On Saturday morning last a duel was fought near this place by Messr. John Duncan and James Lamberton, when the former unhappily received a ball through his head, which instantly deprived him of his life. By this melancholy accident his wife has lost an affectionate husband, and his five children a tender parent, and society one of its most valuble citizens. He was honest, benevolent, generous, and brave.1
In this obituary, which appeared on June 26, 1793, in Kline 's Carlisle Weekly Gazette, the citizens of Carlisle were informed of the death of John Duncan in a duel with James Lamberton. While the obituary may have announced the outcome of the duel, it does not make any attempt to explain why the event took place. Indeed, questions involving the nature of the dispute between Duncan and Lamberton were never formally addressed in the local newspaper or county documents. Nevertheless, an examination of local politics and national issues during the 1790s reveals that the Duncan-Lamberton dispute centered around questions involving democracy, corruption in local elections, and ethnic rivalries.
John Duncan and James Lamberton were both men of significant social standing in Carlisle in the years preceding their duel. As the son of the prominent local merchant Stephen Duncan, John Duncan was a native of the Carlisle area. Indeed, the Duncans were well established members of the Carlisle community and, as such, John Duncan's father was described in his obituary as being "one of the earliest and most respectable inhabitants of this borough. " John Duncan's oldest brother, Thomas, was a successful attorney who later served as Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In contrast, James Lamberton was born the son of Robert Lamberton in Scotland in 1751. After living in Ireland for a few years, Lamberton came to Carlisle in 1783, where he subsequently began a local business of operating pack trains that carried merchandise from the Cumberland County region to the South and Southwest. In this way, James Lamberton had worked to establish his position in society, while john Duncan was born into a family which had already achieved significant social standing. According to local records, both men were members of the First Presbyterian Church in Carlisle and held substantial property in town.2
The Cumberland County tax records for 1793 show that, at the time of his duel with James Lamberton, John Duncan owned a house and a twenty foot lot in Carlisle. In addition, Duncan owned a house near that of William Thompson, as well as houses and lots on Spring Street. Duncan was also taxed at that time for a horse, two cows and for a negro servant woman. Likewise, James Lamberton was taxed in 1793 for his residence in Carlisle. Lamberton was also taxed for a horse and two cows, as well as for thirty-five acres and lots which he owned elsewhere in the region.3
The event which set in motion the issues which culminated in the Duncan-Lamberton duel was the passage of a law in the spring of 1793 by the Pennsylvania Assembly calling for the restructuring of the militia. This law stated that "every free able bodied white male citizen ... residing in this commonwealth, who is or shall be of the age of eighteen years, and under the age of fatty-five ... shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia." The law also provided that local field officers were to be elected by members of the militia in that region. Specifically, the law stated that:
The several brigade inspectors shall, on or before the first Tuesday of June next [1793], give notice . .. regarding all the citizens enrolled in the said regiment . . . to elect by ballot one lieutenant colonel; and the enrolled inhabitants of each battalion bounds, respectively, shall elect by ballot ... one major.
In this way, members of the militia would be able to elect someone that they felt comfortable following and who would be an effective leader.4
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