Murray, Ky.–The Jackson Purchase Historical Society (JPHS) will meet on Saturday, July 19 at 10:30 am at Calloway County Public Library at 710 Main St, Murray, KY 42071. The speaker will be author Stuart Sanders, who will discuss his latest book Anatomy of a Duel: Secession, Civil War, and the Evolution of Kentucky Violence. A book signing will follow the presentation.
Anatomy of a Duel: Secession, Civil War, and the Evolution of Kentucky Violence examines why white male Kentuckians engaged in an “honor culture” of duels and provides fascinating narratives that trace the lives of duelists. Stuart W. Sanders explores why, during a time when Americans were killing one another in open, brutal warfare, Casto and Metcalfe engaged in the process of negotiating and fighting a duel. In deconstructing the event, Sanders details why these distinguished Kentuckians found themselves on the dueling ground during the nation’s bloodiest conflict, how society and the Civil War pushed them to fight, why duels continued to be fought in Kentucky even after this violent confrontation, and how Kentuckians applied violence after the Civil War. Anatomy of a Duel is a comprehensive and compelling look at how the secession crisis sparked the Casto-Metcalfe duel—a confrontation that impacted the evolution of violence in Kentucky.
Sanders is the Director of Research and Publications at the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS), where he oversees the agency’s library, the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, the historical markers program, the America250KY Commission, and the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition. Before coming to KHS, Stuart worked to preserve and interpret Kentucky’s largest Civil War battleground as the executive director of the Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association. He is the author of five books and has been a staff member at KHS since 2005.
“We are delighted to have Stuart Sanders as the speaker at our July meeting. He has spoken to our group before and delivers an outstanding program, informed by his deep research into Kentucky’s past. Each of his books offers new information and insights and repays reading many fold, according to Bill Mulligan, JPHS President.
In 1958, a group of historians met in Murray, Kentucky led by faculty from Murray State University and University of Tennessee-Martin and formed the Jackson Purchase Historical Society to promote interest, study, and preservation of the regional history of the territory encompassed in the Treaty of Tuscaloosa, known as the Jackson Purchase. The society holds a number of meetings each year with a speaker on Jackson Purchase history and publishes an award-winning journal on local history. Members include a wide range of people who simply share a love of history and a love of the Jackson Purchase area.
The society recently refurbished its website and an array of information about the society and Jackson Purchase history is available at: jacksonpurchasehistoricalsocie
Free electronic access to back issues of the Journal through 2023 is available through the Murray State University Libraries at https://digitalcommons.
Articles are welcome for future issues of the JPHS Journal and can be sent to the editor, Bill Mulligan at billmulligan@murray-ky.net. We also welcome inquiries about topics, books for review, or offers to review a book. Copies of the Journal are available from the Jackson Purchase Historical Society, PO Box 531, Murray, KY 42071. The cost is $15.90 including postage and sales tax. Anyone interested in Jackson Purchase history is welcome to join the JPHS.