
sympathized with the Colonists;
Whiteehurat with the Crown, inns-
tnucli as lie was a near kiu*man of
the wife of Governor Try on. Ill
the duel Whitecbur*t wa. killed.
(iovernor Tryon, who caused Judge
Horry to lie cited l*eforc tlie Council
of State. Judge Berry, fearing im-
| teach ineiit. eonunitted suicide.
In 1778, Jol
in Penn of Gran
HI
member of tbe
Conliueiital Con
and Carolina *
tiou of Indo,
voiced in u poli
the venerable II
ЬгСШНС
tliMlI t‘nt nt*sV*
in*
u-illa
eurv Llllirell- of South
< 'uroliua. l’r. -i
and a challenge
'lent "f (lie • '"tigress,
’ to a duel and its tie-
eeptance pas*ed lictween the partie*.
The place of meeting wa* a vacant lot
opposite the Ma*o|iic Lodge .<u Cliest-
nut Stmt in Philadelphia. tk
adversaries boarded at the
-ачи-
tavern, they went to the dueling
grounds together, t)
had to pass a *|o
ugh. and ' Penn
i-oltrleously gave hi*
Laurens to assist
across. This act so in
li i in in
lpl'e»*ed
getting
Lauren.
that the parties l«-eau
In |,-PII||
t-ilcxl and
returned arm in arm.
The Spaight-Stanly Affair
Most fanioib ..f Carolina duels wa*
thiit U-twecn Hiebnrd IMd* Spnight
and John Stanly. Imth ..f New Hern,
fought Septemlier l*oJ. Spnight
wa» a most distiugui*hei| man, signer
of the Federal ( 'on-titlllion ; t iovernor
in 1702. Stanly wa* also a dis¬
tinguished man. and enjoyed a bril¬
liant career after the unfortunate
duel. Dr. Edward Pasteur was second
for Spnight: Edward Graham,
prominent lawyer, was second for
Stanly. At the fourth fire Spnight
within twenty-four hours.
Stanly |">titioncd the legislature
for a pardon which was refused upon
the ground that the power of pardon
lay «olelv with the (iovernor. lie then
petitioned Governor Benjamin Wil¬
liam*. who issued a pardon. There¬
after Stanly was again elected to
CougrcM ; and wn* Spoke
Hon*.- of ( 'ominous. His name i. pre-
-erved in our county »f Stanly. Hi*
sou Edward also was a duelist, and
the name of Edward Graham, who
-ervi'd a* si-eond to Stanly, will a|-o
he found Inter on.
Benjamin Smith of Brnn.wiek.
who wa* Governor in I'lu, fought
several duels, in all of which, his¬
torian Wheeler tells
ш
that the
Governor conducted him-elf with
"firunie*. and magnanimity.”
There wa« also an encounter In-
tween Judge Duncan Cameron and
William Duffy, both of Fayetteville. In
this encounter l»)tll parties Were
wounded. .Illdge Catiiel'on -lightly;
DtllTv serion-ly, Duffy was a protege
of State Treasurer John Haywood.
Judge Cameron wa* later president of
the Bank of North Carolina.
In 1*27 there was a duel In-twecu
Satunel P. Car*on of Burke. Co«.
«re** man, and one of the outstand¬
ing tin’ll of hi* dnv, and hi* political
opponent. Dr. H. B. Vance. The
parties Went to Saluda, S. C. to light
it out and Dr. Vance wa- killed.
And Many Others
There wa. a duel I ir tween Lo.ii* D.
Ileiirv and Thomas J. Stanly, of
Cnnil'erlund *ai<l to linve nri*cn over
a verv trivial affair. The parties
ero**ed the Virginia line to light.
Stanly wa* killed at the first lire.
It i* interesting to note that Henry
read law under hi* uncle, Edward
Graham of New Bern, who wa* *ee-
"ml t" Governor Spnight in hi* duel
with John Stanly. Henry wa* there¬
after S|ieakcr "f the House; and wa*
I Continued on page twtn/y)
killed hi* man. living himself des¬
perately wounded more than once,
before be liecanic President. Abraham
Lincoln wn* challenged to a duel by
General .Fame* Shields of Illinois,
hut this gave Lincoln, a* the chill-
The sequence wa* strange. Ca|-
tain Simpson wa* brought to trial
before Colonial Judge Berry But was
acquitted. 1 1 is acquittal angered
