Transcript

Music

Jake Intro-Outro:
[0:04] Welcome to Hub history, where we go far beyond the Freedom Trail to share our favorite stories from the history of Boston. The Hub of the universe.
This is episode 2 16 Demanding satisfaction dueling in Boston Hi, I’m Jake.
This week, I’m replaying an old episode for the first time in a few months.
A little more than three years ago, co host emerita, Nikki and I were on our way to seethe Hamilton musical For the first time.

[0:36] In our excitement, we decided to record an episode about 18 06 political duel in Boston that had a lot of parallels with the Hamilton Burr duel.
We dug into the history of dueling in Boston how dueling laws evolved in response to the duels that were fought here and why a young Boston Democratic Republican and a young Boston federalist decided they had to fight each other to the death in Rhode Island.
Unfortunately, I made the poor decision to Pepper and samples from the Hamilton soundtrack throughout the episode.
Stomping all over Lin Manuel is intellectual property.

[1:12] The unlicensed music even got the episode pulled from a least one podcast app This week I went back to our original recording and re edited it to clean it up and to remove all the Hamiltunes.
So stay tuned for one of my favorite episodes of Hub history and get ready to meet Charles Sumner’s dad and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s dad to sail on the USS Constitution and to meet Alexander Hamilton.
Plus, we’ll learn why fighting a duel in Massachusetts could have gotten an unchristian burial at a crossroads with a stake driven through your heart.
But before we talk about dueling in Boston, I just want to pause and thank everyone who sponsors Hub history on Patreon.
When I look back on early episodes of the show like this one, I’m especially grateful for the loyal listeners who support the show with $2.5 dollars or even $10 a month on patreon.

[2:08] It’s because of their support that we’ve been able to continue making this show for over four years now.
Since this episode originally came out, we’ve gotten better at writing and it recording as you’ll hear.
I would say we’ve gotten better at researching, too, but this particular story is one of the better ones from the early years. If I do say so myself.
If you’d like to become a sponsor and help us keep going for the next four years, just goto patreon dot com slash hub history or visit hub history dot com and click on the Support US link and thanks again to all our new and returning sponsors.
And now it’s time for this week’s main topic.

Jake:
[2:49] Early in the morning of March 31st 18 062 young men of Boston faced each other across a marshy field outside Providence, Rhode Island.
William Austin was 28 years old, an attorney, a resident of Charlestown and a supporter of the Democratic Republican Party, James Henderson.
Elliott was 23 a member of the Federalist Party.
He split his time between Boston and Brookline, and though he had trained in the law, he was serving as a major in the first division of the Massachusetts Commonwealth militia.

[3:20] That morning, each man had awakened in a strange bed, having spent the night in separate ends in Providence as a descendant road.
It is likely that both principles set out by stage from Boston to Providence on Sunday, March 30th, the trip taking about 5.5 hours.
Probably they all spent the night in Providence and met at the agreed spot at sunrise the next morning, with the sun beginning to peak above the horizon, they had met at an empty field called Cold Spring.
They marked out 10 paces between themselves, then stood facing one another.
Each had a friend of his right hand as they Cooley leveled their pistols at one another.
Not one of the friends called out, Are you ready? Present fire!
And both men squeeze the triggers on their dueling pistols.
If that sounds an awful lot like the famous tool that Alexander Hamilton fought against Aaron Burr two years earlier, you’re not wrong in ways that will examine.
It’s even more similar to the dual that Alexander’s son, Philip Hamilton, fought against a man named George Eaker in 18 01.

Nikki:
[4:26] Our story really begins at Harvard, where both of our principles got their educations.
William Austin graded under the rules of the university, even going so far as to write an essay called The Strictures of Harvard College.
It was an early example of his love of literature and writing, at which he would eventually make a living after quite a varied career.

[4:49] After graduating from Harvard in 17 98 Austin decided that he would pursue studies in the law.
But that meant paying for further education rather than taking the typical route of teaching school in some small town for a few years to say for tuition, as a young John Adams once did.
Austin enlisted in the Navy as chaplain on the recently constructed USS Constitution.
He was the first commissioned officer to serve as a chaplain in the Young U.
S Navy entering the service in 17 99,
President John Adams had ordered the creation of a navy in response to an unrelenting campaign by the French against American shipping when William Austin sailed on his first cruise on the Constitution.
The undeclared quasi war between the US and France was at its height during this cruise in the West Indies, the Constitution captured a ship called Amelia that was owned in Hamburg but sailing under French colors.
Under the law of war at that time, the victors would be entitled to sell. The ship is a prize of war, splitting the spoils amongst the crew.
However, because the ship didn’t have a French owner, it was ruled that the crew should only receive 1/6 of the value of the ship.

