The Congressman Preston Smith Brooks Coin Silver Presentation Pitcher, c. 1850, with pseudo hallmarks, vasiform with molded lip, naturalistic grapevine, berry and geranium leaf handle, inscribed "Presented to the Hon. P. Brooks by the Citizens of Columbia S.C. for Chastising Sumner of Massachusetts May 22nd 1856", height 10 7/8 in., weight 30.90 troy ozs. Provenance: Property of the great, great, great, grandson of U.S. Congressman Preston Smith Brooks (1819-1857), who is also the great, great, grandson of Milledge Luke Bonham (1813-1890), Brig. Gen., CSA and war-time governor of South Carolina. Note: These two objects --- a very fine pitcher and the riding crop offered as lot 284 commemorate one of the most dramatic events ever to occur on the floor of the United States Senate chamber. On 19 and 20 May 1856 Senator Charles Sumner (1811-1874) gave his provocative "Crime Against Kansas" speech (deriding an act jointly written by Senators Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois and Andrew Butler of South Carolina), in the most inflammatory possible language. Butler's nephew, Congressman Preston Smith Brooks (1819-1857) decided to seek redress, and consulted South Carolina Representative Laurence M. Keitt on the rules of dueling etiquette. The latter recommended that duels were only appropriate among social equals, a rank which Sumner had allegedly forfeited by the coarse language of his address; Brooks therefore resolved to attack him with a cane (or walking stick). Accordingly, on the afternoon of 22 May 1856, Brooks confronted Sumner and accused him of libeling both South Carolina and his uncle. Brooks then beat Sumner so severely (using a thick gutta-percha cane with a gold head) that Sumner lapsed into unconsciousness, and eventually spent three years in therapy, recovering from his head wounds, before returning to the Senate in 1859 Southerners were unanimous in praising Brooks, as these two artifacts (and some dozens of new canes) attest. Nevertheless. the attack had the result of polarizing nationa l opinion, and probably hastened the advent of the Civil War. Interestingly, the leopard head punchmark closely relates to that used by Wm. H. Ewan (wc. 1849-1859) of Charleston, SC. Ewan was married to a Miss H.E. Day of Newark, NJ. Of further interest, the horse head mark closely relates to that used by Baldwin & Co. (wc. 1840-1869) of Newark. Reference: Burton. E. Milby, South Carolina Silversmiths 1690-1860, 1968, pp. 57-58 McGrew, John R., Manufacturers' Marks on American Coin Silver, pp. 114 & 118.