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David Colbreth Broderick

INQUEST ON D. C. BRODERICK

1859 September 21
On Saturday afternoon, at a little after 2 o'clock, the Coroner, Dr. McNulty, held an inquest on the body of D. C. Broderick. J. A. Gamer declined to serve as juror, on the ground that he was a strong personal friend to Broderick. The vacancy was filled, and the jurymen then taken to the Union Hotel and sworn, over the body :

J. C. McKibbin sworn — I witnessed a duel on the morning of the 18th instant, at or about 7 o'clock ; it took place in San Mateo county, near the dividing line, and near the south end of Lake Merced ; the principals in that duel were Senator D. C. Broderick and Chief Justice D. S. Terry : the distance was ten paces ; the weapons were dueling pistols. The friends of D. S. Terry won the choice of weapons ; the choice determined by throwing up a half dollar piece and calling head and tail ; the principals after saying they were ready were given the words, which were "Fire— one, two;" they were to fire between the words " fire " and " two." I saw the pistols loaded with leaden bullets in the presence of both seconds and friends of both parties ; they were accepted as being satisfactory. The principals took the positions assigned them at the distance of ten paces ; their eyes were at right angles to a straight line between one principal and the other. After taking their positions, the pistols were taken up by the seconds, cocked in each other's presence, and the hair triggers set. Each second then proceeded to his principal and delivered the weapon; the seconds then returned some distance out of the line of fire and the word was given by a second of Broderick, " Fire — one, two." As near as I could judge, Broderick discharged his pistol between the words " fire " and " one," about one second intervening between the reports of the two pistols ; the report of Terry's pistol was subsequent, but with a very slight interval. Broderick appeared to look down with surprise at the course his ball had taken ; I was about twelve feet from him, midway between the parties ; Broderick seemed to gradually wheel and drop ; he lowered himself easily upon the ground ; I ran up to him, and tried to assist Dr. Loehr in opening his garments. I saw the wound ; the blood was not flowing freely. There were no other shots fired ; the ball from Terry's pistol wounded Broderick. Dr. Loehr then proceeded to examine the wound, and, while doing so, the services of Dr. Hammond were tendered and accepted ; the physicians gave him all the relief in their power, and in the course of three quarters of an hour he was taken up and conveyed to the residence of Leonidas Haskell. I was with Broderick up to the time of his death, which occurred yesterday (Friday), at twenty minutes past 9 o'clock, a. m. Terry challenged Broderick ; the pistols used I presumed to be long to Dr. Aylett ; they were lighter than the ordinary dueling pistols. They were near alike. I examined the trigger of the one used by Broderick, and I am not positive I did not examine both ; I discovered no perceptible difference ; I looked at them, tried the springs, and found them alike, as nearly as I could judge ; there was a party on the ground more convertant with weapons than myself. I asked him to examine them ; he did so, and pronounced them correct. The pistols were loaded alike. Broderick was born in the District of Columbia, on the 4th of February, 1819. The duel occurred about two miles from the county line ; I do not know on whose property. We were not aware of any difference in the pistols, while on the ground, and I know of no difference between them at present. We had a person on the ground for the express purpose of loading the pistols. The sworn statement of Drs. Holman and Bertody was then presented, and read as follows:

Report of the post mortem examination held on the body of the Hon. David C. Broderick by Drs. F. A. Holman and Charles Bertody, September 16, 1859, at the request of Dr. James M. McNulty, Coroner of the city and county of San Francisco :

POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION ----EXTERNAL APPEARANCES.

1859 September 21
On the upper part of the right side of the chest an emphysematous condition of the cellular tissue existed ; on the left side of the chest, from the armpit to a short distance be low it, the same condition was manifest. Between the second and third ribs, on the right side, a circular wound existed of about half an inch in diameter, presenting the ordinary appearance of a gunshot wound. On careful dissection, this wound was found to have penetrated to the cavity of the chest, grazing end slightly fracturing the right edge of the sternum or breast bone. From its point of entrance into the cavity of the chest, the track of said wound passed obliquely downwards and backwards in front of the pericardium, without wounding this membrane, to the fifth rib, which was fractured at a point six inches distant from its sternal extremity. After having traversed the rib, the tract of said wound assumed a direction upwards and backwards through the soft parts forming the wall of the chest and the armpit to the posterior surface of the arm, at which point existed a small incised wound. The parts within the cavity of the chest, traversed by the tract of the above described wound, were the anterior edge of the upper lobe of the right lung, the tissues existing between the pericardium and the sternum and the upper lobe of the left lung from near its anterior edge to the point of fracture of the fifth rib. The length of said wound in the left lung being nearly or quite six inches, and being in the greater part of the course much nearer the posterior surface of the lung than the anterior, its nearest approach to said posterior surface being about half an inch.
Left Pleural Cavity— This was entirely obliterated by an old and firm adhesion, the result of antecedent inflammation.
Right Pleural Cavity— Contained a large amount of lymph and serum, the result of inflammation, apparently subsequent to the occurrence of the wound. Around the track of the wound, in front of the pericardium, an extravasation of blood existed, forming a coagulum some three inches in diameter, and from one-half to three-quarters of an inch in thickness. This extravasation existed also to a limited extent in the anterior edge of the right lung. No morbid appearances except those above described were observed. The wound above described was, in our opinion, the cause of death.               F. A Holman, M. D.
Charles Bkrtodt, M. D.
Sworn to before me this 17th day of September, 1859.
J. M. McNulty, M. D.,
Coroner of the City and County of San Francisco.

