The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-04-20


cision of which rested with a bystandcr
named Christian. During the quarrel
10 one knows just how it happened-Till-
man is said to have killed Christian He
left the state To avoid the consequences
and remained away two or three years.
Pickens, one of his neighbcrs, meanwhile
having been elected governor, Tillman re-
turned, stood trial, was convicted and SEN
fenced to a term of imprisonment in the
Edgefield Jail A little later he was par
doned, and the beginning of the war found
him in the ranks. among the most gallant
of fighters. Being talented as we'll as
brave, he was elected first to the legisla-
ture and then to congress.
Edgefield was also the home Of Preston
S. Brooks who is best remembered as the
assailant of Charles Sumner on the floor
of the senate in 1856. During the debate
ON the admission of Kansas Sumner had
delivered a speech full of vigor and sar-
casm in reply 10 the arguments of Senator
A. p Butler of South Carolina, resenting
which Brooks, who was a relative of But
Ter, gave the Massachusetts senator a Sc
we're Gaming Brooks was known among
his own people TO be a genial and anything
but Il quarrelsome man, yet even while a
youth he hurried home from college to
challenge the famous Louis II. Wigfall,
afterward senator from Texas and eener-
al in the Confederate army. Both were
wounded in the duel that followed.
A quarrel had occurred between Wigfall
and an Edgefield citizen named Bird, an
uncle of Brooks and father Of Capers Bird,
marshal of Florida, who died two or three
years ago at Monticello. Bird attempting
to post" him in the usual way on the
door of the postoffice, his antagonist shot
him dead. Wigfau afterward went TO Tex
as, where the bowie knife and pistol play
ed a conspicuous part in his career
Edgefield has always been a place of
feuds, and until of late years it would be
a rare month that did not witness one or
more shooting scrapes on the public or
courthouse square. Occasionally they oc-
CURED in the court itself, and more than
one lawyers office today bear the bullet
marks of fight TO the death. How are
things up in Edgefed today?' inquired a
citizen on meeting the present Senator NJ.
c. Butler in Charleston. Dull, sir mex
pressihly dull. They only kill a man a
week now" was the reply.
Edgcfield was the home of General VI.
W. Gary, one of the idols OF the state, who
near the close of the war took three oaths
never to surrender, never to be taken a
prisoner and never TO take the oath of al
legiance. He broke his sword at Apo
mattox and made his escape through the
lines. He died about 10 years ago.
In his beautiful home on the outskirts
of the town resides his sister, the widow
of General y. g. Evans, Familiarity remem-
bered by old officers of the army as Shanks.
With their mother reside several sons
who are the brothers of John Gary Evans,
the author of the South Carolina dispen-
sary law and candidate for next governor.
All of them are in active political life and
are exercising great influence in the affairs
of the Palmetto State at the present time.
John Gary Evans moved to Aiken. where
he is prominent at the bar. In fact, the
county is full of bright, brainy, brave men,
who have always proved worthy of their
ancestors and there is little doubt that
when Tillman found his own home com
pany among the first to respond to his call
for troops in the recent emergency he felt
Q sense of relief
Edgefeld. it should be remembered. is a
part of Old Ninety six, one of the four
great districts into which the state was
divided anterior TO the Revolution, the
name being derived from the fact that IL
was within 90 miles of the frontier fort,
Prince George, which was on the keowee
river in the present Pickens district Sub
sequently it was subdivided into what is
now known as Edgefield- Abbevillc, New
berry and L-aurens counties. During the
Revolution. by reason of the stirring events
that occurred there. il was memorable as
the fighting district OF South Carolina
Calhoun, NcDuffie Pettigrew, LanCdon,
Cheves, Pickens. the Buffers. Hagoods,
EammOnds and Others are among its SOUS
who have since acquired national fame.
Z u. DE FoSTAISR-