Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-09-05
AN INTERESTING BIT OF HISTORY.
Who Wrote the Article That Nearly
Made Lincoln Duellist!

1t was somewhere about the year
1910 that the writer, then small boy,
living in little village on the line of
the old State road running from st.
Louis to Indianapolis, met ono morning
as he was going to market one of the
colored boys who had been house
servant of his fathers in the State of
Alabama, seated upon first-class car
riage. | asked Hiram-for that was
his name-where he came from and
where he was going to? He replied,
From Springfield, sir, and am taking
one of two gentlemen down to Bloody
Island to fight" Bloody Island " is
now known as East ST. Louis, and from
1920 till 1917, under the first constitution
of Illinois, there were perhaps not less
than one hundred duels fought thereon.
1t turned out that the gentlemen who
were to slaughter one another upon
this bloody field were none less than
Abraham Lincoln, of BLACK Hawk "
war fame, and the then Captain Paddy
Shields, who had seen service IN the
British army. And here let me say
that it was because they stopped for
breakfast at our little village that per
haps Lincoln was spared and saved to
make for himself such a grand and
glorious name throughout the world as
he afterwards did, and that Shields be-
came true and honored soldier, not
only in the Mexican, but in the war to
preserve the Union: for the Circuit
Court was then in session for that cOun-
ty, and in attendance were some of the
leading lawyers of the district, among
whom were Lincoln's and Shields per-
sonal and political friends, and as soon
as it was noised about-as it was imme-
diately after breakfast-that they had
gone to Bloody Island to fight, then
it was that Stephen A. Douglas-who
was at that time prosecuting attorney
for our district--R. w. English, our
member of assembly, and A. W. Cav
arly, our Senator, all three of whom
were warm political friends of Captain
Shields; Colonel John ]. Hardin, after
wards killed at Buena Vista, and Colon
ell Edwin d. Baker, killed at Balls Bluff,
friends of Lincoln. started in hot pur-
suit to overtake the duellists. In this
they did not succeed till they reached
the ground upon which the fight was to
take place Upon their arrival they
found both Lincoln and Shields ready
for the combat. They.soon succeeded
in inducing Shields to withdraw the
challenge for five minutes, in order that
Lincoln might make an explanation,
and should this be satisfactory to
Shields. he (Shields) should not IN fu-
ture attempt to find out or discover who
might have been the author of the
newspaper article from which the
trouble arose As soon as Captain
Shields withdrew the challenge, Mr..
Lincoln at once assured him, on his
honor as man, that he had never seen
or heard of the article in question till
he read the same IN the morning paper,
and that he was in no sense responsible
for the same, but had simply espoused
the authorship of it In order to protect
the good name of most estimable
young girl in Springfield. This settled
what might have terminated In bloody
affair The would-be combatants shook
hands and were ever afterwards good
friends. But for years the question
was, who wrote the article? 1t Is now
an open secret in Springfield. 1t seems
that Miss Jayne, who had recently
graduated from the Monticello Semi
nary, and who was quite q belle at the
capital, had three young lawyers as her
admirers Mr.. Lincoln was one and
Captain Shields was another, and she
had written the article which the Irish
soldier thought was reflection upon
himself, for he, be it known, was a very
vain man, and considered himself hand
some Neither Shields nor Lincoln
married the girl, but she became the
loving and honored wife Of Lyman
Trumbull.- From the World.