William Jordan Graves (1805 – September 27, 1848) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. Graves was born in

New Castle, Kentucky New Castle is a home rule-class city in Henry County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. As of the 2010 census the population was 912. History New Castle was incorporated in 1817. Geography New Castle is located s ...

, and pursued an academic course early in life, choosing to study law. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

and practiced law in Kentucky before serving as member of the State house of representatives in 1834. Graves was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress and reelected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1841). He engaged in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

at the

Bladensburg dueling grounds Bladensburg Dueling Grounds is a small spit of land, a fraction of its original size, along Dueling Creek, formerly in the town of Bladensburg, Maryland, and now within the town of Colmar Manor, just to the northeast of Washington, D.C., ...

on the Marlboro Road in Maryland with Congressman

Jonathan Cilley Jonathan Cilley (July 2, 1802 – February 24, 1838) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine. He served part of one term in the 25th Congress, and died as the result of a wound sustained in a duel with another Congressman, ...

in 1838. Graves was a stand-in for New York newspaper editor

James Watson Webb General James Watson Webb (February 8, 1802 – June 7, 1884) was a United States diplomat, newspaper publisher and a New York politician in the Whig and Republican parties. Early life Webb was born in Claverack, New York to Catherine Louisa ...

, whom Cilley had called corrupt. Cilley was inexperienced with guns, and Graves was a crack shot with a pistol. As the challenged party, Cilley had the choice of weapons; he selected rifles at 80 yards, a distance that would negate Graves' shooting skill. The actual distance at the first exchange of shots was later determined to be 94 yards; both participants missed. They then agreed to shorten the distance and fire again; again both Graves and Cilley missed. After again shortening the distance, on the third fire Graves hit Cilley in the femoral artery; he bled to death in ninety seconds. This duel prompted passage of a congressional act of February 20, 1839, prohibiting the issuing or accepting of a challenge within the District of Columbia, even if the duel was to be fought outside the district. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1840. He was again a member of the State house of representatives in 1843. He died in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, September 27, 1848. He was interred in the private burial grounds at his former residence in

Henry County, Kentucky Henry County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky bordering the Kentucky River. Its county seat is New Castle, but its largest city is Eminence. The county was founded in 1798 from portions of Shelby ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, William J. 1805 births 1848 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American politicians American duellists Kentucky lawyers Kentucky Whigs National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky People from New Castle, Kentucky Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives