A Fashionable Murder
It’s hard to believe a simple game could lead to murder — a murder that took place here, in a popular pub in what was once the old City Hotel.
In the 1830s, the City Hotel was popular with the rough-and-tumble sporting crowd. The men were always armed and spoiling for a fight, and many arguments starting here would end up with pistols-at-paces across the river at Screven’s Ferry…. And so it was with mild-mannered Dr. Philip Minis and the hot-tempered James Jones Stark.
In the spring of 1832, Minis had beaten Stark in the gentlemanly game of quoits — and quite soundly at that. Stark bellies up to the bar and declares that Minis wasn’t worth the shot and powder it would take to kill the man. Minis dismisses this as the ranting of a sore loser, and it should have ended there.
Stark continues his rant throughout the spring and into summer, at one point declaring that Dr. Minis was “a damned Jew who ought to be pissed upon.” Minis writes a letter to Stark asking for a formal apology.
The friends of Dr. Minis, among them Dr. Richard Arnold, who would later become mayor of Savannah during the War Between the States, encourages Minis to take action. Letting Stark continue his hateful tirade eroded not only the honor of the good doctor, but his Jewish ancestry itself especially since the Minis family were among the first Jewish settlers in Georgia. Minis takes action.
On August 9th, 1832, Minis challenges Stark to a duel. The letter is delivered by his second, Charles Spalding. Stark accepts the challenge.
According to the Code Duello, the challenged could pick the time, place, and choice of weapons, and the challenger could modify the terms until a mutual agreement was reached.
Since dueling was illegal in Georgia, Stark chooses to meet at Screven’s Ferry, South Carolina a grassy plain across the Savannah River. He sets the time for 5 p.m. that afternoon. His choice of weapons? Rifles.
Minis finds Stark’s challenge ridiculous. Rifles are clumsy and awkward. Besides, his rifle was being repaired. Minis asks whether Stark would consider using pistols instead, requesting also that the duel be postponed until the following day.
The fiery and impulsive Stark rows over to Screven’s Ferry along with his second, Thomas Wayne. At 5 pm, Stark and Wayne fire symbolic volleys into the air. Stark declares victory.
Dr. Minis hopes to put away the day with a round at the City Hotel. He walks along Bull Street, in the company of Dr. Arnold and Mr. Spalding. At the corner of Bull and Bay, they run headlong into Wayne and Stark. Stark, spoiling for a fight, reaches for a knife, but Wayne quickly pulls him away from the crowd. Arnold and Spalding usher Minis away from Stark, who shouts “let me whip the damned rascal!”
The next day, Minis hears that Stark is at the City Hotel. He enters the hotel and speaks with the manager, Mr. Mann. Mann tells Minis that Stark is upstairs. Mann excuses himself to retrieve Stark at the request of Minis.
Earlier in the day, the Anti-Dueling Association had sent letters to both Minis and Stark through their known seconds, Spalding and Wayne, offering arbitration. Stark, in the company of Wayne, was apparently composing his reply to the Association when Mann interrupted him. Ironically, the letter for Minis was not delivered to the Spalding residence until just after Spalding departed for the City Hotel.
Anxious to meet Stark and eager to end this whole affair, Minis unbuttons his coat and reaches for his pistol. As Stark reaches the bottom step, Minis boldly shouts, “I declare thee, James Jones Stark, a coward!” Stark advances, while reaching into his jacket. Minis fires. The bullet rips through the man’s thorax and slams into the kitchen door.
Across the street, at the City Exchange, Drs. Arnold and Waring hear the shot. Arnold is convinced that one man had shot the other, and the men dart across the street. They arrive to find a crazed Minis waving about his dueling pistol, struggling against the likes of Wayne and Spalding.
Minis is arraigned shortly thereafter. His trial was held in January 1833. Judge Charles Dougherty had given a “lucid and impartial charge” to the jury. After a two-hour deliberation, the jury acquits Minis, who would go on to be a talented surgeon and father.
As to the supernatural nature of this case, many feel that Stark still haunts the City Hotel, now a popular pub called Moon River Brewery. Some claim they feel a push or shove as they’re coming down the stairs. Others say they’ve heard the crack of the pistol and the rattling of glasses. Still others claim to have witnessed men carrying James Jones Stark into the night on the back of a kitchen door. Nevertheless, affairs of honor still capture the imagination of Savannahians and will, as long as the beer flows and men still have too much pride in their hearts.
