THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 29, 1995 TAG: 9501310465
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: George Tucker
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Dueling, the private way of settling grievances between two hotheads with pistols, swords or other lethal weapons, has long been illegal in Virginia. Even so, the practice has been responsible for several colorful yarns, from the serious to the comic.
Here are two tales.
Heretofore, it was surmised that Capt. William Epps killed Capt. William Stallings, in 1619, in what was believed to have been the first duel fought in Virginia. This has recently been disproved by the discovery of an official record in England that states that Stallings' death was the outcome of a drunken brawl. Moreover, a letter written in 1620 by John Rolfe, Pocahontas' husband, supports this account. Rolfe reported that Epps had only been ``found guilty of Manslaughter by chance meddley.''
This clears the way for an account of what is now believed to have been Virginia's first duel. It took place at Jamestown in 1624.
In the spring of that year, five vessels arrived in the James River loaded with indentured servants and provisions for the new colony. One of the ships, the Marmaduke, contained foodstuffs, spices, tools, firearms, clothing, and books consigned to a settler named George Harrison who had been in the colony since 1618. Although Harrison was ill when the convoy arrived, he hastened to Jamestown to claim his goods. While there, he fell in with Richard Stephens, a former London ``painter-stainer,'' who was a member of the governor's council. ``Words of discontent'' passed between Harrison and Stephens, and when these led to blows, Stephens challenged Harrison to a duel.
During the ensuing free-for-all with swords, Harrison was cut on the upper part of one of his legs. Two weeks later, he died, and Stephens was charged with murder.
Fortunately, he had friends in high places. The investigating surgeons discounted the wound as the cause of Harrison's death, and stated he had not been well and would have died anyway.
Also, on April 28, 1624, George Menifie, a prominent colonist, wrote to Harrison's brother in London, informing him that a posthumous examination had shown that Harrison was in bad health. He wrote that Harrison's death was not believed to have been a result of being ``hurt in the field,'' since he had only received a slight wound ``between the garter and the knee.''
Cleared of the murder, Stephens was restored to his place on the council by Gov. John Harvey. From then on, the story takes on an ironic twist. The former London ``painter-stainer'' was undoubtedly an explosive character, for although Harvey at first welcomed him back as a councilman, Stephens tangled with the governor a few years later.
During an altercation, Harvey knocked out several of Stephens' teeth with a stout cudgel after the latter had assailed the governor with ``ill language.''
Meanwhile, Stephens, a man of property in his own right, married Elizabeth Peirsey, whose father, Abraham Peirsey, was one of the wealthiest men in Virginia. When Stephens died in 1637, his widow did not remain inconsolable for long. In or before 1642, she married Gov. Harvey, the man who had deprived her first husband of his teeth.
Even more amusing is this latter-day Old Dominion dueling story.
Two 19th century Virginians decided to settle their differences by a duel. To diminish the chance of hitting each other, they agreed to shoot it out in a dark room. The signal to fire was given. One of the men trembled so violently from fright that his shot went completely wild and whizzed through an open window to his right. It brought down his opponent, who was halfway up a tree out in the yard! by CNB