Edgefield County

While there was an emphasis on teacher education, the school’s primary focus was on industrial training. At a time when the state neglected the education of its black citizens, Bettis Academy offered educational opportunities when few professions were open to blacks.

Bonham rode with James Bowie into San Antonio de Béxar and the Alamo in early January 1836. The town of Bonham, Texas, was named in his honor.

As governor, Bonham sought to strengthen state laws on conscription, slave impressments, and desertion, taking positions more in support of the Confederate government.

Brooks is best known for his assault on U.S. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts in May 1856. Following the eruption of violence on the Kansas frontier, Sumner delivered a speech unusually harsh by the Senate’s standards. He assailed South Carolina’s role in American history (especially during the Revolutionary War) and even attacked by name Senator Andrew P. Butler (who was a distant cousin of Brooks). With the aged Butler unable to defend himself or his state, the task fell to his nearest relative, Congressman Brooks, whose familiarity with South Carolina’s traditions of family honor was surpassed only by his fluency with the code duello. After considering his alternatives and waiting for Senator Sumner to apologize publicly, Brooks decided to punish Sumner. On May 22 he entered the Senate chamber after the Senate had adjourned and found Sumner at his desk. Brooks delivered several blows to Sumner’s head with a gutta-percha cane, and the senator fell senseless to the floor.

Butler is perhaps best remembered for his role in the attack on Charles Sumner—even though he was not present for one minute of it. On May 19 and 20, Sumner launched into a speech entitled “The Crime against Kansas.” His villain was Butler, who was absent. Butler was “the Don Quixote of slavery,” and his mistress in this morality play, “though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight . . . the harlot, Slavery.” Sumner then compounded the insult by mocking Butler’s habit of spitting when he spoke. On May 22, in an incident that some historians view as a critical turning point toward civil war, Butler’s cousin Preston S. Brooks avenged his kinsman by caning Sumner on the floor of the Senate.

As a senator, Butler supported civil service reform, a strong navy, and the elevation of the agriculture department to cabinet-level status. He also secured nearly $5 million in federal funds for South Carolina harbor and river improvements and public buildings. In 1890 Butler instigated a national debate with his introduction of a bill to provide federal aid to blacks who would emigrate to Africa. Responding to South Carolina’s agrarian movement, Butler shifted his position from that of a conservative Democrat to one favoring such Populist measures as the free coinage of silver and a federal income tax.

The Pine State Playboys were essentially a small western swing combo, deeply influenced by the foot-stomping rhythms of Texas performers Bob Wills and Milton Brown.

Edgefield continued to be the district’s focus of political activity during Reconstruction. Rallies were held in the courthouse square, as were information sessions for freedmen.

The newspaper retained its forthright style throughout the twentieth century. William Walton Mims assumed control of the newspaper in 1937, and the staunchly conservative newspaper was not afraid to take unpopular stands on local issues.

Agriculture dominated Edgefield’s economy throughout its history. Early settlers grew grains and raised impressive numbers of cattle and hogs. Staple crops, particularly tobacco, grew in significance by the 1790s.

The term “Edgefield pottery” is used to identify alkaline-glazed stoneware first produced in Edgefield District in the 1810s.

Gary capitalized on the reputation he earned in war. Active in Democratic Party politics, in 1876 he was the most uncompromising and outspoken leader of the “Straight-out” faction of the South Carolina Democratic Party, stressing white supremacy and solidarity while vigorously opposing any cooperation with Republicans or black Carolinians.

After some initial teething, the company quickly proved highly prosperous, producing shirting and sheeting that sold well in markets as far away as Philadelphia and New York. Graniteville was also unusual in that it employed the labor of free white laborers, mostly women and teenaged children, at a time when most southern manufacturers used the labor of black slaves.

Putting his industrial gospel into practice, Gregg and several partners secured a charter from the South Carolina General Assembly in December 1845 to establish the Graniteville Manufacturing Company. The Graniteville factory commenced operations in 1849 and quickly became one of the most successful textile factories in the entire South.

During and after his military service, Hammond represented Ninety Six District as a representative in the First (1775) and Second (1776) Provincial Congresses, and then in the new General Assembly.

Entering service as a brigadier general, he distinguished himself as a superb military tactician in several major battles, including First Manassas (July 21, 1861), after which he was promoted to major general.

McDuffie gained national attention during the nullification crisis. He believed nullification to be a legitimate extraconstitutional measure with secession as its logical conclusion. His fiery speeches in support of nullification, and their appeal among South Carolina voters, may have forced Calhoun to realize that his state and many of its politicians were more radical on the issue than he was.

Oliver is best known for a rescue mission he later founded in Columbia to serve as a refuge for homeless and troubled men. He purchased a lot at the corner of Assembly and Taylor streets in Columbia in 1888, for what became the Oliver Rescue Mission. The following year a gospel tabernacle was constructed.

Pickens’s public career began in college when he authored a series of articles in the Charleston Mercury espousing state sovereignty and questioning the legality of a protective tariff.

Spanning the state in a broad northeast to southwest band, the Piedmont is the second-largest of South Carolina’s landform regions, encompassing 10,500 square miles, nearly one-third of the state’s total area.