Nearly all Americans know the story of Alexander Hamilton's famous, and fatal, duel with his longtime rival, Aaron Burr at Weehawken New Jersey on July 11, 1804. But Hamilton was not the only member of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to suffer that fate. Richard Dobbs Spaight, a delegate from North Carolina, was considered by most of his colleagues as an even-tempered and affable man. After serving in the Constitutional Convention, he went on to hold several important state and federal offices, but in 1802, smarting from a recent defeat in a congressional election at the hands of one John Stanly, he challenged his opponent to a duel. Stanly and Spaight each fired three shots, with each one missing its mark. But on Stanly's fourth shot, Spaight went down, succumbing to the fatal shot the following day.

Another Convention delegate, William Pierce of Georgia, narrowly escaped Hamilton's and Spaight's fate. By 1787, Pierce found himself deeply in debt, and during the Constitutional Convention's temporary recess between July 27-August 6, one of Pierce's creditors, John Auldjo, accused him of defaulting on a debt. Pierce, following the Southern code of a gentleman, promptly challenged Auldjo to a duel.   Ironically, Auldjo was a client of Alexander Hamilton's, and Hamilton, who never approved of dueling, successfully interceded to calm Pierce down enough to prevent the duel from taking place. Had he not done so, it is possible that Pierce might have been the third member of the Constitutional Convention to be killed in a duel.

Hamilton and Burr in a duel

Richard Dobbs Spaight