- Spencer Darwin Pettis
Spencer Darwin Pettis (1802 –
August 28 ,1831 ), U.S. Representative fromMissouri . The fierce campaign of 1830 led to a quarrel over the United States Bank issue with MajorThomas Biddle . The quarrel escalated into a duel in which both men were killed onBloody Island (Mississippi River) nearSt. Louis, Missouri .He was born in
Culpeper County, Virginia , in 1802; completed preparatory studies; studied law; was admitted to the bar about 1824 and commenced practice inFayette, Missouri ; held various local offices; appointed secretary of state on July 22, 1826, and served until December 31, 1828, when he resigned; elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Congresses and served from March 4, 1829 until his death.Pettis County, Missouri is named for him.External links
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000275 Biography from U.S. House of Representatives]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.