money Hampton author DeWitt launches book tour, includes stops at Colleton County Courthouse
A Gannett editor and author is announcing a South Carolina book tour that will begin with stops at the now-famous, historic Colleton County Courthouse while supporting literacy and the local library systems along the way.
Michael M. DeWitt Jr., award-winning editor of the 144-year-old The Hampton County Guardian and a journalist for USA Today Network – South Carolina, has authored a history of his hometown, Wicked Hampton County, which releases Monday, May 29, and is now completing a second book, an epic combination of history and true crime, Fall of the House of Murdaugh, to be released later this summer.
DeWitt’s boots-on-the-ground coverage of the Murdaugh crime saga has been published in print and online around Gannett’s nationwide USA Today network, and he has appeared on ABC’s 20/20, CBS’s 48 Hours, Dateline NBC and Netflix documentaries to discuss the case, among others, and has talked about the cases to audiences as far away as New Zealand and Australia. His historical flashback stories for the USA Today Network have been referenced by other media around the world, from The Washington Post and People magazine to media in Great Britain and India.
In launching his first book tour, the author wants to highlight and support local libraries and literacy while showcasing the fascinating South Carolina Lowcountry history. While most of his early events will be held at public libraries, he will also be holding at least two events at the now-famous courthouse in Walterboro which hosted the internationally publicized, six-week murder trial of convicted murderer and accused fraudster Alex Murdaugh.
DeWitt hopes his "I Love My Local Library" Book Tour will highlight local libraries and the services they offer.
Alex Murdaugh trial: Tour of historic Colleton County Courthouse a true crime destination
Here are the first tour dates, with more to be announced later:
June 2: Book signing and tour of the historic Colleton County Courthouse, 101 Hampton Street, Walterboro, S.C.; 9-noon and 2-4 p.m.
June 16: Book signing and tour of the historic Colleton County Courthouse, June 16, 101 Hampton Street, Walterboro, S.C.; 9-noon and 2-4 p.m.
June 23: Official Book Launch and Signing, Hampton County Library, 12 Locust Street East, Hampton, S.C., 4-6 p.m., during the H.C. Watermelon Festival, followed by a tour of the Hampton County Museum at the Old Jail.
July 8: Book signing and readings, Pratt Memorial Library, 451A Wilson Street, Ridgeland, S.C., 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
July 22: Book signing and readings during Library Book Sale, Allendale County Library, 297 Main Street North, Allendale S.C., 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
About Michael Dewitt
All Michael M. DeWitt Jr. ever wanted to be was a small-town newspaper editor, an outdoor writer like Patrick F. McManus, and a Southern humorist like Lewis Grizzard, and he was well on his way when a tragic story broke.
DeWitt, the longtime editor of The Hampton County Guardian, was writing tales of the outdoors for South Carolina Wildlife magazine and the international Sporting Classics magazine. As a humorist, DeWitt’s award-winning Southern humor newspaper column, “Southern Voices, Southern Stories,” was published in newspapers from Cape Cod to northern California.
And then the Murdaugh crime saga broke into state and then international headlines, and DeWitt was challenged with the task of transforming from a community journalist to an investigative reporter and true crime writer followed by a national audience.
In doing so, DeWitt relied heavily on his background and love of history. For four years, DeWitt served as a volunteer historian, storyteller, and playwright for the five-county “Salkehatchie Stew” oral history and community theater project sponsored by the University of South Carolina. He is also the author of Images of America – Hampton County (Arcadia Publishing/The History Press, May 2015), a photo history of the place his family has called home for close to three hundred years.
More about Wicked Hampton County
Wicked Hampton County takes the reader back in time to paint the historical landscape in which the Murdaughs came to power ― and often allegedly misused that power. Here is what you’ll find inside:
“Moonshine, Murder and Murdaugh Mayhem,” an overview of the Murdaugh legal and political dynasty dating back to the Civil War and Reconstruction, includes many of the fascinating criminal cases the Murdaughs prosecuted, as well as the many allegations against Randolph “Buster” Murdaugh Jr. and the Great Colleton County Whiskey Conspiracy that engulfed him.
Hampton County's earliest roots are steeped in blood, as European settlers swindled local Native Americans, causing the Yamasee tribe to rise up and kill scores of colonists and torture one corrupt “Indian Agent” for three days.
The controversial influence of General Wade Hampton, and the Bloody Election of 1880 riot where a man was stabbed to death on the ground floor of the Hampton County Courthouse, and another man and his mule were killed by shotgun fire on the way to the polls.
In “Moonshine, Sue Cat and Other Demon Brews,” murder and “mean liquor” are social and political issues that cause local, state and federal agents to play cat-and-mouse games with clever bootleggers throughout the swamps of the Savannah and Salkehatchie Rivers for decades.
In “Unholy Deeds,” a relative of a “famous desperado” is shot to death while praying inside an Estill church in a case that takes the reader to Death Row and the electric chair at the state pen.
“Sticky Palms and The Five-Finger Discount:” From hog rustlers to white-collar criminals, from petty thieves and dumb crooks to ingenious con artists, thievery fills the pages of local history.
In “Wild East Outlaws,” bankers and bank robbers rub elbows amid gunfights and bloody knuckle brawls in rough-and-tumble timber towns.
In “Mysterious Diseases and Deaths,” a poor farmer, driven by hunger and malnutrition, succumbs to a mysterious disease that leads him to try and murder his family with an ax, while Hampton’s famous undertaker is burying people by the thousands during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.
“Wickedness at the Old Jail reveals the shameful history of the former Hampton County Jail, now a local museum on the National Register of Historic Places, where men were hung, whipped, or allowed to freeze to death in filthy conditions.
“Racism, Civil Rights and the Confederate Legacy” takes a deep dive into lynching and vigilante justice, the local Ku Klux Klan, and the Civil Rights struggles involving integration.
“Grisly Murders Stain the Pages of History” takes the true crime history buff on a tour of several of the most shocking murders in Hampton County history.
In “For Every Villian, A Hero,” Hampton County’s first lady jailer truly cares about the criminals in her care, and the daughter of a jailer picks up a pistol to stop a lynch mob from taking a Black prisoner.
You can follow DeWitt on Facebook, on Twitter @mmdewittjr, on his author page at Arcadia Publishing/The History Press and Amazon Author Central.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: DeWitt launches book tour, includes stops at Colleton County Courthouse
