Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-11-21
TERRY AND FREDERICK.
Why a Democratic Elector was De-
feated in California,

The defeat of one out of several presi-
Dental electors in state is an extraordi-
nary occurrence which has just been Off
cially declared to. have happened in Cali
fornia David s. Terry is the democratic
elector thus left out in the cold" Had
the pending election been as close as was
that of 1876 Judge Terry's defeat might
have changed the complexion of our his
tory for four years at least. There can be
little doubt that the causes Of this defeat lie
far back of the pending election, and must
be traced to the killing of Senator David
s. Broderick in duel years ago by Judge
Terry. Many old residents OF the eighth
ward remem Der David S. Broderick as
young democratic boss" ia that part of
New York thirty-fve years ego. Dave"
the lire laddie'' and stone mason's ap~
San Francisco, owned a popular liquor
saloon, which was the headquarters of the
Tammany boys of Houston, Spring and
Varick street neighborhoods. The imme-|
diate cause Of Dawes leaving on the first
attack of the gold fever in 1849 was his un>
expecteddefeat for congress in a democratic
| district, for which undoubtedly he was
himself responsible. He had become a
| thorough political organizer, and in his
| new home as q fireman aud ward politi-
| clan he almost Immediately acquired an
| ascendency in democratic p.litics. No
| sooner had he secured a residence than he
was chosen state senator, and by an acct
dent during his term was made acting
| acknowledgements. "DaYe' Immediately
aspired to be United States senator, and
actually spent seven years in persistent
and undaunted struggle for the prize.
Three times-in 1891 1885 and l8l6-he
prevented choice by the legis AZURE
rather than see his rival chosen In 1852
John B. Weller beat Broderick by only two
majority. In 1858 no election for senator
occurred. In 1854 Broderick hit upon the
| ingenious plan of choosing himself in sd
vance of the vacancy, and nearly succeed
ed ia the scheme. Believed to be in 1856
as dead politically as Dennis kearney now
| is. and actually so unpopular as to be
/ zept under watch by the aristocratic
,igilance committee of that period, Brod-
erlck, in 1871 by bold political moves,
was chosen United States senator, and
had so much power as to be able to dict Ate
VINO mis- colleage should be after obliging
| that colleague-Senator Gwin-in men,
orable letter, which afterward became
public, to agree that Broderick should en-
joy all the patronage This was an agree
ment which president Buchanan refused to
acknowledge. and this led to rupture be~
tween the president and Broderick, who on
one occasion on the floor of the senate
ayerred that tine presidents policy toward
| Kansas should be ascribed to the failing in
| Jellect, the petulent passion and the tremb-
ling dotage of an old man on the verge Of
the grave" TIE rupture led to the defeat
| in California of the Broderick democrats at
the congressional eli ctions. During that
| canvass David S. Terry, the recently re-
jected Hancock elector, made campaign
speeches although he was q justice of the
| snpfeme court Broderick having claimed
in stump speech that he Was following
the lead of Douglas, judge Terry retorted
by saying that lit was the lead not of
stephen but of Fred Douglas" Broderick
was Dreakfasting in the International hotel
of San Francisco with Mr.. Perley, a friend
both of the senator and of the judge, when
the speech was read out from morning
paper. Broderick was much nettled and
i'm pulsively said: II have said that Terry
is the only honest man on the bench, but
take that back" Perley spoke up sharply
ct this and left the table to go and pen a
challenge, which Broderick declined, on
the ground that he had no quarrel with
Perley, and that if he had, Perley was not
his eq lal. Then Terry stepped into the
gap and resigning his judgeship for the
purpose, sent Broderick challenge, which
was accepted. The duel was fought ten
Males out of San Francisco on the morning
September l3, 1859, with dueling pistols, aL
a distance of ten yards. Brederick's ball
struck the ground few PAGES Immediately
in front of Ierry-Brokerick's hair trigger
failing him-while Terry's ball lodged in
Broderick's left lung and killed him within
a few days. His death was regarded by
the anti-slavery democrats as an assassins-
tion-a sentiment which the late general
and Oregon senator. E. D. Baker, made
the topic of a celebrated funeral Grafton
over "Dave''-as his admirers continued 10
call him to the day of entombing his re-
mains beneath a conspicuous monument in
Lone Mountain cemetery. Terry was in
dicted for murder and imprisoned, and
never tried. During the civil war he was
in the confederate army. After the war he
returned to San Francisco and practced
law and re-entered politics. In August
1879. he unsuccessfully ran on the Kearney
ticket for attorney general. This year he
was nominated as presidential eiector.