 In 1874 the border with Aiken County was adjusted slightly.This county and Barnwell, with populations of blacks and whites that were nearly equal, had extensive violence in the months before the 1874 and 1876 elections, as groups of paramilitary Red Shirts rode to disrupt black Republican meetings and intimidate voters to suppress black voting.More than 100 black men were killed in Aiken County during the violence, especially at Ellenton, South Carolina.