Accident
Accidents were the leading cause of death in the CSI:D sample, and drowning was the leading cause of death among mortal accidents. There are myriad reasons why. Broad swaths of the American public did not know how to swim. Primary modes of transportation, especially early in the century, involved river routes. Mill ponds were prevalent. Children played outside—generally a good thing but occasionally a sad one. Perhaps the saddest of these incidents involved a mass May Day drowning at Boykin Mill Pond in 1860. Twenty-eight teenagers set off on a raft that hit a snag and more than twenty-five drowned, including all five children from one family. Sadder still may be the case of Noah Wesley Dawkins. In mid-June 1888, Dawkins and his friends, all African Americans, set off for a local watering hole where they ran into three white boys, one of whom offered Dawkins fifty cents if he would walk into a particular area in the creek, assuring him it wasn’t deep. It was deep, and Dawkins drowned. It is tempting to classify this as a homicide, but it is clear from testimony that the white children thought they were playing a cruel trick, not a deadly one.
Alcohol was such a critical indirect cause in so many of the accidental drownings, shootings, fires, and falls in CSI:D that it really ought to be regarded the deadliest force in nineteenth century South Carolina. In addition to these indirect roles, alcohol was the direct cause of accidental death in more than sixty cases. It was probably also a direct cause in many of the ‘exposure’ cases—bodies that were discovered outside and were thought to have died from exposure to the elements.
Nineteenth century law enforcement had no recourse to blood-alcohol tests. Even today, determining precise BACs postmortem, and working back from those to levels of inebriation at time of death, is fraught with difficulty. This meant that nineteenth-century coroners had to rely exclusively on witness testimony and the known habits of the deceased to determine alcohol’s role in producing death. Standing around a dead man, jurors found themselves passing judgment on just how drunk he had been the night before. According to witnesses, John Goodlett “seemed to be drunk.” John Agner was “sorry he was drunk.” Abe Waganan was “very funny & lively”—very drunk as [was] his custom.” Is ‘very drunk’ drop-dead drunk? It is hard to know. On the night of January 15, 1816, Angus McQueen drank more than half a gallon of spirits. “The dec’d was very much intoxicated,” noted one witness, “and fell down four times during which time he vomited upon the carpet.” Because McQueen kept getting up and falling down, the jurors determined that the falls (and the winter cold) contributed to his demise, though it is equally possible that McQueen died of alcohol poisoning. Juries were more likely to fix upon ‘intemperance’ as a clear cause of death if the deceased was a notorious addict. In December 1842, H. P. Church was discovered by his land-lady sprawled half on and half off of his bed. A “habitual drunkard” who had been continuously drinking for two weeks, she did not even bother to try and shake him awake. The inquest did not hesitate in finding that Church had died of intoxication.
The third leading cause of accidental deaths were ‘vehicular’ accidents, a catch-all category that includes drunken falls from a train and sober buckings from a horse. Further complicating this picture is the fact that many of the drownings probably belong in this category. There is little difference between falling unwitnessed off of a train and off of a boat, except that in one case you land on tracks and are quickly found where in the other you wash downstream, far from the site of the accident.
Bartholomew Darby was thrown from the saddle and hit his head on a stump, his wagon then “running over his head ... & breaking his neck & deeply cutting him under the right ear.” Steve Yeldell fell out of his cart and broke his neck.
All such accidents pale in comparison to the staggering mortality brought to South Carolina by train. Richard Springs was “run over by a train.” Fannie Ford was “run over by a train.”A slave named Sam was “Run over by [a] train.” Almost as soon as trains arrived in these counties, there were sots to fall off of them, laborers to be crushed by them, and depressives to jump in front of them. Indeed, it is hard to imagine a technological innovation responsible for a sharper uptick in the per capita death rate. It is also clear that coroners and inquest juries were unprepared for the level of bodily violence meted out by train. The body of a slave named Berry was “very much mashed and limbs and bones severed.” William Abbott’s body was “mangled, bruised, cut and crushed.” Even so coroners and their juries were often at pains to absolve the railroad itself of any wrong-doing. Hosea Jackson “came to his death by his own carelessness and from no carelessness whatever on the part of the engineer.” The crushing of William Roberts was likewise “not caused by any dereliction of duty on the part of the rail-road employees.” With train accidents we see for the first time the question of corporate responsibility, and potential corporate liability, creeping into the inquest process.
