The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-05-17
SHOOTER TILLMAN.

Deu 1IIILIdu- although at pfeoeu
playing the role Of a ear in Soutf
Carolina, comes honestly by those
traits that mark him as "a man oI
blood and iron" The reckless. bull
dog obstinacy he exhibits comes tc
him both by blood and association.
A native Of Edgefeld, S. c., he has
been brought up in an atmosphere in
which human life is held cheaply, and
a word IS followed by blow or pis-
tol shot. To give man the Iie''
there means death Family feud4
have been carried through genera
tons. The people are fighters, and
he who shows the white feather there
after has no happy abiding place in
! that community.
Visiting Charleston, on one occasion,
the present United States senator, NJ.
c. Butler, was asked. Whats the
news from old Edgefeld?" Dull.
horribly dull" was the reply; only
one man killed week now" Not so
very long ago shooting scrapes on
court day IN and around the public
square were more frequent than pic
MICS, and hot political campaign
always claimed its bloody victims.
The stories Of personal encounters
and formal duels, if published, would
fill q volume; but the number Of gal
lows executions that have taken place.
in which whites have been concerned.
may be counted on one hand. with
the thumb turned down. Yet, para
doxical as it may appear, the people
are as peaceful and law abiding as
they are impetuOus, and man who
keeps civil tongue in his head is as
safe from molestatiOn as he would be
at his own fire side They DO not lie
in wait to commit murder, but fight,
when necessary, breast to breast.
Easily aroused, they resent insult or
injury on the spot, and il wrong has
been done apologize afterwaTd They
are brave headstrong and peculiar.
full Of notions of honor and duty, and
in their way chiyalrous.
Ben Tillman does not differ from
the Edgetield type, and when he told
the boys in Colombia the other day
that ''he had no uneasiness as to his
personal safety" and rather than de
sert his post he would have gone out
the executive mansion a cOrpse;" that
the train was on the track and as gov
ernor Of the state he had his hand on
the throttle and was going in on time,
so help me God" they knew he meant
every word he said It's the kind Of
gritty talk that CarOlinians expect.
and are pleased with. Mush and milk
is not part of their diet, especially
in Edgefield county.
Some years ago difficulty occur
red on the public square between two
citizens. A weapon was drawn, when
one Of them exclaimed: You have
me at Il disadvantage Fire. if you
please, but | am unarmed" Instant
ly a bystander stepped forward and
rendered his own pistol, whoroupon
the shooting began, and was contlnu
ed with the usual result.
During a duel some years ago, the
two principals being in position, one
of them suddenly observed a tuft of
grass in the line of fire Are you
ready" said the second. Mo- was
the response. Pardon me-" cOntinu
ed the voice as the speaker courteous
ly raised his hat, and, bowing to his
antagonist, advanced and threw the bit
of grass to one side Then he cOOlly
resumed his place and awaited the
word. Whether this act disconnected
the other or not viii never be
known. for in less time than it takes
to tell it he gave leapin the air and
fell forward dead with a bullet
through his brain.
Senator Louis l. Wigfall of
Texas. afterwards a Confederate gen
eral, was native of Edgetield, and,
in his early days, as wild as they make
them. 1t was he who, while acting
aid to Gen. Beauregard during
the first bombardment of Fort Sumter
in April, 1861, went in a rOwbOat, IN
der fire. and without orders asked
Maj. Anderson to surrender, which
that officer did few moments after
wards to the properly deputed author
ity. Subsequently, when jefferson
Davis contemplated the removal of
Beauregard from his command, it was
Wigfall who went to the Confederate
presidency with his usual audacity
said: Davis don't touch him. When
a man becomes SO popular that the
men name their race horses and the
women christian their babies after
him, let him alone: keep your hands
off" And Mr. Davis did.
While living in Edgetield, years be
fore the war, Wigfall had a serious
falling ont with a gentleman named
Byrd, and attempted to post him,
which in the vernacular means the
tacking up in the most public place of
a town of an offensive paper denoun-