Leonidas Haskell sworn— l was upon the ground of the duel ; I did not see the firing, but heard the reports of the pistols ; I saw Broderick fall ; there were but two shots fired , I do not know of any difference in the pistols ; Broderick was taken to my house ; I can tell nothing more than McKibbin relative to the duel ; his statement is correct.

James W. Stillman sworn — I was on the ground when the duel occurred ; after reaching the ground, I saw the principals walking to and fro ; I saw them placed in position ; I saw the pistols loaded ; saw them shoot, and saw Broderick fall; McKibbin and Coulton were the seconds of Broderick, and Benham and Brooks for Terry ; Thomas Hayes appeared to act for Terry, but was not a second ; there were but two shots fired upon the ground.

Bernard Lagoarde sworn— l am a gunsmith and live at 208 Washington street ; I was on the ground at the time of the duel ; I was there on an order from the friends of Broderick, to take pistols, powder and balls, and to examine the pistols that might be used, and see that they were loaded properly ; I examined the pistols when were used, and loaded the one fired by Broderick ; I did not load the one fired by Terry ; a tall gentleman, whose name I did not know, loaded Terry's pistol ; I saw it loaded ; it was properly loaded, with the same quantity of powder as the other; the pistol used by Terry was loaded first, and then the implements handed to me, when I proceeded to load the other ; the weapons were alike, but one was more delicate on the trigger than the other ; Broderick used the one with the finer trigger ; I know this, for I loaded it, and handed it to McKibbin, who gave it to Broderick ; I told Broderick that the pistols were light; both were delicate to the touch, but one more than the other; I saw the firing; there were but two shots fired ; I was asked if the pistols were in good order, and after replying in the affirmative, I asked McKibbin why he did not force his principal to use my pistols, and he replied that Terry had won the choice. The pistols used were brought by the seconds of Terry ; I had never seen them before, but have examined them since ; I do not know where they are at present ; I did not notice whether there was any mark by which one could be distinguished from the other ; they could be discharged by a sudden jar or jerk ; simply raising them would not cause an explosion ; I said that the weapons were too light in the presence of all the seconds ; I told one of the seconds of Terry that the pistol which I held was lighter than the other.

Henry Fritz sworn— l was at the place of the duel ; I saw the gentlemen take their positions; saw the shots fired, and saw Broderick fall ; there were but two shots fired ; the difference of time was very slight between the reports.

Stillman recalled— S. H. Brooks loaded one pistol. McKibbin recalled — The armorer loaded the pistol which Broderick used. This closed the testimony, and after consulting a few moments the jury brought in the following

We, the undersigned Jurors, convened to inquire into the cause of the death of David C. Broderick, who died in the city of San Francisco, on the 15th of September, 1859, do find that the deceased was born in the District of Colombia, aged forty years, and that he came to his death from a wound inflicted by a pistol ball, fired from a pistol intentionally by David S. Terry, on the morning of September 18th 1859. William A. Keith, Q. Dickinson, C. A. Fisher, Charles Main, Thomas Gordon, J. W. Gilmore, George C. Shreve.

In addition to the above the Alta California has the following about the pistols : The writer of the following says that after the Armorer's evidence was given before the Coroner's jury yesterday, he followed him out and propounded the subjoined interrogatories, to which the answers are attached :

Question — After the pair of pistols had been leaded upon, how was it decided which of the two should be used by Mr. Broderick, which by Mr. Terry? 

Answer— When they had decided to take Terry's pistols, by tossing, Mr. Terry's friend took one to load, and gave me the other.

Question— Did you know that the pistol you were loading was the lightest on the trigger of the two?

Answer — Yes.

So that having won the choice of weapons they took the choice of pistols, and were sure of their victim.                             Delta.
Source: Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 18, Number 2647, 21 September 1859 — FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF D. C. BRODERICK. [ARTICLE]

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