The larger point, however, is a physical one. Moving the body at a faster speed than the body was designed to go is an enormous convenience that has to be paid for. Today vehicular accidents (car, motorcycle, and all-terrain-vehicle) are the fourth-leading cause of death among Americans after heart disease, cancer, and stroke. The nineteenth century was not particularly different, except that families moved by horse, wagon, and train—and died less often of cancer.
The fourth leading cause of accidental death in the CSI:D sample involved the discharge of firearms. Some were simple cases of men who were cleaning or handling weapons that suddenly went off. The vast majority of cases, however, involve an unfortunate bystander. In 1849, Tilman Attaway was mistaken for a turkey by his hunting buddy. In 1808, James Spradley was leaning in to watch two dogs fight over a dead deer. Fourteen-year old George Nettles sought to break up the dogs by bashing one of them with the butt of his gun. Instead the gun discharged into Spradley’s face. As this case attests, guns and children made as disastrous a pairing then as they do now. In 1820 ten-year old Mancel King accidentally shot and killed his brother. In 1899 ten-year old John McManus shot and killed his friend. “I was fooling with the pistol and it went off,” he told the inquest.
Undoubtedly some of these gun-related ‘accidents’ were not accidents at all. A dead man alone in a room might have been cleaning his gun, or he might have harbored hidden miseries. Similarly some of the accidental misfires on bystanders were probably intentional homicides. Unless new evidence emerges at this late date, however, such cases will have to remain categorized as accidents.
The fifth leading cause of death by accident in the CSI:D sample was death by suffocation—another category that speaks more to what a coroner was called to investigate than to what people actually died from. A majority of the ‘smothering’ deaths were probably SIDS victims. In white households such cases would not have been investigated—infant mortality was relatively high in the period and a white family’s ‘dear pledges’ were often ‘recalled to God.’ But in a society where every enslaved child was as potentially valuable as a Lexus, infant death in the quarter was more rigorously investigated. Coupled with deep prejudices against enslaved mothers, inquests typically found that an unnamed “negro Child” was “negligently Smothered” by its mother, or that the enslaved child Lora was “accidentally smothered” in the family bed, or that the enslaved children Henry and Alcy were crushed in the night, having being “overlaid” by their parents. It is possible that such ‘negligence’ did occur among overworked and overtired slaves, and such findings were far preferable to those cases where enslaved parents were charged with infanticide.
The sixth leading cause of death by accident in the CSI:D sample was death by fire. Most homes in the period were made of wood. Most had fireplaces. None had a fire extinguisher. Fire was light and life, but it was also occasionally death. In 1866 a freedman named Sloan was burnt to death in a gin house. In 1890 a child named Julia Hightower wandered too close to the family fireplace. Her younger sister tried to dowse her with water to no avail.
These six types of accidental death—drowning, alcohol abuse, transportation mishaps, gun miscues, suffocations, and fires—account for 75% of the accidental deaths in the CSI:D sample. Other relatively common accidents involved falling trees and limbs, industrial accidents, and poisonings and overdoses. Rounding out the sample were accidents that were more unique. Home alone, Medora Williams had an epileptic seizure and fell into her own fireplace. Traveling with the Bailey & Company circus, George West was gored by his own elephant. (Some might not consider this an ‘accident’ since the elephant had ‘cause’; and acted with ‘intent.’)
