Gryphons of the Sandhills

Douglas M. Edgeworth reveals what it was like for an everyday family trying to make ends meet in South Carolina from 1918 to 1945 with this well-researched collection of 201 letters.

Based in the Angelus community of Chesterfield County, South Carolina, the Edgeworth family included Raymond and Leoard, who lived up to familys coat of arms that included a gryphon, which signifies being a guardian and protector of women.

They were not the only members of the Edgeworth family to leave a lasting mark: Sallie Edgeworth moved with her seven children to a cotton farm on County Route 33 when her husband died, taking care of her children at all costseven when it meant mortgaging her crop of cotton, cotton seed, corn, and fodder.

Corbett had plans of making millions, and had a knack for painting rosy pictures, which allowed him to coerce people to go along with his schemes. But an addiction to alcohol and drugs would lead him not to riches but to a life filled with hardships and unmet potential.

Numerous other family members are profiled, and youll see what they came up against in their own words in the revealing letters featured in Gryphons of the Sandhills.