Editing Nicholas Biddle (section)

==Family==
Nicholas's father, [[Charles Biddle (Pennsylvania statesman)|Charles]], was noteworthy for his devotion to the cause of American independence and served alongside [[Benjamin Franklin]] on the [[Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania|Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania]].{{sfn|Wilson|Fiske|1900}}{{sfn|Biddle|2021|p=11}} His paternal uncle and namesake, [[Nicholas Biddle (naval officer)|Nicholas Biddle]] (1750–1778), was a naval hero who died during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. Another uncle, [[Edward Biddle]], was a member of the [[First Continental Congress|First Continental Congress of 1774]].{{sfn|Hammond|1957|p=287}}<ref>Lawmaking and Legislators in Pennsylvania, vol. 3, pp. 337–351</ref>

[[File:Jane Craig Biddle by Thomas Sully 1826-7.jpg|thumb|Jane Craig Biddle]]
In 1811, Biddle married Jane Margaret Craig (1793–1856). The couple had six children, including [[Charles John Biddle]], who served in the U.S. Army and in the U.S. House of Representatives,<ref>[http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/findaids/biddle.htm University of Delaware: Biddle family papers]</ref> and Edward C. Biddle (1815–1872), with whom Nicholas worked in the international cotton trade during the late 1830s.{{sfn|Kilbourne|2006|p=90}}

Nicholas had a younger brother, [[Thomas Biddle]], a [[War of 1812]] veteran who became a federal pension agent and director at the Second Bank's branch office in St. Louis, Missouri. On August 26, 1831, Thomas participated in a [[duel]] with U.S. Representative [[Spencer Pettis]] of Missouri. The duel took place on [[Bloody Island (Mississippi River)|"Bloody Island"]], in the middle of the Mississippi River, near St. Louis. Because Thomas was nearsighted, the two exchanged shots from a perilously close distance of five feet. Pettis died within hours while Thomas succumbed to his wounds three days later.{{sfn|Campbell|2019|pp=61-63}} The origins of the duel can be traced to Pettis's criticism of Nicholas's management of the Bank, which Thomas defended. After an exchange of letters to the editor of a newspaper, Biddle accosted an ill Pettis in his hotel room. Pettis recovered and then challenged Thomas to a duel.<ref>[http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/education/dueling/political-duels.asp Crack of the Pistol: Dueling in 19th Century Missouri – sos.mo.gov – Retrieved March 5, 2008]</ref> [[Thomas Biddle]] should not be confused with his second cousin, Thomas Biddle of Philadelphia, one of the city's leading exchange brokers.<ref>Howard Bodenhorn, State Banking in Early America: A New Economic History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003) p. 251</ref>