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Jengod/Biodraft
"Lands and Slaves for Sale" The Weekly Natchez Courier, August 31, 1827

Joseph Erwin was an American race horse owner, owner of cotton and sugar plantations worked by slaves, and, most likely, an interstate slave trader. He is best known for the enmity between him and Andrew Jackson. Their conflict over their competing thoroughbred racehorses, Erwin's Plowboy and Jackson's Truxton, led to the fatal duel between Jackson and Erwin's son-in-law Charles Dickinson.

Biography

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Ploughboy, Truxton, and the Jackson–Dickinson duel

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Joseph Erwin raised racehorses on his farm near Bosley's Springs in the vicinity of Nashville.[1] According to an 1873 article called "Memories of the Turf" by Baily Peyton:

"In the fall of 1805, Capt. Joseph Erwin offered to run his horse Tanner, a son of imp. Tanner, against any horse in the world, four mile heats, for $5,000 a side, the person accepting the bet to name at the post. Gen. Jackson accented the banter, and trained 16 horses, Truxton, and Greyhound among them. He started the Greyhound, and won the race at three heats over the Clover Bottom course. At the same time and place, Gen. Jackson had a match of $2,000 a side in cash notes on Truxton, against Capt. Erwin's Plow Boy, two mile heats, but Plow Boy being amiss, Capt. Erwin paid the forfeit. A misunderstanding arose concerning this last mentioned race which was the occasion, but not the cause, of a fatal duel between Gen. Jackson and Mr. Dickinson."

Joseph Erwin owned a horse named Tanner that lost a race to Greyhound, a horse owned by Jackson. Erwin wanted a rematch of sorts, with his horse Ploughboy racing against Jackson's Truxton. The race was planned for November 28, 1805, with a $2,000 purse, but Erwin withdrew Ploughboy before the race, and paid the agreed-upon $800 forfeit fee. There was a disagreement about which type of "note" (cash equivalent) would be used to pay the fee, but it was resolved and Jackson got paid. After that, there was a long run of masculine posturing, snippy newspaper columns, and 1805 Tennessee interpersonal drama, including an episode where Jackson caned a man in a tavern because he wasn't good enough to duel with. Things escalated, a duel challenge was issued, Dickinson lost.[2] Jackson biographer James Parton claimed in 1861 that what really set Jackson off was Dickinson insulting his wife but research by historian Cheathem found that "Nowhere in the private correspondence or public exchanges that took place during these months, however, does Rachel's name appear as a pretext for the enmity between the two men."[3] Erwin was administrator of his son-in-law's estate and placed a newspaper ad stating that on January 12, 1808, he would be hiring out Dickinson's slaves for a 12-month term.[4]

Business in the lower Mississippi River valley

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In April 1807, Erwin and his partner Abraham Wright placed an ad in the Mississippi Messenger under the heading "CAUTION AGAINST IMPOSITION." The ad stated, "Sometime during the night of the 4th inst. some Person or Persons entered a Flat Bottomed Boat, lying at the Landing, within the City of Natchez, belonging to the undersigned, and feloniously carried away a CHEST, containing between Two and Three Hundred Dollars in Cash, Promissory Notes and other Papers, of the following Description, to wit..." and at the end of a list of 5 or so promissory notes,[5] they added that they were also seeking "Two Red Morocco Pocket-Books, Containing a Number of Notes, Due Bills, and Bills of Sale for Negroes."[6] The paperwork would have had the names Joseph Erwin, John Erwin, Erwin & Billings, or Erwin & Wright. If the notes and papers were brought to the Messenger office or to Col. F. L. Claiborne, the reward would be $100, no questions asked.[6] The following month they placed a similar ad in a Nashville newspaper, stating that the total value of the notes was approximately US$20,000 (equivalent to $416,182 in 2023), and that they were all dated to between March 24 and May 4, 1807.[7]

"One Hundred Dollars Reward" The Weekly Democrat, Natchez, September 23, 1808

In 1808, Erwin, Spraggins & Wright offered a $100 reward for the capture of 24-year-old Jacob and 21-year-old, who had been enslaved by them near the Bayou Plaquemines, Iberville Parish, Orleans Territory. Erwin, Spraggins, and Wright thought that Jacob and Job would try to get to Tennessee or Ohio with their two stolen horses and stolen silver-mounted one rifle barrel pistol.[8]

In June 1809, there were six letters waiting for Capt. Joseph Erwin at the Natchez post office and two at the Pinckneyville post office in Mississippi Territory.[9]

Erwin apparently owned a plantation in Iberville Parish by 1812 when he offered a $10 reward for the return of a 21-year-old mulatto slave named John,[10] as well as $10 each for a trio of Virginia-born slaves, 25-year-old Roger, 22-year-old Sam, and a 26-year-old "dark mulatto man" all last seen "descending the river in a skiff."[11] In February 1813 Erwin's agent was looking for an 18-year-old Creole slave named Jim who had a "handsome countenance," was "burned on both cheeks," spoke fluent French but minimal English, and had "come down on a raft last week and has since absconded."[12]

By 1817 Erwin had raised his reward rate to $20 per slave and was looking to recover 30-year-old Tom who was fall, had a "yellow complexion" and a limp, and as well as a "yellow fellow" in his early 20s named Jim. Jim had grey eyes, was not as tall as Tom, and was described as "stout formed, fat, and appears to be lazy."[13]

In 1824, someone stole another Erwin promissory note, this one being an exchange between Joseph Erwin to John Erwin, in the amount of US$3,250 (equivalent to $90,173 in 2023).[14]

When Erwin died in 1829, his estate included a "splendid...first rate" 3,000-acre sugar and cotton plantation in Iberville Parish, which was to be sold "with or without negroes."[15] Erwin's widow, Lavinia Erwin, died at Plaquemines, Louisiana in 1836.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "Nashville Memories". Nashville Banner. December 6, 1884. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  2. ^ Cheathem (2014), pp. 41–44.
  3. ^ Cheathem (2014), p. 43.
  4. ^ "NOTICE". The Impartial Review and Cumberland Repository. January 7, 1808. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  5. ^ "Caution against Imposition!". The Mississippi Messenger. April 7, 1807. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  6. ^ a b "Two Red Morocco Pocket-Books". The Mississippi Messenger. April 7, 1807. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  7. ^ "Caution Against Imposition". The Impartial Review and Cumberland Repository. May 23, 1807. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  8. ^ "Erwin, Spraggins & Wright". The Weekly Democrat. September 23, 1808. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  9. ^ "List of Letters". The Weekly Democrat. July 29, 1809. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  10. ^ "Erwin, Spraggins & Wright". The Weekly Democrat. September 23, 1808. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  11. ^ "...descending the river in a skiff..."". Louisiana State Gazette. August 15, 1812. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  12. ^ https://www.newspapers.com/article/louisiana-state-gazette-ten-dollars-rewa/154618562/
  13. ^ "Forty Dollars Reward". Louisiana State Gazette. February 7, 1817. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  14. ^ "NOTICE—The public are cautioned..." Louisiana State Gazette. March 25, 1824. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  15. ^ "For Sale, that Splendid Sugar Estate". Southern Galaxy. February 12, 1829. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  16. ^ "DIED at Plaquemine, La". Nashville Republican. March 1, 1836. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-09-05.

Sources

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