Virginia Memory, Library of Virginia
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THIS DAY IN VIRGINIA HISTORY

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March 04, 1846

Broadside 1846 .M73 BOX, Special Collections, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

A Circular Letter Concerning John Hampden Pleasants' Death Was Published

John Hampden Pleasants (1797–1846) founded the Richmond Whig newspaper. The son of Governor James Pleasants Jr. (1769–1836), he was killed by Thomas Ritchie Jr. (1778–1854), on February 27, 1846. Ritchie was the editor of the Richmond Enquirer and had called Pleasants a coward for his antislavery sentiments, causing Pleasants to challenge him to a duel. This circular letter was sent out to appeal for money to support his children and their widowed mother.