NEXT: Natural Causes
Accident Inquests
Name | Deceased Description | Date | Inquest Location | Death Method | Inquest Finding |
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Hosea Jackson | free person of color | July 10, 1863 | upon the Rail Road of the Spartanburg & Union, Spartanburg County, SC | train |
herewith decide that the said boy Hosea Jackson came to his death by his own carelessness and from no carelessness whatever on the part of the engineer |
Henry Thompson | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad, Anderson County, SC | train |
do say that their deaths were caused by accident by an engine and car falling through a defective trestle over Broadway Creek |
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Will Metts | March 16, 1895 | at Clinton, Laurens County, SC | train |
we the jurors impaneled find from the testimony produced that the said Will Metts came to his death By being caught between Box Car and platform, crushing his body. In our opinion there could be no Blame attached to any one. |
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Wilson Clark | at Winnsboro, Fairfield County, SC | train |
upon their Oaths do say that Wilson, Clark came to his death on the C.C & A R. Road in Winnsboro the 30th day of May 1889 By being run over by Engine 7B7 |
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Lawrence Wright | January 10, 1938 | at Cheraw, Chesterfield County, SC | train |
upon their oaths do say that Lawrence Wright received in Chesterfield County a mortal wound by apparently by train (Seaboard) in the hands of apparently by train (Seaboard) |
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Sam McGee | December 22, 1884 | at the Rail Road Trestle at Badgetts Mill in Laurens County, Laurens County, SC | train |
upon their oaths do say that the aforesaid Sam McGee came to his death on the 22nd day of December AD 1884 by mischance or accident in being run over and crushed by a rail road train. |
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Elliott Pegues | May 15, 1903 | at Crusal branch trestle near Ruby, Chesterfield County, SC | train |
We find that the said John Boggon and Elliott Pegues came to their death by a loose box car running into a lever car which they were operating. |
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W. H. Parker | at Blythewood, Fairfield County, SC | train |
upon their Oaths do say We the undersigned Jurors in the within stated case find that the deceased person supposed to be one W.H. Parker from papers found on his person, come to his death Accidentally by a moving train |
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Allen Johnson | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad, Anderson County, SC | train |
do say that their deaths were caused by accident by an engine and car falling through a defective trestle over Broadway Creek |
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N. W. Lafoy | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad, Anderson County, SC | train |
do say that their deaths were caused by accident by an engine and car falling through a defective trestle over Broadway Creek |
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Nicy | female slave | October 8, 1859 | at Philip Downs[?] Hous, Union County, SC | train |
upon their oaths do say that from . . .marks found on the arm and head of Decsd that decsd Came to her death by the cars [?] attemting to cross the track before the cars . . .by misfortune or accident |
George Martin | November 30, 1880 | at Greenville, Greenville County, SC | train |
upon their oaths do say that. . . the said George W. Martin was accidentally struck and killed by passenger train No 42 of the Atlanta and Charlotte [?] Line Rail Road |
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David M[?] Elkin | at Alston, Fairfield County, SC | train |
upon their oaths do say, We the jury compelled to inquire into the death of David M[?] Elkin do find that the said David M[?] Elkincame to his death at [?] Lexington Co by jumping from the cab on the freight train-while moving and was run over and killed, and the death of the said David M[?] Elkin was a misfortune and an accident. |
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Cyrus | slave | September 15, 1860 | at the shanty [?] upon the grounds of the Blue Ridge Rail Road Company at Anderson, Anderson County, SC | train |
do say that the said Cyrus came to his death by reason of coming into contact with a bridge over the track of the Blue Ridge Rail Road known as Hanson's [?] Bridge about seven miles from Anderson C. H. . . while on the top of of [sic] a freight car attending to the brake conguardely raised himself erect just as the train of came over & under said Bridge, causing his head to come in contact with the bridge from the affect of which blow his death ensued and...came to his death by misfortune or accident. |
Charles Moore | November 29, 1889 | at Charles Moor, Spartanburg County, SC | train |
upon there oaths do say that Charles Moore came to his death by being struck by an engine on the Spartanburg Union and Columbia Railroad ... and that the occurrance was purely accidental |
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Fannie Ford | March 5, 1893 | at Trenton S.C., Edgefield County, SC | train |
