David C. Broderick

Early years

Broderick was born in 1820 in Washington, D.C., on East Capitol Street just west of 3rd Street. He was the son of an Irish stonecutter and his wife. His father had come to the United States in order to work on the construction of the United States Capitol. In 1823, Broderick moved with his parents to New York City; there, he attended public schools and was apprenticed to a stonecutter.

Political career

Broderick became active in politics as a young man, joining the Democratic Party. In 1846, he was the Democratic candidate for U.S. Representative from New York's 5th congressional district, but lost the election to Whig candidate Frederick A. Tallmadge, who gained 42% of the vote to Broderick's 38%.

State Senate career

Broderick was a member of the California State Senate from 1850 to 1852, serving as its president from 1851 to 1852. Broderick was acting Lieutenant Governor from January 9, 1851, to January 8, 1852, following incumbent John McDougall's succession to the governorship. From then on, Broderick effectively had political control of San Francisco, which under his "utterly vicious" rule soon became notorious for municipal corruption.Asbury, Herbert. The Barbary Coast. New York, 1933. Chapter 4. {{blockquote|From the middle of 1851 to his death, in 1859, Broderick was, for all practical purposes, in absolute control of San Francisco's political machinery. ... And not even his most adoring worshippers have been able entirely to conceal the plain fact that in the final analysis he must, more than any one man, shoulder responsibility for the municipal corruption which was the basic cause of the second uprising of a tormented and enraged citizenry.

Broderick became rich from this system.

In 1857, Broderick was elected by the state legislature as U.S. Senator from California (popular election of senators did not start until the 20th century). Broderick began his term on March 4, 1857.

Feud and death

Main article: Broderick–Terry duel

At that time, just prior to the start of the American Civil War, the Democratic Party of California was divided between pro-slavery and "Free Soil" factions. Broderick led the Free Soilers. One of his closest friends was David S. Terry, formerly the Chief Justice of the California State Supreme Court. He advocated extending slavery into California. Terry lost his re-election bid because of his pro-slavery platform, and he blamed Broderick for the loss.

Terry, considered even by his friends as caustic and aggressive, made some inflammatory remarks at a party convention in Sacramento, which Broderick read. He took offense, and sent Terry an equally vitriolic reply, describing:

Passions escalated; on September 13, 1859, former friends Terry and Broderick, both expert marksmen, met outside of San Francisco city limits at Lake Merced for a duel. The pistols chosen for the duel had hair triggers, and Broderick's discharged prior to the final "1-2-3" count, firing prematurely into the ground. Thus disarmed, he was forced to stand as Terry shot him in the right lung. Terry at first believed the shot to be only a flesh wound, but it proved to be fatal. Broderick died three days later, and was buried under a monument erected by the state in Lone Mountain Cemetery in San Francisco. He is the only U.S. Senator ever to be killed in a duel while in office.

In 1942, he was reinterred at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.

Legacy

George Wilkes wrote a long eulogy to his friend that appeared in the Wilkes's Spirit of the Times in October 1859.

Edward Dickinson Baker, a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, spoke at Broderick's funeral. He expressed the widely held belief that Broderick was killed because of his anti-slavery stance:

Some maintain that in his death Broderick became a martyr to the anti-slavery cause, and the episode was part of a national spiral towards civil war. At the Republican National Convention in Chicago in May 1860, a portrait of the late Senator Broderick was hung. In 1864 another portrait would be hung from the flagstaff of the Hibernian Lincoln and Johnson Club in San Francisco.

About thirty years later, Terry was shot to death by Deputy United States Marshal David Neagle while threatening Supreme Court Justice Stephen Johnson Field, a friend of Broderick.

Broderick County, Kansas Territory was named for the senator. The former town of Broderick, California, and Broderick Street in San Francisco were also named in his honor.

In 1963, Carroll O'Connor was cast as Broderick, with Brad Dexter as Justice Terry, in "A Gun Is Not a Gentleman" on the syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. The program portrays Terry mortally wounding Senator Broderick in 1859. Though past allies as Democrats, Terry, a defender of slavery, challenges the anti-slavery Broderick to a duel. After he fatally shoots Broderick, Terry is tried, but the case is dismissed.

References

References

1. (1985). "Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U. S. Elections". Congressional Quarterly Inc.
2. Young, John P. ''San Francisco, a History of the Pacific Coast Metropolis'' Volume 1, 1912, page 214.
3. Lynch, Jeremiah. ''A Senator of the Fifties: David C. Broderick of California'', 1911, pages 68–69.
4. Asbury, Herbert. ''The Barbary Coast''. New York, 1933. Chapter 4. {{blockquote. Broderick's political income from these and other sources was probably several hundred thousand dollars a year, and with such sums at his disposal he not only maintained his hold upon the city but furthered his ambition to be United States Senator, despite the slashing onslaughts of several of the newspapers.
5. {{cite ohp. 19. Broderick-Terry Dueling Place #19. 2012-10-07
6. Richards, Leondard. ''The California Gold Rush and the Coming of the Civil War,'' "Prologue," pg. 2, 2008
7. Richards, Leonard. ''The California Gold Rush and the Coming of the Civil War,'' "Prologue," pg. 3, 2008
8. (1959). ""Straight Toward His Heart": George Wilkes' Eulogy of David C. Broderick". [[California Historical Society]].
9. (1961). "Broderick: A Reassessment". University of California Press.
10. (1939). "The Terry-Broderick Duel". Colt Press.
11. (1896). "The Terry-Broderick duel". Washington, D.C. : Gibson Bros., Printers and Bookbinder.
12. (1954). "The "Spirit of the Times": Its Early History and Some of Its Contributors". The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America.
13. Richards, Leonard. ''The California Gold Rush and the Coming of the Civil War'' Prologue, pg. 4, 2008
14. (May 16, 1860). "[untitled paragraph]". Brooklyn Evening Star.
15. ''Daily Alta California'', 14 October 1864
16. Blackmar, Frank Wilson. (1912). "Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc.". Standard Publishing Company.
17. "The History of San Francisco Place Names".
18. (8 February 1963). "A Gun Is Not a Gentleman" on ''Death Valley Days''". Internet Movie Database.