[6:07] Commodore Talbot had expected to get more for his victory, and he sent Austin to consult with an acquaintance of Hiss, who was just retiring from a position as inspector general of the Army.

Jake:
[6:19] A biographer gives what we imagine is a fairly fanciful account of the first conversation between William Austin and Alexander Hamilton.

Nikki:
[6:27] Who are you, sir?

Jake:
[6:29] I am the chaplain was the reply.

Nikki:
[6:32] You do not look much like a chaplain.

Jake:
[6:34] I intend as soon as I can afford it to study law.

Nikki:
[6:37] Well, here is my library. Make yourself at home.
Study out this case and determine for yourself. What is the proper amount of salvage as you are interested.

Jake:
[6:48] Mr. Austin accepted the invitation, examined the authorities and came to the same conclusion with Mr Hamilton, who highly commended the researches and arguments of the young chaplain.

[6:59] With Hamilton’s help, Austin was able to re negotiate the salvage value of the Amelia.
For this, his portion of the spoils was $200.
We found that it could be a fool’s errand to try and convert historical sums into modern currency, however, that $200 was enough to allow William Austin to stay in London for two years following his discharge from the Navy while he was studying the law at Lincoln’s Inn.
While he was in London, he became interested in the Democratic Republican Party back home and wrote a series of commentaries on London politics that were published in Democratic Republic.

[7:32] While he was in London, he became interested in the Democratic Republican Party back home and wrote a series of commentaries on London politics that were published in Democratic Republican newspapers in New England,
having returned from London in about 18 04 William Austin continued writing polemics for the Democratic Republican Party in the Boston papers,
during this period, between roughly 1800 the outbreak of the War of 18 12, political tensions ran as high as they ever had in the young nation, and political violence reached a peak that would only be matched in the eventual run up to the Civil War.
The Democratic Republican Party was one primary faction, which, despite sharing a name, was actually a completely different party than the modern Democrats or Republicans.
Founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, the Democratic Republicans believed in decentralized power that would give the states primacy over the U. S. Government.
On the other side, the Federalist Party work to create a strong central government, as advocated by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton and George Washington. Unofficially, although we never publicly joined the party.

Nikki:
[8:38] In Boston in 18 05 A prominent Democratic Republican captain in the state militia named Joseph Lauren Jr,
was arrested for disobeying orders after he refused to lead his men in a parade where he felt that other officers were given preferential treatment on political grounds.
His case was referred up to General Simon Elliott, the major general of the first division of the Massachusetts Militia.
Simon Elliott was a veteran of the Revolution, having been a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army before retiring back to Brookline to run the family stuff. Mills.
Back in Episode 59 we discussed the mother, Brooke, which took water out of the Charles River to power mills and data.
Coincidentally, General Elliot was one of the plaintiffs who sued the mother, Bruck Mills, on behalf of the Charles River Mills downstream, Small World.
At one point, Elliott was commanding officer of the company of cadets, which you can hear more about an Episode 20 before rising to be one of the highest positions in the state militia.
He also became a very influential Boston federalist After having captain luring arrested in October of 18 05 General Elliot began the court martial process.
However, he didn’t seem to be interested in actually bringing the captain to try ALS, letting the court martial drag out until December.

[10:04] Even after the court martial acquitted luring, General Elliot refused to allow the results to be released and Lauren’s name to be cleared until April of 18 06 long after our dual had been concluded.

[10:17] Instead, Eliot seemed happy to see Lauren humiliated.
Lauren wrote petitions to the general to Governor Caleb Strong and to the state Legislature before writing a pamphlet in which he sought to get public opinion on his side in March 5th of 18 06.

[10:35] I have written respectfully to the major general of the first division.
I have petitioned His Excellency the commander in chief.
I have presented a memorial to the honorable Legislature,
and I find myself in the very singular situation of being out of the protection of laws,
or there appears to be no power to which I can appeal to be reinstated in those rights, which, as a citizen, I am conscious of having never forfeited,
the above circumstances impel me to make an appeal to the world.

Jake:
[11:09] Seeing this appeal from his fellow Democratic Republican, William Austin, put pen to paper to craft a response.
His reply appeared in The Boston Independent Chronicle, a Democratic Republican newspaper, on March 17th.
It was written in the form of an open letter to Major General Simon Elliott and signed DC Us, perhaps in a reference to Roman Emperor Trajan DCs, whose policies increased the persecution of early Christians.
It’s a long letter, and it’s full of personal attacks on the major general like this one.