upon their oaths do say that. . .Fannie Ford came to her death from being run over by a train |
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Tom Griffin | at the freight depot in Winnsboro, Fairfield County, SC | train |
it appears that the deceased Tom Griffen was killed by being run over by a railroad train on the tracks by the side of the freight depot at Winnsboro, S.C. on the twenty ninth day of November A.D. 1897. |
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M. J. Wilson | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad, Anderson County, SC | train |
do say that their deaths were caused by accident by an engine and car falling through a defective trestle over Broadway Creek |
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R. Davis | May 1, 1881 | at Grove Station, Greenville County, SC | train |
upon their oaths do say that the deceasd R J. Davis came to his death ... from mischance or accident by being knocked off a freight Train |
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Paul Deese | January 14, 1947 | at Cheraw, S.C., Chesterfield County, SC | train |
James Purdie Deese & Paul Deese came to his death upon their oaths do say that _______ received in Chesterfield County a mortal wound by S.A.L. Train #1 -- Caused by collision of the driver of the Deese car |
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Jefferson Kitsinger | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad, Anderson County, SC | train |
do say that their deaths were caused by accident by an engine and car falling through a defective trestle over Broadway Creek |
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Will Harris | June 16, 1896 | in Clinton, Laurens County, SC | train |
We the Jury of inquest Empaneled in the case of the state vs dead of unknown colored man (supposed to be William Harris) found dead on or near the track of the G.C. & N. R.R. at Clinton S.C. find that said unknown man came to his death from bruises and shock supposed to be received by jumping or falling from train no 41 on Georgia Carolina and Northern Railway about midnight June 16th 1896 while trying to steal a ride. |
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Julius Brockman | negroe boy | August 11, 1881 | at Greenville, Greenville County, SC | train |
upon their oaths do say that Julius Brockman came to his death by an [?] accident causedly being Struck by engine No 22 train no 49 on the [??] Rail Road |
Manerva Sanders | March 22, 1890 | at Webb S.C, Edgefield County, SC | tornado |
do say that Manerva Sanders came to her death. . .by a Storm or Cyclone. . . blowing down a house in which she Was in and the falling timbers Kill her |
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Edward Horton | August 7, 1879 | near Wesley Barrs[?], Edgefield County, SC | sunstroke |
do say that the said Edward Horton came to his death by acissive bleeding of the nose or Sun Stroke or both combined |
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Mary Blocker | December 6, 1894 | at R H Parks, Edgefield County, SC | strychnine |
upon their oaths do say, that Mary Blocker came to her death by taking a dose of Strychnine |
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Jane Smith | March 24, 1884 | at Tip Top, Laurens County, SC | strychnine |
upon their oaths do say that the said Jane Smith came to her death by a dose of Strychnine accidentally given her for Colomel and so the Jurors aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid, do say the aforesaid Jane Smith came to her death in the manner as before said. |
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George Low | col | June 6, 1869 | at Sand Bar Ferry, Edgefield County, SC | stems of yellow jasmine |
upon their oaths do say That they find that the said George Low came to his death through drinking a tea made of the stems of the yellow Jessamine having mistaken the same for the cross Vine of which he intended to make tea |
Abram | man slave | August 17, 1860 | at the Residence of Gen[?] Jas B. Griffin, Edgefield County, SC | snake |
upon there oaths do say that the deceased Abram came to his death by being bitten twice by a snake |
Howard G. Laney | June 17, 1935 | at Pageland, Chesterfield County, SC | shovel |
upon their oaths do say that Howard G. Laney received un Chesterfield County a mortal wound by part of a gas shovel in the hands of R. E. Craft, employee of S.C. Highway Dept. . . . said shovel being in bad and unsafe state of repair ad caused death by accident. |
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Soloman Hilliard | February 11, 1829 | Kershaw County, SC | shotgun |
do say upon their oaths that he . . . shot gun, property of John Barnes[?] & [?] which was the occasion of his death supposed to be [?] 30 or 40 shot lodged in his head. |
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Eli David Junkins | July 24, 1871 | at or near the hosue of John Martin (colored) near Richard Robinson Mill, Anderson County, SC | shotgun |
do say that the said Eli David Jenkins came to his death by being shot with a small single barrelled shot gun in the hands of Leslie Martin a colored boy some 16 or 17 years old. . .the said Leslie Martin did not intend or had any idea of the gun going off or doing the boy any injury whatever and believe it was entirely accidental |
