Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1839-10-17
Fron the National Neutrality-suspicious. /.
A MYSTERY SOLVED.


Truth. il is said. is stranger than fiction. Ger
tainly, We have never read any fictitious narrative
more strange than the srbioincd, which we copy
from The Alexandria Gazette Of yesterday. The
fatal a,cl 10 which il refers was announced some
months ago in this paper upon the authority Of a
Norfolk paper, 10 which il was published. with We
" natural expressions Of 81 mpashy for the mental
suffering said to be felt and expressed by the suryi-
vor. Soon afterwards, and Frequently since, il has
been limited, from different, quarters, that the whole
story was = fabrication, no such duel having taken
place. Belief in the story has, however, been re-
affirmed, and II has been again sontradlcted so that
until now we have not been able to satisfy ourselves
whether il wal true or not. The initials signed TO
the following ara those Of a gentleman who has been
referred to as authority for the story, which IS ct
course completely exploded by this publication.
THK "NoRrn CAROLINA DuEL."--In accordance
with . promise made some time since, | send the
following statement Of facts in relation to the repor.
tedNiuel between Messrs. Joseph Seawcli Jones, OF
Shocco, Norlii Carolina, and H.. Wright Wilson, of
New York, in which il has been reported, and Is
still generally believed, that the latter gentleman
wa. mortally wounded.
About IL o'clock NJ. on the day OF the reported
duel, whilst travelling from Elizabeth City to Nor
folk, | stopped at The Dismal Swamp Hotel on the
boundary hae between Virginia and North Carolina
for the purpose of resting my horse and taking some
r~elreshments. | had not been seated many min
| utcs, when | observed Mr.. Jones, Of Shocco, North
| Carolina, enter under much apparent perturbation,
aud evidently after a bard and long chase. After
some few Introductory preliminaries, Mr.. Jones
asked me out, and immediately informed me that
he had Just fought a duel, about eight miles ahead,
with a gentleman from New Yurk-that he had XIII
| led his opponent al the first fre-was pursued to
the boundary line by the officers who had received
intelligence Of the fight; aud that the unsettled
state Of his affairs compelled him TO return TO Nor
folk; to aid him in reaching which place, undisco-
vered by the police, he solicited my friendly assist
ance. II reasons urgcd in behalf Of this request
were of such a nature ms TO decide me-, at once, in
rendering him any aid in my power that might be
likely 10 facilitate his visit to, and escape from, Nor
folk, and ] accordingly agreed 10 his plan, that !
should take his clothes and maine. and accompany
him to Noffplk and, in case OF arrest or danger,
pass myself "a % MIR. Jones, until be was beyond
the limits of Virginia. Mr.. jones then placed IN
my hands copies of the letters which, he said, had
passed between the pai.ics~all If which | careful
" aud attentiyely porused-which copies are now,
i'll mistake net, Ia the possession OF the Norfolk
Beacon, under the Jronk of q member Of Congress
from North Carolina. These letters were oil indi-
led in the usual form ola challenge and acceptance ;
and, together with disclosing the TACT that Mr.. Jones
had pulled the no4e Of his antagonist az = public
meeting IN Petersburg, contained, as concerned Ia
the duel, the NAMES Of several geuflemen distinguish
/ t1 tA AAttt4 fdi1tbA1 anu tfN'tNtN N'ttRftAHth'N-I
Although / required no further evidence Of the ur-
fortunate and fatal duel than that above referred TO,
through a 5eay, perhaps, that | might be Il little
s~keptIcal II the matter, MIR. Jones conducted M
first 10 the dseIing ground, which | found fairly
and honorabiy measuged, y and stained IN several
places witt blood, and then directed ne TO proceed
10 a house, some short distance from the spot. and
! ask for a ] -ndkarchief which a voman, who had
been brought 10 the field BY the report Of the pi.-
tolls, had picked up, and which he feared might be
used as evidence against hin. This | did, aud, n-
ter having received from o woman such a handker-
| chief as MIR. Jones had desf5ibed, still and red with
blood, | was farther info med by her that she saw
he gentlemen galop nway from he feld after the
shots were fired, that thry carried of . dend body
in a sack, and that the whole neighborlcod was in
a state of the greatest excitement. Ofcourse there
could now exist no doubt in any reasonable mind
as 10 the fact Of fatal duel hnsing been fought;
and il only remained for me TO assist Mr.. Jones IN
carving out the plan he had devised for his visit 10
Norfolk. 1hithef we arrived in safety and % was
TO be expected, found the whole borough on the tip
Toe Of excitement end inquiry about the fatal duel.
Mr.. Jones managed to escape public noior.eiy I'M
til 10 O'Clock at night, when, pursued from Nor
folk 10 Portsmouth by a whole troop Of officers,
who, be informed me, had just returned from the
duel ground-a distance ofabout twenty-five miles
-he called at my lodgings in Portsmouth; and,
having spent u few minutes with me, set of Tor
North Carolina on q switt horse, which my sohcl-
tude and apprehension of pursuit had already pro-
yided for his departure. ! started next morning IN
the North Carolina stage; and, being dressed IN
MIR. Jol-es's clothes, felt no slight approximations
for my own safety, when, nbout eight miles from
town, | met some nine or zen constables. cih green
bags. and a grave looking coroner, returning after
then fruitless search for the dead body Of the un-
fortunate Wilson. They passed me by, however,
and | Of course, congratulated myself on my hap
py escape.
MI. Jones and | met some weeks after-he on
his way to Texas, and | 10 the spot of painful re-
membrance," where The duel took place, to remove
some misgivings which, ia the face Of all the evil
dence to the contrary, were daily arising in my
mind with regard TO tho mysterious affair. ] reach
ed the spot, and there found a solitary mourner la
meniing the fate Of an unfortunate pig found a short
time before near the duelling ground, whose man
gled throat fully indicated whence the blood flow
| ed, by which the ground and handkerchief were so
abundantly stained. When | returned home, MIR.
Jones was {" over the hills and far AVA and not ha-
wing an opportunity Of demanding an explanation,
with himself must, of coarse, yet remain the secret
motive that could have urged him TO conceive and
play of, with so much ingenuity and labor, . HOAX
that has called forth so many paragraphs and horn
lies on duelling from the press at large, and delu-
ded so many Of his acquaintances and friends.
H.. C. Mel.
From the Philadelphia Herald.
mr. frCTLn A~nnREGCIC