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{{Short description|American politician (1802–1831)}}
{{Infobox person▼
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
|name = Spencer Pettis▼
▲|name = Spencer Pettis
|birth_date = {{birth year|1802}}▼
|district = {{ushr|MO|AL|at-large}}
|birth_place = [[Culpeper County, Virginia]]▼
|term_start = March 4, 1829
|death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|1831|8|28|1802}}▼
|term_end = August 28, 1831
|death_place = [[St. Louis, Missouri]]▼
|
|office1 = [[Missouri Secretary of State|Secretary of State of Missouri]]
|governor1 = [[John Miller (Missouri politician)|John Miller]]
|term_start1 = 1826
|term_end1 = 1828
|birth_name = Spencer Darwin Pettis
▲|birth_date = {{birth year|1802}}
▲|birth_place = [[Culpeper County, Virginia]], U.S.
▲|death_place = [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], U.S.
|party = [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]] (before 1825)<br>[[Jacksonian democracy|Jacksonian]] (1825–1831)
}}
'''Spencer Darwin Pettis''' (1802{{spnd}}August 28, 1831) was a U.S. Representative from [[Missouri]]
==Early life==
Spencer Pettis was born in [[Culpeper County, Virginia]], to parents John and Martha (Reynolds) Pettis in 1802.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} His father was a veteran of the American Revolution, serving with the 1st Regiment, [[Virginia Line]] at the [[Battle of Guilford Court House]] and elsewhere.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} Spencer Pettis' exact date of birth and much about his childhood is unknown. Genealogy records indicate he did have at least two sisters, one of whom, Sally, was the mother of [[American Civil War]] naval officer [[Thornton A. Jenkins]]. Spencer Pettis received at least enough education to study for the law and become a practicing attorney. Pettis moved west in 1821, settling in central Missouri's [[Boonslick]] region, opening a law practice in the [[Howard County, Missouri|Howard County]] seat of [[Fayette, Missouri]].<ref name="Christensen">{{cite book|last1=Christensen|first1=Lawrence O.|last2=Foley|first2=William E.|last3=Kremer|first3=Gary|title=Dictionary of Missouri Biography|date=1999|publisher=University of Missouri Press|isbn=9780826260161|page=612|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gyxWHRLAWgC&pg=PA612
==Politics==
Despite his youth – he did not meet the minimum age of 24 required by the Missouri Constitution – Spencer Pettis was elected to the [[Missouri General Assembly]] in 1824 by an overwhelming margin.<ref name="Christensen"/> He would serve less than one full term in the legislature however. In July
==An affair of honor==
What transpired on August 26, 1831, had its roots many months earlier. [[Missouri]]'s Jacksonian Democrats, led by Senator [[Thomas Hart Benton (politician)|Thomas Hart Benton]], engaged in a number of debates during the 1830 Congressional election season that saw many fiery speeches on issues of banking, currency stability, and western land use. During one of those speeches, Congressman Pettis harshly criticized [[Nicholas Biddle (banker)|Nicholas Biddle]], President of the [[Second Bank of the United States]].<ref name="Biddle-Pettis">{{cite web|url=http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/education/dueling/political-duels.asp|title=Biddle-Pettis Duel|publisher=Missouri Secretary of State website|year=2007|accessdate=
A war of words soon ensued in the St. Louis press in the form of letters to the editor. In one such letter, Biddle called Pettis "a dish of skimmed milk", to which Pettis responded by questioning Biddle's manhood.<ref name="Christensen"/> Pettis was reelected to U.S. Congress in November 1830, but the feud between the two refused to die. Things escalated dramatically on July 9, 1831, when Thomas Biddle heard that an ill Pettis was resting in a St. Louis hotel. Biddle attacked Pettis in his room, beating him severely with a cowhide whip until other hotel guests intervened.
<ref name="archiver.rootsweb.com">{{cite web|url=http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/ROOTS/2003-10/1065765205|title=Fatal Meeting Between Major Biddle and Spencer Pettis|publisher=Sedalia Democrat, Sedalia, Missouri|date=March 4, 1877|accessdate=
Fearing that he might be attacked again during his recovery, Congressman Pettis had Major Biddle arrested on a peace warrant. At the court proceedings, Pettis attempted to draw a pistol, with the intention of shooting Biddle, but was restrained by friends. At this, Biddle stated that he would promptly accept any challenge that the Congressman cared to issue.<ref name="archiver.rootsweb.com"/> After sufficient time to recover from the beating, on August 21, 1831, Congressman Pettis challenged Biddle to a duel, which was promptly accepted. As the challenged party, Biddle was allowed to choose the weapons and distance. Being nearsighted, Major Biddle chose pistols at the unusually close distance of five feet.<ref name="Biddle-Pettis"/> This meant that each man would take at most one or two steps before turning to fire, with their pistols perhaps even overlapping, depending on arm length. In short, it was suicidal and seen as a ploy by some observers and later historians to make Pettis back down and thus lose the affair of honor without bloodshed.<ref name="Christensen"/>
[[File:Letter signed Sp. Pettis (Spencer D. Pettis), Washington, to General William H. Ashley, February 24, 1831.jpg|thumb|1831 letter from Pettis to General Ashley]]
At five p.m. on August 27, 1831, Biddle and Pettis, along with their seconds, Major [[Benjamin O'Fallon]] and Captain Martin Thomas respectively, met on [[Bloody Island (Mississippi River)|Bloody Island]], a small sandbar located in the [[Mississippi River]] between St. Louis and the [[Illinois]] shore. Dueling was illegal in both states, but authorities tended to turn a blind eye to this neutral ground. As large crowds watched from the St. Louis riverfront, Biddle and Pettis obeyed the commands to step, turn, and fire. When the smoke cleared, both men had fallen with mortal wounds.<ref name="archiver.rootsweb.com"/> Before being carried off the island, both men were overheard to forgive each other for the altercation. Congressman Spencer Pettis died the next day, while Major Biddle lingered on until August 29. Both men were buried with full honors, eulogized for choosing death before dishonor.<ref name="Biddle-Pettis"/> The funerals for both men were said to be the largest ever held in St. Louis in the 19th century.
Spencer Pettis never married and had no children. [[William Henry Ashley]] was elected to finish Pettis's term in the House of Representatives.
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*[[List of United States Congress members killed or wounded in office]]
*[[List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)]]
*[[List of duels in the United States]]
*[[Fontaine H. Pettis]]
==References==
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{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Hamilton Rowan Gamble]]}}
{{s-ttl|
{{s-aft|after=[[Priestly H. McBride]]}}
▲| before=[[Hamilton Rowan Gamble]]
|-
▲| after=[[Priestly H. McBride]]
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Edward Bates]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Missouri|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Missouri's at-large congressional district]]|years=1829–1831}}
▲| state=Missouri
▲| before=[[Edward Bates]]
▲| after=[[William Henry Ashley]]
{{s-end}}
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[[Category:1802 births]]
[[Category:1831 deaths]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Secretaries of State of Missouri]]▼
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri]]▼
[[Category:People from Culpeper County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Missouri Democratic-Republicans]]
[[Category:
[[Category:People from Fayette, Missouri]]
[[Category:Politicians assassinated in the 1830s]]
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