Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1882-04-05
Whole No. 2O63.
Old Hlckory's Duellng Pistols

~ WHO Iihu pcvh WfNhE p""'' W.
teresting "reminiscences for the Frank
lin (Ky,) Patriot, contributes this
~ saw some time ago brace OF
dueling pistols, in tho possession OF
Thomas Rutherford, of Sumner county,
Tennessee, They were steel barrels,
Auied within, and highly ornamented
with silver. The history ] received Of
them was a follows Many years
before the brilliant triumphs Of the
war had lifted Gen, Jackson high
above the competitors into the presi-
dental chair as chief executive OF the
nation, il was his custom to have some
TO take his place in the dirty street
broils which might come up. AT tho
time to which ! refer, one Ferguson
was the man, q regular ..knOck'down
and drag.out sort Of fellow, dreaded
by all who wcrs ever 80 unfortunate ~
10 come In contact with him. An
uncle Of Colonel Rutherford, by the
same name, visited Nashville TO sell
fine pair of matched horses. Ferguson
offered to purchase them on short
credit and to give Gen. jackson as
security. The arrangement was made
and the horses were his. Before Mr..
r. left Nashville, he learned the char
actcr of tho man with whom he had
been trading, and was told that it he
ever asked for the money or the note
he had received for tho horses Fergu-
son would whip him. 1t happened
that Rutherford was rough customer
nothing suited him better than
ground scufIie in defense Of his rights,
and so he was impatient for the day Of
the coming conflict. Early on the
morning that the note felt due, Ruther-
ford visited Nashville, saw the same
man f., presented his note for pay
ment, telling him at the same time
what he had heard Of him, and further
said to him that, if he didn't pay the
note right away he would thrash him
like dog. A word and the blow fol-
lowed. Never was man more sound
ly thrashed than Ferguson was on that
occasion; in fact he was supposed to
be dead for q time. This aroused the
Generals sympathies for his man who
had received such cudgeling, and to
resent it was his first impulse, but in a
fisticuff he would be only a child in
RS hands, and so challenged him to
fight duel the next morning, distance
ten PAGES. Though r. had no expert
ence in firearms, he instantly accepted
the challenge. At the appointed hour
all parties were at the appointed place
of rendezvous. All preliminaries made,
the distance measured, the positions
taken, the words one-two-.a this
iuncture jackson who was dead shot,
having eyed his antagonist closely, saw
that there was no flinching in him, but
that he was as cool and deliberate as if
nothing unusual was occurring, stepped
forward and addressed Rutherford -
"By the eternal, sir, l would desplse
myself to sacrifice such noble material
as you are made Of. Sir, please ae-
cept these pistols from ON, who ever
admires true courage and pluck, such
as you have to-day demonstrated; and
accept them from me as an evidence OF
my high appreciation of you as q man
who dares to defend his rights" Gen.
jackson paid the mouey due on Fergu'
sons note. Ever afterward the Ruth
erford family have been Jackson's
warmest supporters, and none lamented
his death more than they. The pistols
will be kept in the family forever as
priceless souvenirs.