TO THE PUBLIC [caption title].
Pearson, Richmond M.: [Smith, Ashbel]:
[Salisbury, N.C.?]. Aug. 23, 1833. Broadside, 15 1/2 x 6 inches, printed in two columns. Some marginal chipping and wear, not affecting text, expertly laid on archival Japanese tissue. Despite this marginal restoration, a good copy. Archivally matted, protected with mylar sheet. A rare and interesting account of a feud involving Dr. Ashbel Smith, an important figure in the early history of Texas, and Richmond Pearson, who served for nearly twenty years as Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Smith (1805-86), a prominent educator and physician, is known as the "father of Texas medicine" and the "father of the University of Texas." He was also an important figure in the diplomacy and politics of the Republic of Texas. Ashbel Smith spent a few years in the late 1820s and early 1830s practicing medicine and teaching in North Carolina. Apparently he ran afoul of Richmond M. Pearson, who on Aug. 16, 1830 "gave Dr. Smith a gross insult." At the time, Pearson was serving in the North Carolina House of Commons, and was practicing law in Salisbury. Smith could have defended his honor by challenging Pearson to a duel, but did not. Apparently Smith instead invited Pearson himself to issue the challenge. In the text of this broadside, Pearson contends that Smith did this so that he himself could choose the weapon - Smith's preferred small swords - rather than the traditional pistols. In this broadside, produced on Pearson's behalf three years after the fact, he lays out his side of the story, impugning Smith's character and courage, and including supporting documentation. Pearson Pearson (1805-78) would go on to a distinguished legal career in North Carolina, first as a prominent lawyer and legal educator, and then as a member of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1849 to 1878, serving as Chief Justice of the court from 1859 until his death. As Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court during the Civil War, Pearson ruled on many controversial issues, including habeas corpus questions, and cases involving conscription and exemption for military service. According to Elizabeth Silverthorne, Smith's leading modern biographer, Ashbel Smith, presided as the "physician in attendance" during at least one duel. This particular episode with Richmond Pearson, in which Smith himself was nearly a participant in a duel, is not mentioned in Silverthorne's biography, and little seems to be known about the event. Nor is the incident discussed in the detailed entry on Richmond Pearson in the DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY. The present broadside therefore gives important and interesting information on the early life of an important Texas pioneer, and a significant figure in North Carolina legal history. Not in Hummel SOUTHEASTERN BROADSIDES, and no copies are listed on OCLC. Rare. Elizabeth Silverthorne, ASHBEL SMITH OF TEXAS (College Station, 1982), pp.40-41 (ref). NEW HANDBOOK OF TEXAS 5, pp.1090-91. DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY 5, pp.49-51.
(Item ID: WRCAM36124) $5,000.00