John Barker Church, a.k.a. John Carter (1748-1818), was an English born businessman. Due to speculation on the stock exchange and gambling, he was bankrupt in August 1774 and to escape his creditors, he went to colonial America where he became a commissioner appointed to the Continental Congress in July 1776.

He was known for his marriage to Angelica Schuyler, of the prominent American Schuyler family, and the brother-in-law of Alexander Hamilton, who died in a duel in 1804 with Aaron Burr.

Church was an experienced duelist and owned the Wogdon pistols used in the 1804 duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. The weapons had already been used in an 1801 duel, in which Hamilton's son Philip was killed.

Later legend claimed that these pistols were the same ones used in a 1799 duel between Church and Burr, in which neither man was injured. This occurred due to the rules of the 'code duello', in which the challenged (Church) had the right to choose the weapons. However, the same rule was apparently ignored in the 1801 duel, where Philip Hamilton was the challenger and also supplied the weapons borrowed from his uncle.

Also, Aaron Burr claimed in his memoir that he owned the pistols used in his duel with Church. Hamilton biographer Ron Chernow accepted Burr's version of the story.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org