Weekly Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1908-1909, 1908-11-13
CARMACK SLAIN IN
DUEL At NASHVILLE
FORMER SENATOR KILLED IN CUL.
MINATION OF BITTER Po-
LITICAL FEUD.
SLAYER is SON OF HIS ENEMY.
Robin Cooper Resents Editorial Criticism
of Father, Who Witnesses Shooting
in the Street.
THE STORY OF VICTIMS CAREER.

i NASHVILLE, Tenn, Nov. 1O.-Mes-
sages from various sections testify to the
tremendous sensation caused throughout
the state and the south by the killing
of former Senator Edward w. Carmack
by young Robin Jones Cooper, in street
! duel here late yesterday afternoon. Car
mack's brilliant career as United
States senator from Tennessee had made
him one of the best known of national
figures. Col. Duncan B. Cooper, father
Of young Robin Cooper, and who was
with his son when the duel occurred, has
j an extensive acquaintance and q legion
! of friends both in his own and other
! states.
! Carmack's race for the nomination as
Democratic senator, in which he was de-
feated by Senator Robert Il. Taylor, and
his more recent race for the governor
ship in which he was defeated by Gov.
Patterson, have served to draw his fol-
lowing in the state closer to him, and
his tragic end has spread distress and
bitterness among them. 1t is feared ty
some that the end of the trouble has not
yet arrived and 1t is sure to play part
in coming political alignments.
Were Close Friends Once.
In former years the men were dear
friends, Carmack having declared in
public print that Cooper was his bene-
factor. But friendship had been re-
placed by enmity which was more no.
ticeable since Carmack became editor of
The Tennesseean, following the late pri
mary. Then the editorial attacks began
which eliminated in yesterdays killing,
which sent a thrill through Tennessee.
With constantly increasing crowds about
1t and III the nelghborhoOd the body OF
Mr.. Carmack lay where he fell for half
an hour before it was removed to an
undertaking establishment. There it was
prepared for burial and then removed to
the home of Frank Lander, business
manager of The Tennesseean.
After the shooting the Coopers re-
paired to the nearby office of a physi-
clan, where young Cooper's wound,
which is slight, was dressed, and he and
his father were placed under arrest.
Elder Cooper Calm.
Col. Cooper accepted the situation
calmly. His only regret aside from the
killing seemed to be that his son was
engaged One or twice he seemed some
what affected and observed that the shot
was meant for him and not for his boy.
He was reconciled to his condition. OBJ
serving once or twice that he was a SOL
der in the Confederate army and had
spent more than one year in a federal
prison.
Boy Regrets Shooting.
Only two statements were made by
young Cooper while in the physicians
office. One was a request to his father
to give up his pistol and in the other
saying:
Pm sorry the shooting occurred"
In Columbia, the bOyhood home of the
former senator, the news shocked the
people almost beyond measure. Business
there will be suspended until the funeral.
A dispatch from Columbia to the Chat
tanooga Times says the general senti-
ment at Columbia is that the shooting
was instigated by the political forces
dominant in Tennessee and many ex
press the opinion that it will promote
the passage of temperance legislation"
The Disputed Editorial
In one editorial commenting upon the
friendship between Cooper and Patter-
son, once great enemies, Mr.. Carmack
wrote:
ITO Mai. Duncan Brown Cooper, who
wrought the great coalition; who
achieved the harmonious confluence of
incompatible elements; who welded the
pewter handle to the wooden spoon; who
grated the dead bough to the living
tree and made it bloom and blend with
golden fruit; who made playmates of
the lamb and the leopard and boon COM
panions of the spider and the fly; who
made soda and vinegar to dwell placidly
in the same bottle and who taught oil
and water how they might agree-to
Mai. Duncan Brown Cooper, the great
diplomat of the political Zweibund, be
all honor and glory forever"
It was this editorial, it is reported,
which caused the younger Cooper to
send his threat of death to Carmack.
1t failed. however, in stopping the edi
torials and the only notice Carmack
gave it was to arm himself.
Story of Carmack's Life.
Former Senator Carmack was born
near Castillan Springs, Summer coun-.
ty, Tenn, November 5, 1858. He had an
academic education, studied law, prac
ticed in Columbia, Tenn, and was a
member of the Legislature of 1854.
He was a delegate to the national
Democratic convention of 1896 and a
member of Congress-1S97-1 9O1-from
the Tenth Congressional district of Ten
| nessee. He served with distinction in
| the United States Senate for six years,
being defeated for reelection in the pri-
mary a little over year ago by former
Gov. Robert Taylor.
Mr.. Carmack then resumed the prac-
tice of law in Columbia, which was then
his home. but within a few months re-
moved to Nashville.
] Mr.. Carmack's newspaper career be-
gan in 1886 as q member of the editorial
! staff of the Nashville American. He
founded the Nashville Democrat in 1899
and when it was merged into The Amer
lean became editor in chief of the latter
papers. In 1892 he became editor of
The Commercial-Appeal at Memphis.
/ He was married April, 1890, to Miss
Elizabeth Cobey Huntington of Column
! bia, Tenn.
Carmack Once Missed Duel.
In 1892, while Mr.. Carmack was edi-
tor of the Memphis Commercial, and w.
A Collier, publisher of the Memphis
Appeal-Avalanche. a challenge of a pis-
toll duel passed between them. The issue