Sharp County record., 1879-07-17
GENERAL SHIELDS.

gives the following incidents:
Shields became Auditor of the State
of Illinois in 1889. While he occupied
this important office he was involved in
an "affair Of honor" with a Spring
field lawyer-no less parsonage than
Abraham Lincoln. At this time "James
Shields, Auditor" was the pride of the
young Democracy, and was considered
dashing fellow by all, the ladies in
cluded. In the summer of 1842 the
Springfield Journal contained some lst-
ters from the "Lost Townships" by
contributor whose nom de plume was
"Aunt Becca," which held up the gal
liant young Auditor as 3 "ball-room
dandy, foatin' about on the earth with
out heft or substance, just like lot OF
cat.fur where cats had been fghtin',"
These letters caused intense excitement
in the town. Nobody knew or guessed
their authorship. Shields swore it would
be coffee and pistols for two if he should
find out who had been lampooning him
so numerically. Thereupon "Aunt
Becca" wrote another letter, which
made the furnace of his wrath seven
times hotter than before, in which she
made very humble apology and offered
to let him squeeze her hand for salts
faction, adding: elf this should not
answer, there is one thing more I'd do
rather than get lickin'. have all
along expected to die a widow; but, as
Mr.. Shields is rather good-looking than
otherwise, must say | don't care if we
compromise the matter by-really, Mr..
Printer, | can't help blushin'-but /
must come out-I-but widowed mod
estY-well, if | must, must-wouldn't
he-maybe sorter let the old grudge
drap if | was to consent to be-be-his
wife? / know he is fightin' man and
would rather fight than eat; but isn't
marryin' better than fightin', though it
does sometimes run into it? And |
don't think, upon the whole, I'd be sich
q bad match, neither; I'm not over 60,
and am jest four feet three in my bare
feet and not much more round the girth;
and for color, wouldn't turn my back
to nary a girl in the Lost Townships.
But, after all, maybe I'm countin' my
chickens before they're Matched and
dreamin' of matrimonial bliss when the
only alternative reserved for me may be
a lickin'. Jeff tells me the way these
fre.eaters do is to give the challenged
party the choice of weapons, which, be-
ing the case, 1 tell you in confidence
that l never fight with any thing but
broomsticks or hot water, or a shoveltul
of Goals or some such things; the former
of which, being somewhat like shil
lelah, may not be so very Objectionable
to him. / will give him choice, how
ever, in one thing, and that is whether,
when we fight, shall wear breeches or
he petticoats, for presume this change
is sufficient to place US on an equality"
OF course some one had to shoulder the
responsibility of these letters after such
q shot. The real author was none other
than Miss Mary Todd, a;terward the
wife of Abraham Lincoln, to whom she
was engaged, and who was in honor
bound to assume, for belligerent pur-
poses, the responsibility of her sharp
pen-thrusts. Mr.. Lincoln accepted the
situation. Not long after the two men
with their seconds were on their way to
the field of honor. But the affair was
fixed up without any fighting, and thus
ended in fizzle the Lincoln-Shields
duel of the Lost Townships.
When Shields was member OF the
State Legislature he roomed with Ste
phen A. Douglas at Vandalia, ILL.,, in a
boarding-house kept by certain Col.
Flack. The landlord, by the way, also
kept grocery. Shields and Douglas,
az the custom then was, always kept a
pitcher of Bourbon whisky on the ia
BILE. They had plenty of friends, and
the pitcher was replenished-Just how
many times they could not tell, but
Flack, who had to carry the liquor
around, got tired of it, and said some
other way of dispensing the liquor must
be provided. There was partition be-
tween the room and the grocery, and
Douglas suggested that hole should be
cut in the partition and two faucets
placed in the barrel, one on the grocery
side and one inside the partition. The
landlord was to sell on his side, Doug
las and Shields were to drink on the
other. and the cost of the barrel of
whisky was to be equally shared. The
proposition was accepted. The first
day Flack came out ahead, the second
day they were even, but on the third
day Shields and his chum were away
ahead of the proprietor. Flack couldn't
stand it; saw they we're selling whisky
cheaper than he was and compromised
the contract, which otherwise was to
have lasted all winter, by payment of a
five-gallon keg.
AT Cerro Gordo Ger. Shields was Sc
verely wounded while leading his men,
but he refused to quit the field. He