John Chapman's "History of Edgefield County" is the standard work on its subject, and it meanders its way from the formation of the county, through the Revolution and War of 1812, to the era of Civil War and Reconstruction. While the final 100 pages identify the members of the various Edgefield County units in the Civil War, in some cases touching on their service records or families, most of the volume consists of biographical and genealogical sketches of hundreds of county luminaries (many of them arranged by township).