[11:41] The vanity inspired you to become a major general. Had you carried yourself modestly, the trappings of your office had still been sacred and your merit and honor unmolested.
Pity it is that the first notice you have ever attracted should lay you bare to an inspection that will not only discover your airy nothingness and pompous imbecility,
which might long of past current among counterfeits, but will not leave you in that condition which of all men you ought most to have avoided,
and from the responsibility of which you will call in vain on your main pillar, the governor to release you.
It was certainly an evil genius which impelled you to enter the lists of federalism.
What then could induce uto outrage the feelings in honor of your fellow citizens in the manner you have?
What could induce you to trample on the Constitution, which, if you despise you ought at least to understand what sir could induce you to do a willful and unprovoked injury to an officer in all respects except rank equal to yourself.
Your military honors air all by courtesy and unreal is the dreams of your own importance.

Nikki:
[12:45] Practically any paragraph we chose to repeat would have been worthy of a challenge under the code of honor that gentleman lived under. At the time, Austin made it clear that a dual is what he was looking for.
After signing the name DCs, he added. The line.
My real name maybe had it the publishers if General Elliot appeals in person to obtain it.

[13:08] The morning after the DCs article was published, General Elliot was walking on Court Street When he saw Austin walking nearby, he confronted the young lawyer, and by some accounts, it seems like Elliott took a swing at him.
However, the aging general got the worst of the resulting fisticuffs was a much younger man,
Austin Road, back to Concord, where he was representing a client in court while Elliot was left to stew on what had happened,
when the general related what had happened to his son, James, James was immediately moved to defend his father’s honor.
The younger Elliott summoned his friend Henry Sergeant, who was also an aide to the general.
He asked Sergeant to Act as his second in an affair of honor and sergeant, agreed.
Sergeant immediately wrote to Concord and called Austin out of the courthouse.

Jake:
[14:02] Just as an aside, we’d like to apologize here that we don’t have as much background on James Henderson Elliot as we do on William Austin.
Austin later became a well known author, so their literary reviews by People is notable is Reverend Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
You may remember him from his attempt in Episode 16 to free Thomas Sims from the courthouse in Boston, where he was being held under the Fugitive Slave Act.
One of Austin’s descendants also wrote to biographies, which we mined heavily for background.
James Henderson Elliott was General Elliott’s oldest child and only son.
He was also a Harvard man, having graduated in 18 02 and received a master’s degree in 18 05 He trained for a career in the law but was never admitted to the bar.
One biographical sketch suggests that his poor health kept him from being an attorney, but it does not seem to have kept him from a career in the military.
Under his father’s tutelage, he rose to the rank of major in the state militia. Serving is the general’s aide de camp.

Nikki:
[15:03] So it was James Henderson, Elliott’s second, who wrote to Concord to present William Austin with the challenge.
We have one version of the encounter from the letter Austin wrote to his friend Charles Sumner Sr.
Asking him to act as Austin. Second, I have to request you and I should have made this request.
Had you not written me to provide a pair of as good a pistols as you can procure and, if possible, try them with some confidential friend.
If you ask where. Four. I have to tell you that Mr Henry sergeant called me out of the courthouse yesterday morning with a message from the young Elliott.
He first opened upon me with Young Elliott’s expectation that I would give him the satisfaction of a gentleman.
I told him by all means that I expected to hear from him and commended his filial conduct.
He then told me that it was Elliot’s determination that one of us should fall.
I told him that depended on himself that I presumed young. Elliott was a brave man and was in the habit of believing every man brave until he proved the contrary.

[16:13] Another version says that sergeant was carrying a note from the younger Elliot one that was very brief and to the point.
Mr William Austin, sir. I cannot live under the thought of the treatment which my father yesterday received from your hand.
I have the character and feelings of a gentleman. I am convinced that you are one and request you will give me the opportunity to take your life.
James Henderson Elliott Boston, Tuesday morning six o’clock March 18th 18 06.

Jake:
[16:49] No matter how it was worded, Austin immediately accepted the challenge.
In his letter to Sumner, he said, I told him what I had done was a deliberate act, that it was passed and that I would support it.
And though the responsibility was personal, that hazard was in behalf of an indignant and injured community.
He then spoke of an apology and acknowledgement. I told him that was impossible, he said. It would not be degrading.
I told him I always suffered most when I entered the feelings of another, but that in the present case, though, I did not see how young Elliot could consistently with filial respect, act otherwise.
Yet for myself, if I had 100 lives, I would give them all in the present cause, for it was apparent that what I had done was a deliberate act, and I was persuaded of my own open, undisguised and proper conduct.

