Ward Webster and Henderson Hobbs Duel
Cincinnati Enquirer, 1 November 1895, page 7
Politics was the cause of a serious shooting affray at Grants
Lick yesterday, and but for the poor aim of the shooter, the affray would have
been a murder. Senator Hissem and W T Lyons had been at Grants Lick,
addressing a mass meeting and after the speaking the crowd adjourned to Randel's
saloon, Ben Gosney's old place,
Ward Webster and Henderson Hobbs became engaged in a controversy over the respective abilities of the candidates for the Legislature, Lyons and Byrd. The argument became so heated that the men came to blows. They were separated and then agreed to go to a secluded spot and fight a duel.
Charles Taylor was agreed upon as a disinterested party to see fair play and the trio adjourned to a grove, while the crowd in the barroom anxiously awaited the result, it being known that blood would flow, as both men were armed with revolvers.
Reaching the pike out of the precincts of Grants Lick, Hobbs pulled his revolver and opened fire on his adversary. He was within 10 feet of Webster and Taylor when he fired the first shot, the bullet striking Webster in the leg, just a few inches below the knee. Hobbs continued to fire discharging in all five shots.
Webster was carried back to the saloon by Taylor and afterward removed to his home about four miles beyond Grants Lick, where he was attended by Dr. Houston. Webster is married and owns a little farm in the Big Sugar Camp District. He has a wife and four children. Hobbs is a widower and is employed as a farm hand by Hon Theodore Byrd, the Democratic nominee for the Legislature. There were no arrests.