Post by Cliff Krainik on Apr 13, 2010 14:36:48 GMT -5
A "Duel" over Slavery in the Wisconsin Territory.
The first white settlers in Wisconsin Territory were mostly from the South. Many, like Territorial Governor Henry Dodge, even brought their slaves with them. Anyone — including fellow former southerners — who impugned Southern honor faced threats and abuse.
Attorney Joseph Mills left Kentucky in 1833 specifically because he hated slavery and dueling. He settled in the lead mining district, where slavery advocate Matt Baker was sheriff. Baker publicly denounced Mills, saying, “We Kentuckians are not going to have our native state disgraced by black abolitionists or men who won’t fight for honor.”
Mills only once responded to Baker’s repeated provocations.
Sheriff Baker was running for re-election when he heard Mills condemn the slave trade and attack northern courts for returning fugitive slaves to their owners. Baker claimed these speeches were a personal insult, and challenged Mills to a duel so he could defend his honor. Knowing Mills’ anti-dueling views, Baker added that his opponent had probably “scooted by this time for the woods of Maine.”
Instead, Mills publicly accepted Baker’s challenge in the Grant County Herald:
“In accordance with the code, I have the choice of weapons and the place for combat. For the latter, I choose Dick Grundy’s mineral hole in Pidgeon Diggings, which is now sixty feet deep. You are to stand at the bottom and I at the top. The weapons are to be rocks.”
Dueling and slavery were simultaneously ridiculed and Baker was laughed out of the county. Mills went on to a distinguished legal career.
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The above story was sent to me by a friend. Has anyone read this piece before and do you know the source ?
Cliff Krainik - Warrenton, Virginia
The first white settlers in Wisconsin Territory were mostly from the South. Many, like Territorial Governor Henry Dodge, even brought their slaves with them. Anyone — including fellow former southerners — who impugned Southern honor faced threats and abuse.
Attorney Joseph Mills left Kentucky in 1833 specifically because he hated slavery and dueling. He settled in the lead mining district, where slavery advocate Matt Baker was sheriff. Baker publicly denounced Mills, saying, “We Kentuckians are not going to have our native state disgraced by black abolitionists or men who won’t fight for honor.”
Mills only once responded to Baker’s repeated provocations.
Sheriff Baker was running for re-election when he heard Mills condemn the slave trade and attack northern courts for returning fugitive slaves to their owners. Baker claimed these speeches were a personal insult, and challenged Mills to a duel so he could defend his honor. Knowing Mills’ anti-dueling views, Baker added that his opponent had probably “scooted by this time for the woods of Maine.”
Instead, Mills publicly accepted Baker’s challenge in the Grant County Herald:
“In accordance with the code, I have the choice of weapons and the place for combat. For the latter, I choose Dick Grundy’s mineral hole in Pidgeon Diggings, which is now sixty feet deep. You are to stand at the bottom and I at the top. The weapons are to be rocks.”
Dueling and slavery were simultaneously ridiculed and Baker was laughed out of the county. Mills went on to a distinguished legal career.
----------------------
The above story was sent to me by a friend. Has anyone read this piece before and do you know the source ?
Cliff Krainik - Warrenton, Virginia