[17:41] Austin said that he could not fight a duel is long. His court was in session because his clients demanded his attention.
But Mr Elliot would have his satisfaction if he could wait until court adjourned, which Austin expected would be on or after March 22nd.
When he was free, he would choose a second who would on Sunday or Monday at furthest wait on him, meaning sergeant at the corner of Essex Street where he lived,
and that it would be most agreeable to me to go to Rhode Island or anywhere out of the state, which he likewise thought most prudent.

Nikki:
[18:13] Dooling was never as widespread in New England as it was in the South, but that doesn’t mean that it was unknown.
In fact, the first duel known to have been fought on American soil was at Plymouth.
In 16 21 Edward Dottie had been one of the original Pilgrim’s, arriving in 16 20 as a passenger on the Mayflower.
He may have been born in 1600 East Halton in Lincolnshire, but very little is known before he shows up in Plymouth as an indentured servant to Stephen Hopkins.
Daddy was apparently a young man with a hot temper and Onley a casual regard for the law.
He would appear in court in Plymouth many times over the years for everything from not fencing his cows properly to slander to theft and multiple assaults.
The cause of this quarrel is lost, but on June 18, 16 21 he challenged Edward Lester to a duel.
Luster was also one of Stephen Hopkins servants who had also arrived on the Mayflower.
They fought with swords and daggers, but they both survived.
One was wounded in the hand and the other in the thigh, and then their neighbors separated them as punishment.
Their heads were tied to their feet.
They were meant to stay that way for a full day. But after an hour they were in such pain that the governor and their master agreed to cut them loose.

[19:41] Duels were uncommon when they meant duking it out with swords, and they remained rare until the revolutionary era.
Onley after pistols took the place of swords and behavior became regulated by the 17 77 Irish code. Dwell, Oh, did dueling become widespread in America?
Dooling still wasn’t popular in New England, though.
Massachusetts passed its first law specifically prohibiting duels in 17 19,
that whoever from and after the publication of this act shall of their own heads and for private malice and displeasure in fury or revenge,
fight a duel, combat or engage in a recount er with rapier or small sword, back, sword, pistol or any other dangerous weapon,
to the danger of life, mayhem or wounding of the parties or the afraid of His Majesty’s good subjects.
Anybody who engaged in a duel would be fined up to £100 spend up to six months in jail and could be Corporal Lee punished.
Anyone who challenged someone else to a duel would face the same penalties.

Jake:
[20:50] Despite this law, Boston was not without experience in dueling. On July 3rd, 17 28 Boston would be shocked by a fatal duel right on the common.
That night, two young men stayed up late, drinking and playing cards at the Royal Exchange Tavern, which stood on King Street, which we now know a State Street.
The establishment was known as a noted resort of the solid men of Boston, as well as the gay blades of the town, who are in the habit of drinking and gaming there.
Benjamin Woodbridge was just 20 years old, a student at Harvard and a descendent of Harvard’s first graduate.
He had grown up in Barbados, but his father sent him to Boston to finish his education. His drinking buddy was Henry Phillips, the 23 year old brother in law of Peter Fanuel, a wealthy merchant who would later built a fine public market for the town.
The reasons for it are lost, but at some point the two quarreled.
They were friends, but they were young, hot blooded drunk friends, and their quarrel would end in what is usually referred to as the first duel in Boston.

[21:58] The two young men left the tavern, agreeing to retrieve their weapons and meet on Boston Common.
Woodbridge stopped at the Whitehorse Tavern to see Robert Handy, an officer with one of the many military companies in Boston, to retrieve his sword handy, was unsure.
As his testimony reveals, Mr Benjamin Woodbridge came to me at the white horse and desired me to. Let him his own sword.
I asked the reason, he replied. He had business that called him into the country.
I was jealous. He made an excuse. I urged him to tell me plainly what occasion he made for a sword. Fearing it was to meet with Mr Henry Phillips, who lately had fell out, he still persisted in his first story, upon which I gave him his sword and belt.

Nikki:
[22:43] Being unsatisfied with Woodbridge’s response, Handy decided to see where he was going.
I immediately followed and went into the common found, said Woodbridge, walking on the common by the powder house. Hiss soared by his side.
I saw no person save him. I again urge the occasion of his being there. He denied informing.

[23:06] In some short time, Phillips appeared with his sword by his side and cloak on.
I told them I feared there was a quarrel. And what would the events they denied it.
The two young men would on Lee say that they had private business to attend Thio and insisted on being left alone.
Handy walked away toward the far side of the common, but soon turned back as he was walking back down the common.
He saw Young Woodbridge coming toward him.
I first saw Mr Woodbridge making up to me. Holding his left hand below his left breast.
I discovered blood upon his coat asking the meaning of it.
He told me Mr Phillips had wounded him. Having no sword, I inquired where it waas, He said Mr Phillips had it. Mr. Phillips immediately came up with Woodbridge’s sword in his naked hand by his own side.
I said I was surprised that they should quarrel to this degree.
I told Mr Phillips he had wounded Mr Woodbridge. He replied, Yes.
So he had And Mr Woodbridge had also wounded me. But in the fleshy part only.

Jake:
[24:16] With that, the three parties basically wandered off to go their separate ways.
Robert Handy went to a dinner party while Henry Phillips went off to another tavern.
Eventually, Phillips must have felt some concern or remorse because he ended up seeking out of pair of doctors, then going out with them to try to find and help Woodbridge.
They would not be successful, A newspaper reported The aftermath about three in the morning, after some hours search was found dead near the powder house in the common the body of Benjamin Woodbridge. Ah, young gentleman merchant of this place.
He had a small stab under the right arm, but what proved fatal to him was a trustee received under his right breast, which came out at the small of his back.
The next morning, Royal Governor Dummer put up wanted posters all over town searching for Henry Phillips, But he was gone.
He had used this Merchant Families connections to secure immediate passage on a ship bound for Europe. He would never set foot in Massachusetts again.
Benjamin Woodbridge is buried in the granary burial ground.

Nikki:
[25:19] Thanks to Woodbridge’s death in 17 28 Massachusetts changed its laws regarding dueling trying to create a more effective deterrent.
It kept the earlier penalties for challenging or accepting a challenge and for fighting in a non fatal duel.
The fines were increased to £300 and the jail time was lengthened to a year.
A new twist was added.
Anyone convicted thereof shall, for every such a fence, be carried publicly in a cart to the gallows with a rope about his neck and sit on the gallows for the space of one hour with a rope about his neck as a four set.

[26:00] The new law added dramatically harsher punishments for cases where a duel ended in death.
Notably the new penalties applied to both the winner and loser of a duel.
When and so often as it shall appear by the coroner’s inquest that any person have been killed in fighting a duel, the corpse or body of such person so slain shall not have a Christian burial.
But the coroner of the county where the fact shall be committed shall be and hereby is directed and empowered to take effectual care,
that the corpse of all persons so killed, be immediately secured and buried without a coffin with a stake drove through the body at or near the usual place of execution,
provided it be within the space of 10 miles.
If otherwise, then in the most public place in the town where the fact was committed,
the charge to be fade by the county and in case any person shall slay or kill any other in dual or fight as a force said,
and upon conviction, there of suffer the pains of death as is by law provided for wilful murder.
The body of such person shall not be allowed Christian burial but be buried without a coffin with a stake driven through the body at or near the place of execution as a force said.

Jake:
[27:25] This law attempted to strip the honor out of dueling. If you fought a duel in one, you’d be executed.
If you fought a duel in lost, you’d be dead anyway.
Either way, your body would be taken to a crossroads or gallows and buried without a coffin or a grave marker.
The body will be buried north to south instead of the Christian customer of west to east. A steak would be driven through your heart.
This serve dual purposes defiling your body so that punishment continued after death and keeping you from ascending to heaven during the rapture.
The practice of using unchristian burial is a deterrent to particularly heinous crimes goes back to at least the early 15 hundreds.
Having been applied in cases of suicide in 18 05 the law would be amended to include dissecting and n atomize in your body.
It shall be the duty of the sheriff to deliver the body of the convict being dead to a professor of anatomy in surgery and some public college or seminary,
when it shall be required on his behalf and otherwise to any surgeon or surgeons who shall be attending at the place of execution,
to receive the body and will engage for the dissection and an atom izing thereof.

[28:37] So in Massachusetts, being executed for killing someone in a duel or being killed in a duel yourself would mean an unchristian burial with a stake through your heart, you can see why William Austin preferred to meet in Rhode Island, dispatching his second to meet with Elliott.
Second, when Henry Sargent and Charles Sumner Sr met, they negotiated the mechanics of the duel.
This passage is a bit long, but we’re going to read it in full because it gives such a great insight into what an agreement to dual actually look like.
This is the actual proposal for the duel, which was written by Austin and agreed to by Elliott.

