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.


In the South Carolina sample, which skews antebellum, the most common accident was a failure to learn how to swim.

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.

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.

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

Displaying 351 - 400 of 1096
Name Deceased Description Datesort ascending Inquest Location Death Method Inquest Finding
App Chapman July 31, 1883 at the residence of J. D.[?] Chastern[?], Greenville County, SC

upon their oaths do say that the said App Chapman came to his death by misfortune.

William Cassidy July 28, 1883 at Levi Cassidy's, Chesterfield County, SC horse

upon there oaths do say That the said William Cassady caem to his death from natural causes

Robert Brownlee July 26, 1883 at Seneca River, Anderson County, SC

do say that the said Robert Brownlee came to his death by drowning accidentally while swimming in Seneca River.

Hewlet Swangum July 21, 1883 at Pelzer, SC, Anderson County, SC

do say that the deceased came to her death by drowning in Saluda River.

Infant Male Child of Mariah Owings Infant Male Child of Mariah Owings July 8, 1883 at J.C. Rason's, Laurens County, SC

upon their oaths do say, That the said child came to its death on Friday 6th day of July in its mothers house from Suffocation, And so the Jurors aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid, do say that the aforesaid child came to his death by misfortune or accident.

A. L. Lattimore July 2, 1883 at Pacolet Cotton Factory, Spartanburg County, SC

upon their oaths do say that the aforesaid A. L. Lattimore ... came to his death by misfortune or accident

Infant Boy Child Infant Boy Child June 18, 1883 at Marsh Grobe Yard, Edgefield County, SC

upon there oaths do say . . .the Child come to its death accidentally or by being smutherd

D. Stepp June 9, 1883 at Greenville, Greenville County, SC

upon their oaths do say that . . .the said D. W. Stepp came to his death by being drowned accidentally in the Mill Pond at Hutchinson's Tan Yard

Minnie Cason June 9, 1883 at Williamston, Anderson County, SC

do say that the death of said Minnie was caused by falling into a well from 25 to 30 feet deep?

William Roberts April 11, 1883 at Belton in Anderson County, Anderson County, SC train

do say, that the said William roberts came to his death by accident and carelessness on his part while attempting to get off of the Belton & Walhalla train while in motion; the train running over and crushing him; and that his death was not caused by any dereliction of duty on the part of the rail-road employees or by fault of any other person or persons.

infant March 20, 1883 at Jerry Frey's House, Spartanburg County, SC

upon their oaths do say that at Jerry Frey's House ... said infant child came to its death by being miscarried at a stage too early for it to possibly survive

Dock F. Miller March 16, 1883 Spartanburg County, SC

upon their oaths aforesaid do say that the aforesaid Dec'd ... came to his death by misfortune or accident

Unknown Infant Unknown Infant March 10, 1883 at the house of Peter Blakeney, Chesterfield County, SC

upon their Oaths do say That said child in manner and form aforesaid came to its death by misfortune or accident

George Roseman January 30, 1883 at T. J. Sullivan's, Laurens County, SC

upon their oaths do say he came to his death by the accidental falling of a log across his breast.

Maston Quick January 17, 1883 at Cheraw, Chesterfield County, SC buggy

upon there oaths do Say That the Said Maston Quick came to his death came to his death by being thrown from his Buggy while his Horse was Running away from Market street in the Town of Chereaw S. C.

Mingo Mosley January 13, 1883 at Samuel[?] Corley's, Edgefield County, SC

upon their oaths aforesaid do say that the aforesaid Mindo Mosley came to his death by accidental burning

Absalom McAbee January 6, 1883 at Almarine Willis, Spartanburg County, SC

upon their oaths do say he came to his death by mischange by being partially paralised and falling into water and strangled or drowned being a man of 80 years or more and very feeble

John Elmore January 3, 1883 at Aaron Elmore home on LE Foleys plantation, Laurens County, SC

upon their oaths do say that the said John Elmore came to his death by misfortune or accident

Edinborough Ryan December 30, 1882 at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation, Edgefield County, SC

upon there oaths do say ... that the said Edinborough Ryan Came to his death from cause unknown

Edward Norris December 26, 1882 at the residence of Aaron Wells, Laurens County, SC

upon their oaths do say That on Friday the 22nd day of December 1882 Bil Norris went to Greenwood, and returned home late in the night, very drunk, and that on Saturday morning the 23rd day of Dec about 9 o'clock am the boy Edward decd. Was kicked by Bill Norris in his right-side the decd. lingered til the 26th day of December and died...

Will Smith December 9, 1882 at Reidville, Reidville, S.C., Spartanburg County, SC

upon their oaths do say by pistol shot accidentally & falling from the mantel piece ... that the said Will Smith ... came to his death by accident

Pauline Abraham child November 19, 1882 at Archey Ramsey's, Greenville County, SC

upon their oaths do say that Pauline Abrham came to her death by some cause to them unknown

Isaac Oliphant November 9, 1882 at Ritch Thomson, Edgefield County, SC

upon there oaths do say the said Isaac Oliphant Came to his death by a Gun Shot Wound unfortunately or accidentally in his own hands

Lucy Ellen Jane Rivers November 9, 1882 at Chesterfield C. H., Chesterfield County, SC

upon their oaths do Say That the Said Lucy Ellen Jane Rivers came to her death by accidental burning Nov 9th 1882

Landrum Hopper August 17, 1882 at Truman S. Webber's, Spartanburg County, SC lightning

upon their oaths do say that the said Landrum Hopper came to his death from the effects of a stroke lightning in the field of Truman S. Weber where he had been ploughing