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Hampton Weaver | colored | July 17, 1869 | at the house of and on the farm of James T Outz, Edgefield County, SC | shotgun |
the said Hampton Weaver came to his death do say . . .by the accidental discharge of a single barreled shot gun held in his own hands inflicting a mortal wound under his right Jaw |
Stephen Yeargin | March 5, 1880 | at Greenville, Greenville County, SC | saw |
upon their oaths do say that . . .the said Stephen Yaergin came to his death by misfortune or accident |
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William Thompson | May 26, 1826 | in town of Camden, Kershaw County, SC | saltpeter |
do say upon their oaths that it was by taking a dose of saltpetre though mistake |
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Henry | negro boy Slave | September 17, 1829 | at John Gayes[?], Union County, SC | rope |
do say upon their oaths . . .by accidentaly hanging himself by swing by a rope used for suspending a Waggon Body |
William Humphry | January 4, 1894 | at Etheridge Bridge, Edgefield County, SC | pocket knife |
the said Wm Humphry now being dead came to his death from the effect of a wound inflicted by a pocket knife which pierced the heart and that the knife was in his own hands while he was holding or trying[?] to hold Mark Thrig[?] with his right hand and arm and that it was his Misfortune |
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Lee Blakney | February 25, 1944 | at Pageland, Chesterfield County, SC | plank |
upon their oaths do say that Lee Blakney received in Chesterfield County a mortal wound by Planer Hill in the hands of Self. . . Lee Blakney came to his death, by accident, while operating a planer. |
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Charles S. Harrison | November 25, 1878 | at E.C. House, Edgefield County, SC | pistol |
upon their oaths do say that the said Charles S Harrison came to his death by an accidental Pistol Shot from the hands of F A Bilanger |
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Wily Royal | January 7, 1895 | at J.S. Hancocks, Edgefield County, SC | pistol |
upon their oaths do say, that Wily Royal came to death. . .by Pistol shot wound accidently inflicted by Walter Deale |
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Frank | a negro boy | December 11, 1866 | [at] Liberty Hill, Kershaw County, SC | pistol |
upon their oaths do say that the said Boy Frank came to his death by a shot from a pistol accidentally fired by his brother named Lee |
Spencer Mays | freedman | November 8, 1866 | at John Buslys, Edgefield County, SC | pistol |
the said Spencer Mays freedman came to his death do say that the said Spencer came to his death by a Pistol shot in the hands of Charles Warren freedman the ball entering just above the left knee |
Tully Black | child | August 2, 1879 | at Greenville, Greenville County, SC | pistol |
upon their oaths do say that . . .said Tully Black lost his life by a pistol shot accidentally discharged by one King David Hill |
Isah Zimmerman | December 26, 1881 | at the Residence of W F Ste[?]eies, Edgefield County, SC | pistol |
upon there oaths do say that He Come to His Death by a Pistol Shot Wound in the hands of Lias Dorn accidently |
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Prophet Goodman | May 24, 1884 | at the residence of N A Green, Laurens County, SC | pig |
upon their oaths do say that the said Prophet Goodman came to his death on the 24th day of May AD 1884 from being torn and lacerated by a sow hog, which sais tearing and lacerating was done on N A Greens place in Laurens County And so the jurors aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid do say that the aforesaid Prophet Goodman came to his death by mischance or accident. |
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Rose Ford | at Winnsboro, Fairfield County, SC | opium |
upon their Oaths do say that the deceasd came to her death in Winnsbor between the hours of 12 PM and 6 AM from the conjoint result of an over dose of Opium and Whiskey and disease of the Kidneys |
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Jacob Cromer | December 4, 1867 | at the residence of Jacob Cromer, Anderson County, SC | mule |
do say that the deceased came to his death by the hand of Providence, the true cause being unknown. |
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Willie Glover | July 26, 1892 | at Lark Glovers Plantation, Edgefield County, SC | mule |
upon their oaths do say that the said Willie Glover came to his death from concussion of the brain caused by being drug in the gear of a mule for 100 or 200 yds upon the ground and rocks |
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W. J. Summers | youth | August 18, 1843 | at Goshen[?] Hill, Union County, SC | mule |
upon their oaths do say that the deceased came to his death by the kick of a mule the property of the Father of the deceased |
Hilliard Brown | at Washington Ashford's house on the Boyd place, Fairfield County, SC | mule |
upon their Oaths do say that the deceased came to his death from being thrown dragged & kicked by his mule while returning from his field on the Boyd place[.] |