Nikki:
[29:13] Mr. A will meet Mr E with a brace of pistols on the borders of a neighboring state.
This day, in a week at sunrise, Mr E shall select the particular spot and Mr A shall select position.
The spot shall be made known to Mr A. By Thursday evening, seven o’clock The position shall be chosen by Mr A.
After the ground is marked off and seen by each party, Mr. A will exchange two shots with Mr E at 12 or 10 paces. Distance as Mr E shall please.
Both parties shall fire at the same time. And by word of command.

[29:55] The pistols fired at once shall be alike and loaded alike with one ball each.
Whatever may be the kind of pistols which either party carries on to the ground, his antagonistic shall have his choice of them.
The pistols of Mr E. The Challenger shall be fired first.
And if neither party is wounded or satisfied, the pistols of Mr A, the challenged shall then be fired.
The participation of pistols is proposed in order to render the hazard as equal as possible and in some degree, to take away the superiority which practice may have given the one over the other,
After the ground is marked off and the parties have taken their position.
The second of Mr E, the challenger shall give the first word of command in the following manner.
He shall ask the parties. Are you ready? If both parties answer yes, he shall say present fire.
Pausing a second between the words.

[30:57] If the first fire should not prove satisfactory nor wound either of the parties in such a manner as to induce him to decline a second shot.
The second of Mr A shall then ask the parties. Are you ready?
If both parties answer yes, he shall then say present fire. Pausing a second between the words.

Jake:
[31:20] Neither party shall hold more than one pistol at a time. When the first braces fired, each second shall go to his principal, receive his discharged pistol and give him the other that is charged.
There shall be only two pair of pistols carried onto the ground. Neither of the seconds shall hold more than one pistol. And that’s solely for the use of his principal.
During the first fire that pistols in the hands of the seconds shall be loaded during the second fire, They shall not be loaded.
The seconds shall each of them stand from the other, the same distance at which the principle stand. Each second on the right hand of his principal, equally distant from both parties. On a line drawn at right angles over the center of the line of fire.
The strictest silence possible shall be preserved on the ground, which shall not be interrupted except by the second giving the word of command or by one second speaking to the other second or to his own principle.

Nikki:
[32:14] Mr A entertaining, no inimical feelings toward Mr E.
Does not conceive himself in honor, bound to expose his own life or that of Mr E to any greater hazard than his here offered,
especially as Mr A does not hold himself particularly responsible to Mr E while superior claims may, with more propriety, be urged against him by another.
And as is wholly from motives of delicacy to Mr E. That Mr A has consented to consider him a party in this affair.
Although the act of Mr A, at which Mr E.
Has taken a fence, was a deliberate act for which Mr A cannot at present offer any satisfaction than what is here offered is not impossible,
but that the measures to which generally is having recourse may place matters in a different light from that in which Mr A has hitherto viewed them,
in which case he will be proud to make any acknowledgement that circumstances may then render proper and to say or do anything which any gentleman of honorable feelings can wish or expect of another.
I accept the above proposal of William Austin X wire, James Henderson Elliott, Boston, March 24th, 18 06.

[33:36] So Elliot and Austin had agreed to exchange two shots from two pairs of dueling pistols under the code. Well, oh, the seconds could step in when blood was shed, declaring that the honor of their principles was satisfied.
One of the principles could also apologize or otherwise place matters in a different light for the dual, James Elliott chose the ground.
The account by Austin’s grandson describes it. The field of combat was cold spring. Rhode Island, now a part of Providence.
Cold spring was between Pittman and Waterman streets close to Pittman and between East River Street and Bellevue ST 15 years ago. The spring was filled up.
It used to flow into Round Cove.
In the show, notes will have in 18 03 map of Providence showing the location along the Seekonk River marked simply as Marsh.
More recently, Bellevue ST has been renamed Cold Spring Street, and the dueling ground was at the site of today’s Weatherby Park.

Jake:
[34:41] As Austin and Elliott faced each other across the marshy ground at Cold Spring, an apology seemed unlikely.
Austin had already said on a number of occasions that the offensive against General Elliot was a deliberate act and Elliott couldn’t back down now that he had issued the challenge to defend his father’s honor.
As outlined in their written agreement, the dueling party formed a rough square in the field of cold spring.
Elliott and Austin faced each other from opposite corners.
While they’re seconds, Sergeant and Sunder also faced each other, each equidistant from the other.