Willie Sizemore August 7, 1882 Spartanburg County, SC

upon their oaths aforesaid do say that the said Willie Sizemore ... came to his death by misfortune or accident

Pressly Foster boy August 1, 1882 at Mr. Wm G[?], Greenville County, SC

upon their oaths do say that . . .came to his death by falling in a branch in an epileptic fit & causing strangulation

John Hinson July 20, 1882 Spartanburg County, SC

upon their oaths aforesaid do say that the the aforesaid John Hinson ... came to his death by misfortune or accident

Julia Whalan July 19, 1882 at RH Young Plantation, Laurens County, SC

upon their oaths do say that the said Julia Whalan came to her death by accidental drowning in a pool of water

Zilpha Fisher July 19, 1882 at Greenville CH, Greenville County, SC

upon their oaths do say that. . . the said Zilpha Fisher came to her death from sun stroke

Ed Glover July 8, 1882 at Poore House, Edgefield County, SC

upon there oathes do say He Came to his Death by and from the affects produced by a gun shot wound inflicted by Samuel Garner in the Calf of his right leg

John Lyons July 1, 1882 at Greenville, Greenville County, SC

upon their oaths do say that . . .came to his death from congestion of the Lungs

Rosa Blasingame June 30, 1882 at the farm of A. C. McGee, Greenville County, SC lightning

upon their oaths do say that she came to her death by a stroke of lightening it being an act of Providence

Willie Thackston June 26, 1882 Spartanburg County, SC mule

upon their oaths do say that the said Willie Thackston came to his death near his father's residence . . . from the effect of being thrown from a mule and dragged for considerable distance

Willie Chappell June 18, 1882 at Badgetts quarter, Laurens County, SC

upon their oaths do say that the said Willie Chappell came to his death at Badgetts quarter place in Laurens County on Sunday the 20th day of June AD 1882 That Lucinda Bradford the said Willie Chappell by misfortune and contrary to her will in manner and form aforesaid did kill...

Dozier Anderson June 16, 1882 at Clinton, Laurens County, SC train

upon their oaths do say that the said Dozier Anderson came to his death on the 14th day of June AD 1882 in Laurens County on the Laurens Rail Road in the discharge of his duties as a train hand on material train No 1 in the employ of and doing the work of the Columbia and Greenville Rail Road. And so we find that the aforesaid Dozier Anderson in manner and form aforesaid came to his death by misfortune or accident, which accident occured on the 13th day of June AD. 1882.

Walker Tobias June 13, 1882 at Clinton, Laurens County, SC train

upon their oathes do say that the said Walker Tobias, came to his death on the 13th day of June AD. 1882 in Laurens County on Laurens RR. In the discharge of his duties as a train hand on Material train No 1. in the employ of and doing the work of C & G RR Co, and so we find that the said Walker Tobias, in manner and form aforesaid came to his death by mischance or accident.

S. J. Thomas June 13, 1882 at Clinton, Laurens County, SC train

upon their oaths do say that the said SJ Thomas came to his death on the 14th day of June AD 1882 in Laurens County on the Laurens Rail Road in the discharge of his duties as conductor on Material train No 1 in the employ of and doing the work of the Columbia and Greenville Rail Road and so we find that the aforementioned SJ Thomas in manner and form aforesaid came to his death by misfortune or accident.

George W. Moose June 7, 1882 at Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, SC

upon their oaths do say that said J. W. Moore ... came to his death from heart disease or from a fall consequent upon disease of the heart

John Henry Goudelock June 3, 1882 at Bethlehem Grove Church, Laurens County, SC

upon their oaths do say that he came to his death by being burned in the dwelling house of Jane Goudelock which is included in Laurens County, State of South Carolina. The cause or origin of the said fire is to this jury unknown.

Lindy Jones March 15, 1882 at George Holingsworth House, Edgefield County, SC

upon there oath do say that Lindy Jones Came to her death from accidental Burning

Jesse Moragna[?] March 3, 1882 at Luke Moragines[?] House, Edgefield County, SC

upon there oaths do say that the diceased Came to his death by the falling of a tree top which struck him on the Head frackturing the sckull . . .by Misfortune and Contrary to his will

Sandy Purvis March 1, 1882 at A.B. Reid's Turpentine Camp, Chesterfield County, SC lightning

upon their oaths do say That the said John Smotherman Berry Campbell and Sandy Purvis came to their deaths by accident at the Turpentine Camp of A B Reid . . . By Lightning.

Berry Campbell March 1, 1882 at A.B. Reid's Turpentine Camp, Chesterfield County, SC lightning

upon their oaths do say That the said John Smotherman Berry Campbell and Sandy Purvis came to their deaths by accident at the Turpentine Camp of A B Reid . . . By Lightning.

John Smotherman March 1, 1882 at A.B. Reid's Turpentine Camp, Chesterfield County, SC lightning

upon their oaths do say That the said John Smotherman Berry Campbell and Sandy Purvis came to their deaths by accident at the Turpentine Camp of A B Reid . . . By Lightning.

Pickens M. Brown February 10, 1882 at Cheraw, Chesterfield County, SC horse

upon their oaths do Say, that the said Pickens M. Brown came to his death by injuries received, from being accidently thrown from a horse while running a race near Cheraw, Chesterfield Co. S.C. February 9th 1882.

Thomas Dalton February 8, 1882 at Williamston, Anderson County, SC

do say that in their opinion the said Thos Dalton by abcess on the[?] part of the head which was accidentally[?] effected and caused his death.

John H Webb January 22, 1882 at James Webb Residence, