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BEAUTIFUL BETTYr COTTON. X. c Name is Synonymous With Clandestine and Revolting Machinations. (Written for the News and Courier by Mrs. S. McG. Simkins and taken from an old file.) "Old Edgefield again! Another murder in Edgefield. Why, 'twas ^ but t'other day we had a history sufficient to /freeze the blood with horl? /\^ mnr_ iUl Lilt; I11SLU1 v ui cl uuouanu mui>dering his wife! and now comes a history ten times, if possible more # unnatural and horrible still?the his^ tory of a wife murdering her husband; and all in old Edgefield. Will the Lord have mercy upon old Edge^ field! For sure it must be pandemonium, itself, a very District of Devils." The above quotation is taken from an ancient pamphlet published in 1816, called "The Devil in Petticoats, or God's Revenge Against Husband Killing." The author was the Rev. M. L. Weems, a sensational writer and preacher of the last cenV tury, the history of whom was compiled in a most interesting article published not long ago by the News and Courier. k * *" Thft rpcmrrprtinn of this almost forgotten publication proves that from time immemorial the moral conditions of this section of the country have not always been what they -> should. The first triple murderer in Edge. field, whose diabolical crimes es> caped legal punishment, was the celebrated Becky Cotton. From chronicle and tradition we glean that this remarkable criminal was born about the year 1780. At an early age Becky, with two younger brothers, was left by the death of their mother, to be reared by a drunken father. mm'- the age of ten years Becky reignf % ed supreme at home, she fought like v a tigress, subjugated her brothers, cowed her father and made her % 4, >\ i slaves tremble before her. Her will grew more and more imperious, until Jf v ' she tolerated opposition from none. Gus Kennedy was proud of his daugh< < .. ter's unvanquished spirit and as he j had many business enterprises and ? - J - ?- WAIIXIVKV lr AT\f QligctSttQ 111 t'citnc l aidiii^g w liii/ii him away from home, he contented i himself with laughing at the "Little ' -* She-Devil" as he nicknamed his only i % ' ' i \ daughter. As Becky matured into womanhood she developed wonderful beau. ty. Her form had- all the grace and voluptuousness of a Spanish dancer. Her eyes were dark and lustrous, her features Grecian. Her clear brunette v skin glowed with the hue of robust / health. Many lovers proffered their ' * hands and hearts to the beautiful Miss Kennedy. Becky flirted desperately with all. She held them in her claws as does a cat when bother? ,ing a mouse. Finally, while experieacing a phantasmal affection for a certain Erasmus Smith, who was madly in iove with her, she consented to be United in wedlock. The V: marriage ,was soon found to be a faI . tal mistake. They fought like Kilkenny cats. Poor Erasmus was maue r to bite the dust. His nerves were so v. , shattered Hiat he became a physical f - wreck. One night as he dozed in his hv thft dviner embers. Becky ran a mattress needle through his Vv heart that stilled aching forever more. In the darkness and solitude of the night she bore in her strong, young aVms the lifeless body down through the leafy path that led to a , . gloomy pool of water, through which flowed Beaver Dam Creek. With a ?. .. trace chain she attached a heavy weight to the legs and threw the body into the water, where it sank down into the fathomless hole, never to be seen again by mortal eye. A ' * November gale soon covered with leaves her foot prints in the wooded path, and a pelting rain obscured the last trace pf the ghastly end of Erasmus Smith. Scarcely a year elapsed after the mysterious disappearance of Becky's first husband, before she took unto herself another spouse. Joshua Ter ' ?- -v.n<?l,r in IrtVA with t h P * ry was as mauij m wc "*v~ ~ beautiful Becky as his predecessor had been. Their honeymoon was, however, of equally short duration. r Becky's abominable temper asserted itself on every occasion and the unfortunate Josiah soon found that the life of "Old Dog Tray" was heavenly * in comparison with the one he was / leading. Becky soon tried starving and beating as methods of ridding herfeelf of her husband, but as Josiah stuck with cat-like tenacity to life, she resorted to herb tea, made from the deadly night shade. Under pretense of dosing him with a remedy .v . for Phthisic, she administered the p. poison. It was a snowy .December night when Josiah fell in convulsions and his last breath mingled with the fierce breath of the tempest which raged without. Becky, who shrank from no crime, and feared neither God nor devil, wished to spare herself with further annoyance from Josiah, so she picked him up in her ? arms and bore him down to the same black pool. His body she weighted with a bag of bricks, before she -i thrust it down to the gurgling depths < to meet the husband who had gone . before. A heavy snow storm covered every trace of this murder, and neighbors even held that he had gone to * , visit in an adjoining State and never < returned. 