There is an old saying about the town of Edgefield, South Carolina. It goes something like this: “The crust of the earth between hell and the surface is thinnest in Edgefield.” Today, as you look at the beautiful little southern town, it is hard to understand why someone would say this? There must be a reason, and I think I have an answer.
In the mid-1700s, a child named Rebecca Kennedy, or Becky as she was known, was born in Edgefield, South Carolina. Edgefield was a growing agricultural town during this time, and many who lived here, owned large plantations growing cotton and other crops. Becky grew into a charming and beautiful woman. She married a man from Edgefield named John Cotton, and everything was good in the peaceful community.
But, it was not to last. When Becky’s father had a violent dispute over land with neighbors, he came to her house seeking refuge. But refuge was short-lived, literally! Within a short time, the neighbors stormed into the house and shot her father, all while Becky’s husband stood by, idly watching. In essence, he had dishonored her by doing nothing. And from this point on, she had one thing on her mind…how to kill her husband.
A smart man would have realized he made a serious mistake in doing nothing. And a smart man would have ended the marriage at this point. But, John stayed with Becky, and in 1794 the marriage was ended -- by an axe blade to his head! It is said that while old John was peacefully sleeping one evening, Becky used an axe and cracked his skull open. The blow probably killed him on impact, and Becky, along with her brother, hid the corpse in a nearby potato storage room.
Of course, Becky fled town but was eventually captured. Most open and shut cases would have ended there. Becky would have been given a trial and more than likely have been found guilty. She probably would have been hung, and the case would have been over. But, Becky used her beauty and bewitching, evil charm to dazzle the jurors and fog the facts in her trial. The all-male jury saw a beautiful woman and not the beast that was hidden under her fair skin. She was acquitted of all charges and even married one of the jurors!
It has been said that Becky committed more male murders in her lifetime. One husband was stabbed while he dozed by a warm, crackling fire. Another, by a cup of hot tea laced with a poisonous herb. And, as legends go, she dragged her victims to a nearby creek, wrapped them in a brick shroud and sank their lifeless bodies into the depths of the cold spring water. Yes, Becky had turned into a black widow.
But, you’ve heard of karma, haven’t you? On May 5th of 1807, it finally caught up with Becky Cotton. You see, her brother, Stephen, knew all along what evil lived inside his sister. He had been keeping her dark side hidden since she murdered her first husband, John Cotton. And, as Stephen watched her swooning over a young man in downtown Edgefield, he must have finally snapped. In his anger, he took a rock and smashed it against Becky’s head. Becky, also known as the Devil in Petticoats, died that day, and her brother never went to trial. Today, the legend lives on. It is said that the cries of her victims can be heard from the bottom of Beck’s Hole, which is in Slade Lake. Others say that Becky’s ghost has been seen in the area looking for her next husband.
