The Darker Side of Hampton County
Hampton County is a rural county in South Carolina with a long and storied history, but it has a shady side. Author Michael DeWitt details the corruption, murders and crimes that remained in the memories of locals for years.
Founded as a “white county” during the violence and political turmoil of Reconstruction, Hampton County’s roots are steeped in wickedness and blood. From the “Wild East” days of gunfights, train robbers, rustlers and rough-and-tumble timber towns to the shadowy era of moonshining and infamous solicitor “Buster” Murdaugh’s involvement in the “Great Whisky Conspiracy,” the county is rich with true tales of murder, crime and corruption. Meet colorful characters such as the banker who befriended a notorious bank robber and courageous heroes like the jailer’s teen daughter who saved an accused Black prisoner from death at the hands of a vigilante lynch mob. Travel this historical journey with award-winning storyteller, journalist and local author Michael M. DeWitt Jr.
Hampton County native Michael M. DeWitt Jr. is multiple-award-winning journalist and longtime editor of the 143-year-old Hampton County Guardian. DeWitt’s boots-on-the-ground coverage of the Murdaugh crime saga has been published in print and online around Gannett’s nationwide USAToday network, and he has appeared on ABC’s 20/20, CBS’s 48 Hours, Dateline NBC and Netflix documentaries to discuss the case. DeWitt is also the author of Hampton County (Images of America series, Arcadia Publishing/The History Press, May 2015), a photo history of the place his family has called home for close to three hundred years.