Talk:Charles Dickinson (attorney and duelist)

Untitled

In addition to adding detail to this article, I also removed some un-sourced information regarding the nature of the shot to Dickinson that was contradicted by sourced information. Rklawton 22:16, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Which one is correct 103 DUELS OR 4 DUELS? 13 Sept. 2006

Quite a large discrepancy between 103 duels and 4 duels...

Facts about duel remain in dispute

I have not tried yet to change the "Death" section here, except to correct the number of duels Jackson fought to 13 from 103. This figure is given in many biographies of Jackson.

However, I believe there may be a historical consensus -- at least I know most historians claim -- that the sequence of events on the dueling ground went like this: 1) Dickenson fires, wounding Jackson; 2) Jackson tries to fire but the hammer of his pistol freezes up at half-cock; 3) Jackson re-cocks the gun and shoots Dickinson. The assertion here that Jackson tried to fire first is not one I have seen before.

What is reputed to be Jackson's own account of the affray, given late in his life, is included in the news item referenced at reference #2 of this article. There Jackson makes the possibly self-serving claim that he meant only to fire into the air, and that he fired back at Dickinson only by instinct the moment after he was hit.

As discussed in that news item, there is no consensus about exactly why or how the duel happened. Significantly, Jackson's earliest biographers in the 1820s made no mention of it. It appears to have resurfaced as a major topic of discussion only in the context of other pro- and anti-Jackson polemics around the time of his presidency.

Perhaps the account of the duel here should be flagged with a request for some discussion of the historiography surrounding it. To some extent, the Dickinson duel is of more historical interest for how different interest groups have made use of it in debating Jackson's merits (in life) and legacy (to this day) than it is as an event in itself.

Tom Wood 16:46, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Grave Site Section

There's a big paragraph about digging up his grave below the references. First of all, this isn't where it should go. Secondly, it cites no sources. I am putting it here and removing it from the main page. It can be returned if a reference can be found.

On Saturday, December 15, 2007 a small army of visitors related to the Dickinson heirs, members of the press, and a crew that included state and other representatives appeared in the Whitland Avenue area of Nashville to legally dig for his grave. Local neighbors pointed out the spot where those who lived nearby thought was the grave site. However, the expert team used a "ground effect radar" device and chose a spot a few feet away in the 216 Carden yard. Digging was careful, with sod preserved in squares and dirt piled on a canvas. A plot about 5 X 7 feet was dug down about 18-24 inches, where rather solid clay substrata was uncovered. It seemed not to be a grade. The spot was refilled, the "Radar" used again and a second plot dug about 5-6 and in line with the first. This also proved to be an unproductive site and was filled in with the original soil and sod. A third spot was identified by the "Radar Operator" parallel to the second and 3-5 feet closer to the street and sidewalk. This also turned out to be a "dry hole." It then was decided in might be wise to dig a trench paralleling the sidewalk. It would extend 20-30 feet and would be almost certain to expose the end portion of the grave (which is generally viewed as at right angles to the sidewalk. The trench would end at the property line and cross the location that locals have long regarded as the location of the original grave -- which might still have a coffin and body or might have been emptied something in the 200 years from 1806 to 2007. As one of those neighbors, a retired professor who has lived a few houses away for 30+ years, this seemed, finally, like a sensible move. However, a check back an hour or so later revealed the crowd gone, a small crew of workers was washing down the driveway and side walk, and the trench idea was abandoned because "it has turned colder rain is spitting down, and the decision is to pack up and quit." He was a great man because he wanted the poor to have a better life.

-Athaler (talk) 18:06, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

External links modified

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