4 It would be natural to suppose 4 , that the mysterious disappearance of < two husbands would augment against procuring a third. But Becky's fasci- 1 nations were so irresistable that in % her second widowhood she was more ^ eagerly sought after than ever. Men ? fought each other in the dark woods ^ that led to Becky's door. Suitors a stabbed each other in the piazza. Ri- < vals grappled at the throats of rivals i even in Becky's presence. This tur- ^1 moil that at first was a diversion to Becky, finally wearied her and she ' <A vowed that she would marry the A strongest one of them just to rid j herself of a pack of fools. 1 Alak a day! that the lot of be- % coming Becky's third husband fell ^ on John Cotton. Cotton was a very 4 handsome man. He planted on an ^1 extensive scale and was one of the 4 most prosperous men in the neigh- j borhood. He had loved Becky- from ^1 the time when as children they had 4 thrown rocks together into the bot- < tomless pool. His only love making 4 in those early days had discouraged . him, for when he grabbed Becky and kissed her with all the fervor of an enamored school boy, she had , so kicked and scratched him that he had 4 wisely left her alone, contenting 4 himself with the peace of a bachelor's ^ life, and only dreaming of Becky's eyes in the sweet "might have been." When, however, he pondered upon ^ Becky's second widowhood,'he cop- 4 eluded that grief's chastisement must 4 have wrought some change in the futrious temper of her he still loved. With man's conceit, he felt that his own strong, masterful nature would * act as a curb upon Becky's imperious < will and reduce her to the proper 4 level of tender, clinging wromanhood. 4 John Cotton was very superior in character to Becky's former husband. He had a dash and fearless- * ness that made him generally at- J tractive. His good looks, his win- 4 ning smile and engaging manner*had 4 a softening influence even upon ^ Becky's hardened, degenerate nature. For six months they were like coo- i ing doves from morning until night, * and John Cotton was congratulating < himself'on having tamed the shrew, 4 when a clash came and war was de- ^ clared. Ever since her marriage with Cotton Becky had been secretly wishing to get away from the vicinity ^1 of the bottomless pool. Visions of ?. the two murdered bodies that were A sunk in its depths arose to disturb X the peacefulness of her life. She de- ^ termined that their home should be ^ sold and that they should move to a ^ distant portion of the State. She mfldo tho nrrvnnsitinn nf this nlan to John, but he flatly refused to consider it. Becky pestered and finally stormed, until all the love which they J had for each other turned into hatred. Neighbors hinted toxCotton that if his wife had murdered her former husbands and was now preparing to A. g&t rid of him. Hoping it might act as ' a safeguard against Becky's t treacherous actions and protect him when he slept, Cotton invited Becky's if two younger brothers to come and live with them. Even then he lost all feeling of safety. He never knev ^ at what moment his wife might not f administer to him his death blow. J His suspicions were so aroused that if it preyed upon his mind until he became a mental and physical wreck and dreaded to be left in the room ^ with his wife. t, One summer's night, old man Ken- J nedy, Becky's father, came to spend if the evening with his daughter. While if sitting there he was assailed by three men with whom he had had a dispute the *day previous. The men became I violent and Becky denounced them as "a pack of cussed villains." ' She V asked "how they durst to threaten ^ a gentleman in her house.". With this she flung her arms about her ^ father's neck and dared them shoot. t Daunted for the moment by V Becky's defiance and display of courage, the men drew back and Becky thinking she had intimidated them, ^ loosened her arms, and turning to Jk her husband who sat in a corner she J unbottled the vials of her wrath up on him for daring to hold aloof and not attack her father's assailants. At this moment the assassins fired A. upon the old man and as he was Jk hurled into eternity without moment X for prayer, the men jumped through j i the open windows and fled for their lives. Becky, livid with fury and accus- ?* ing her husband of having been ac- ^ cessory to her father's butchery, 1 rushed into the yard, procured an t axe, in a spasm of wild insanity, fell jr upon Cotton. Perhaps the horror of ^ her fiendish rage paralyzed him, for ?* before he could defend himself, the ^ axe descended upon his head and* Z cleft it in two. t The overpowering thought of the jr bottomless pool as concealment for her guilt immediately occurred to (Continued on page 6, column 1.) ^ t - V I, * ! Some Re? 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"A" f|" "Vf 4> x* 41 A "A" A "ir A "4" <0 "At A'^ A'^ A'* AT tsons Why jlfcj * ;/5?Sf I: s before buying that Coat Suit, ^ / ug in the Ready-to-Wear Line bH^^SHk J . <| sident buyer shipping us daily the new- ' ' se that the big city stores have and' can jE y' iminated the charge system and we have jjj S ^ . 15th year of fair and honorable dealing YOUR MONEY BACK |i|j rivals ylJlllJlfcw Big new. line of popular priced J I lady says our dresses are the each $6.00 to \ B *4 same as shown in Augusta. ^yoran?j^f7 Another lady says our Coats t t 00 and up. are prettier than any she saw ^ ^ trn8r^"to andser- - * :5?I .AUBER'sJf f Quality" Bamberg, S. C. ^ I Z? ' -:V?M , A A A A A - A I ??- >v J| A A A .+A A A ^ AA AAa^AAAAA A 4 4 4 4A ^ ^ 4?unu?iRuRu!li. . 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For adulU and children. 50c. ' ' * , . ' : >:t -* i 9 /T 4 j ?- : -