The master raised his three daughters with his strongest slave… he created his own Georgian dynasty in 1852

When it comes to the darkest secrets of America’s past, few stories rival the chilling tale of Edmund Rutled, the Georgia platform master who crossed every line—and shocked even the harshest laws—by forcing his three daughters to bear children with his strongest slave.

What began as a twisted “legacy” experiment quickly spiraled into a conspiracy so depraved it nearly brought down the most powerful man in Hawk County. This is the true story Southern society tried to bury, but history refuses to forget.

The Summer That Changed Everything

The summer of 1852 was supposed to be like any other in Central Georgia: endless railroads, muddy roads, and anxious farmers praying their land would survive. But on Clearwater Platform, something far more sinister was brewing. Edmud Rutled, one of Georgia’s wealthiest deputies and a former state legislator, suddenly withdrew his three daughters—Catheripe, Margaret, and Elizabeth—from public life.

He told his neighbors the girls had fallen ill and needed “complete isolation.” For eleven months, people saw them. No church, no social visits, no shopping trips to Sparta. Just closed doors and whispered rumors.

But beneath the surface, Rutled was plotting the ultimate family legacy, one that would forever bind his blood to the platform, no matter the cost.

The Master: Edmud Rutled

Unlike most Southern aristocrats, Edmud Rutled hadn’t inherited his fortune. He built it from the ground up, transforming a modest cotton farm into a sprawling empire of 2,000 acres and nearly 90 enslaved workers. He was a widower and obsessed with his family’s fate. Under Georgia law, his estate would be divided among his daughters upon his death, with their husbands claiming shares. The Rutled brand would vanish, absorbed by other families.

Edmud was determined to prevent this. At the South Agricultural Cooperative in Atlapta, he met Dr. Nathaniel Peto, a scientist who preached the gospel of “heritage” and “selective breeding.” Peto’s ideas, borrowed from European cattle breeding, were radical, even for the time: bloodlines could be bred, he claimed, not only among livestock but also among people.

Rutled listened, and a monstrous idea took root.

The Plantation: To Breed a New Dynasty

Back in Clearwater, Edmud began his experiment. He singled out Samuel, his tallest, strongest, and most intelligent slave: a map-reader who could predict the weather and who had redesigned the plantation’s irrigation system. Samuel was married and kept separate from the other slaves. Edmund saw him not as a map, but as an “exceptional lineage.”

The plan was simple in its cruelty: force each daughter to bear a child with Samuel, creating a mixed-race workforce that carried Rutled blood but could never inherit the estate. These children would be bound to the world, whether entirely white or entirely Black, forever trapped by biology and the law. Edmud promised Samuel freedom and peace in exchange for his cooperation, a lie designed to ensure obedience.

To protect himself, Rutled enlisted Judge Horus Ketchum, a corrupt local official, and Dr. Leoard Stricklad, the smooth-talking doctor of deep debts. Ketchum provided legal cover, drafting documents to declare the daughters “mentally unfit” if they resisted, and to portray Samuel as a criminal if he tried to escape. Stricklad forged medical reports and kept the girls locked up.

The Horror Behind Locked Doors

In Jupe, Edmud summoned his daughters to the parlor. He explained his plan with cold logic: each of them would have three fights with Samuel, under threat of disinheritance and confinement in the asylum if they refused. Catherine, the eldest, tried to reason with him. Margaret threatened to inform the authorities. Isabel wept. Edmud crushed all objections. Their future, he declared, depended on obedience.

Samuel was moved to a hut near the main house, given fewer clothes and better food, but kept isolated. He was told that the daughters were “willing participants” and promised freedom after the children were born and they were dispossessed. But when Samuel asked for clarification, Edmud threatened to sell him to a deadly rice plantation if he refused.

At the first fight, Catherine was escorted to Samuel’s hut. The overseers stood guard outside. What happened inside was never described in detail, but both were victims, ensnared by Edmud’s monstrous ambition.

Isolation and Pregnancy

In September, all three daughters were pregnant. Edmud locked them in their rooms, claiming “delicate illnesses” to the neighbors. The windows were locked from the outside. A maid named Pepy watched over them, making sure they were never left unsupervised. Samuel returned to fieldwork, attended to by other slaves and overseers alike, living in a limbo between privilege and pariah.

Edmud spent his days designing nurseries and educational programs for his “crafted” workforce. During the fight, he wrote in his secret journal, documenting every detail with the pride of a mad scientist.

The Sheriff Arrives

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Ether Thomas Brepa, a war veteran and newly appointed sheriff, quickly noticed irregularities: the daughters’ sudden isolation, Stricklad’s amorous visits, and Judge Ketchum’s suspicious involvement. She began asking questions, digging through county records, and discovered a transfer copied from Rutled to Samuel: proof of a secret agreement.

Brepa sought out Samuel at the market and, after gaining his trust, uncovered the truth. Samuel revealed everything: the forced upbringing, the lies, the threats. Brepa pressured Dr. Stricklad, who confessed to falsifying medical records and described Edmud’s legal strength in using forged affidavits and pre-signed statements.

The conspiracy unfolds.

Brepa took Stricklad’s confession to the state attorney general in Milligville. Arrest warrants were drawn up for Edmud, Judge Ketchum, and the supervisors. But the document was leaked by a corrupt clerk, and Edmud prepared his defense. He ordered Samuel’s murder and told the supervisors to throw him into the creek and make it look like an escape attempt.

But Brepa arrived just in time, armed with firearms. Samuel survived, the overseers were captured, and Brepa stormed the main house. He found the daughters locked in their rooms, heavily pregnant and desperate to be rescued.

The Trial That Shook Georgia

Edmud Rutled’s trial began in February 1853. The prosecution presented Stricklad’s confession, Samuel’s testimony, and the daughters’ harrowing accounts of threats, isolation, and forced pregnancies. The defense argued that Edmud was “preserving his legacy,” that the daughters had bonded, and that Samuel was a “willing participant.”

The jury understood. Edmud was convicted of false imprisonment and conspiracy and sentenced to twelve years in state prison. Judge Ketchum was found guilty of judicial misconduct, stripped of his title, and sentenced to eight years in prison. Dr. Stricklad, who cooperated, received a suspended sentence but lost his medical license.

Aftermath: A Broken Family

The daughters gave birth to two boys and a girl. They sold Clearwater, moved to Charlestop, and raised their children together, never marrying. The children grew up knowing the