Town Marshal Jeremiah Hughes

Jeremiah Hughes

Marshal Jeremiah Hughes was shot and killed at approximately 10 p.m. after responding to a person reportedly being threatened. The man had been at a dance when he got into an argument with another man, who threatened to go home and retrieve a gun. The victim reported the incident to Marshal Hughes, who accompanied the man home. Marshal Hughes then sat on the man's front porch.

The suspect came to the home, and upon seeing Marshal Hughes on the front porch, mistakenly thought he was the original victim and opened fire with a shotgun. Marshal Hughes was struck in the back and died. One suspect was arrested at the scene but another fled to North Carolina. He was captured, returned to Easley, and hanged for the crime on October 7, 1892.

Marshal Hughes was survived by his wife and three children. He was the first recorded law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty in Pickens County, South Carolina.