Joseph Erwin | |
|---|---|
 "Lands and Slaves for Sale" The Weekly Natchez Courier, August 31, 1827 | |
| Born | 1762 Guilford County, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | April 14, 1829 Near Bayou Plaquemine, Iberville Parish, Louisiana, U.S. |
Joseph Erwin (1762 – April 14, 1829) was an American racehorse owner, owner of cotton and sugar plantations, and a slave trader. He is best known for the enmity between him and future U.S. president Andrew Jackson. Their conflict over their competing thoroughbred racehorses, Erwin's Ploughboy and Jackson's Truxton, led to the fatal 1806 duel between Jackson and Erwin's son-in-law Charles Dickinson. Erwin moved to Louisiana where he owned as many as seven plantations and hundreds of slaves. He ended up heavily in debt. Erwin died by suicide in 1829.