He broke off friendly relations with his old patron, Judge
McNairy. In a duel he killed Charles Dickinson, who had spoken
disparagingly of Mrs. Jackson, and he himself suffered a wound which
weakened him for life. He publicly caned one Thomas Swann. In a
rough-and-tumble encounter with Thomas Hart Benton and the latter's
brother Jesse he was shot in the shoulder and one of his antagonists
was stabbed. This list of quarrels, threats, fights, and other violent
outbursts could be extended to an amazing length. "Yes, I had a fight
with Jackson," Senator Benton admitted late in life; "a fellow was
hardly in the fashion then who hadn't."
At the age of forty-five Jackson had not yet found himself. He was
known in his own State as "a successful planter, a breeder and racer
of horses, a swearer of mighty oaths, a faithful ami generous man to
his friends, a chivalrous man to women, a hospitable man at his home,
a desperate and relentless man in personal conflicts, a man who always
did the things he set himself to do." But he had achieved no
nation-wide distinction; he had not wrought out a career; he had made
almost as many enemies as friends, he had cut himself off from
official connections; he had no desire to return to the legal
profession; and he was so dissatisfied with his lot and outlook that
he seriously considered moving to Mississippi in order to make a fresh
start.
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