[35:16] Each man took one pistol in hand while the second stood by. With the second pistols ready, they marked off 10 paces from one another.

[35:26] According to the agreement. Elliott Second Henry Sargent said solemnly, Are you ready?
To which both principles replied. Yes, Sergeant continued.
Present fire.
William Austin’s gun misfired, and he was hit in the neck by Elliott’s bullet.
It must have been a minor wound because both parties called for their seconds to make the next pistol ready.
They resumed their places, and this time Charles Sumner asked the principles, Are you ready?
Present fire This time, Elliott’s bullet hit Austin in the thigh.
Blood had now been shed not once but twice. By the standards of the time, honor had been restored and the dual should have been called off.
Tempers appear to have been running high because the principles demanded an opportunity to exchange a third shot.

Nikki:
[36:21] This time, neither man was hit. Maybe he was in too much pain, or maybe he was losing too much blood.
Or perhaps he was just embarrassed by his lack of marksmanship.
But Austin allowed the dual to be called off after the third shot.
After all, a one time chaplain in the Navy could not be expected to have a much practice with a pistol. As an infantry officer, both men returned to Boston with the quarrel, apparently behind them in another Hamilton parallel.
Elliot would die two years later, at the age of 25.
George Eker, who killed the young Philip Hamilton in a duel, died less than three years later.
Like Woodbridge and Phillips, Austin and Elliott have the honor of having inspired a change to the Commonwealth laws.
Regarding dueling in their case, the law was changed to try to keep young hotheads from seeking out states with more lenient dueling laws.

[37:20] An inhabitant or resident of this commonwealth who,
by previous appointment or engagement, made within the same fights a duel outside its jurisdiction and in so doing inflicts a mortal wound upon a person where of he dies within the Commonwealth,
shall be guilty of murder within this commonwealth and may be indicted, tried and convicted in the county where the death occurs.
We actually had trouble figuring out when this law was passed, but it was in place by 18 36 at the latest.
Unlike the bit about staked burial and dissection, this passage is still on the books.
It’s in Section three, Part four, Title one, Chapter 2 65 of the Massachusetts General Laws.

Jake:
[38:06] William Austin would go on to become a fairly well known author, writing religious musings such as the human character of Jesus Christ, as well as short fiction like The Man With the Cloaks and Martha Gardner for publication in magazines.
His most popular story was Peter Rug The Missing Man, which was published in the New England magazine in 18 24.
In the story, Rug was portrayed as a stubborn, angry man who rides into a storm in 17 70 becomes cursed to drive a carriage through all eternity.

[38:38] Because he wrote the story in the style of a folk tale, many people came to believe that he had simply recounted a traditional story.
Travelers would sometimes claim to have seen Peter Rug driving his carriage along a lonely road at night.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was 20 when Peter Rug was published, and it seems to have had a profound impression on him.
He introduces an aging Peter rug in a story in Moss is from the old man’s Herman. Melville was still a toddler when Austin introduced Peter Rug but went on to refer to the character in his story, Bartleby the Scrivener. 30 years after the original was published.

[39:14] After the affair was done, the participants seemed to want to put it behind them.
Writing of William in 1904 Walter Austin would say, My grandfather deeply regretted the whole affair and rarely, if ever, alluded to it to his Children of Austin’s second, Charles Pinckney, Sumner biographer would right.
Mr. Sumner deeply regretted having taken part in this conflict, and the subject was unknown to his Children until after his decease.
Perhaps the family experience with dueling helps to explain why Charles Sumner Jr.
The U. S senator who was famously caned nearly to death on the floor of the Senate, went to such great lengths to avoid affairs of honor during the tense, violent political era leading up to the Civil War.

Nikki:
[39:58] William Austin may have put dueling behind him. But that doesn’t mean that dueling was finished in the town of Boston or that the Austin family had seen the end of political violence.
Later, in 18 06 the Austin family would be embroiled in a violent act right at home on the streets of Boston.
Benjamin Austin was chairman of the local Democratic Republican Party and a cousin of William Austin.
He threw a huge celebration for Independence Day.
After it was over, he ended up getting into a dispute over the bill with his caterer.
The caterer, in turn, hired attorney Thomas Selfridge, a federalist, to try to collect the bill.
Selfridge and Austin began trading public insults in the local newspapers.
Even after the catering bill was settled, Selfridge published an ad in The Boston Gazette that said,
Benjamin Austin loan officer, having acknowledged that he has circulated an infamous falsehood concerning my professional conduct in a certain cause,
and having refused to give the satisfaction due to a gentleman in similar cases,
I hereby published, said Austin, as a coward, a liar and a scoundrel.
And if said Austin has the effrontery to deny any part of the charge, he should be silenced by the most irrefutable proofs.

[41:24] On August 4th, Thomas Selfridge was working at his office in the Old State House when his friend, Henry Cabot came in.
Cabin had heard a rumor that Austin had hired someone to give Selfridge a public beating.
Enraged Selfridge armed himself with a brace of pistols and stormed out onto State Street in an area called the Public Exchange.
Benjamin’s 18 year old son, Charles Austin, confronted Selfridge with a heavy cane.
What happened next is subject to debate. Some accounts say that young Charles gave Selfridge a blow to the forehead with his hickory cane.
Others say that Onley words were exchanged. No matter the truth, that outcome would be the same.
Selfridge fired one of the pistols he was carrying, and Charles Austin fell dead on State Street.

Jake:
[42:13] His funeral was presided over by William Emerson, father of Ralph Waldo, who was a close friend of the Austin family.
His funeral sermon focused first on the tragedy of the death of a child and the morning of the parents.
Then he railed against the sins of the times and the wicked state of society on account of its consequences.
Concluding what then? Finally, my brother, and do I propose as the means of averting the divine displeasure,
I propose and recommend that we bring hither the enemies of Christ our habits of evil, speaking our inordinate ambition, our pride and malice, and slay them at his feet.
I asked that we bring hither our feuds and discord are malevolence and selfishness and make a sacrifice of them. On the altar of the Gospel, I exhort that the work of reformation begin in every bosom and in every mouth.
I admonished that we universally imposed the restraints of religion on our hearts and hands are lips and pens, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place under wrath, for it is written.
Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord Selfridge would be found not guilty of homicide in an early case of justifiable self defense, leaving the door open for future tools.
They would never be common, but they did happen, including the 18 17 dual it Castle Island and which Lieutenant Robert Massey was killed, inspiring the Edgar Allan Poe story. The Cask of a Monte Otto.

[43:43] As soon as I read Walter Austin’s book about his grandfather’s dual, I was struck by the parallels between that event and the musical Hamilton for the Hamilton fans out there, we’re just gonna run down the list really quickly.

Nikki:
[43:55] The Austin Elliott duel was sparked by partisan tension between the federalists and the Democratic Republicans, much as both the Alexander Hamilton Aaron Burr duel and the Philip Hamilton George eager dual who were,
James Elliott challenged William Austin to a duel in order to defend his father’s honor.
Justus Philip Hamilton challenged, eager in order to defend his father’s reputation.
The elder Hamilton was a Revolutionary War officer like General Simon Elliott, the father of James Waas.
Much as George Eaker was older than challenger Philip Hamilton, William Austin was older than his challenger, James Elliott.
So it’s not true that everything is legal. In New Jersey, both dueling parties went to neighboring states in order to take advantage of less stringent dueling laws.
Two years after he killed Philip Hamilton, George Eker died of a respiratory illness, perhaps consumption that he contracted after fighting a fire in winter.
James Elliott, two years after he shot William Austin, died from a mysterious respiratory illness that was exacerbated by winter weather.

Jake Intro-Outro:
[45:10] If you’ve seen the show, let us know if we missed any parallels between the Austin family and the Hamilton family.
To learn more about dueling in Boston, check out this week’s show notes at hub history dot com slash 2 16.
I’ll have a wealth of links to information about the duels referenced in the episode, all the duelists involved and the history of dueling laws in our commonwealth.
We’ll also have historical and modern maps showing where the dueling ground at Cold Harbor Waas.

[45:40] You’ll be happy to know that since we originally released this episode, co host emerita, Nikki and I were able to make it to Hamilton on Broadway in January 2018,
and we liked it so much that we saw it again when Lin Manuel reprised his role in San Juan in January 2019.
I can’t recommend it highly enough, so go see it in a city near you as soon as the stupid pandemic is over, if you’d like to get in touch with us, you can email us at podcast of hub history dot com.
We’re hub history on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or you could go to hub history com and click on the Contact US link while you’re on the site, hit the subscribe link and be sure that you never miss an episode.
If you subscribe on apple podcasts, please consider writing us a brief review.
If you do drop us a line, we’ll send you. Ah, Hub History sticker is a token of appreciation, that’s all for now.

Music

Jake Intro-Outro:
[46:39] Stay safe out there, listeners.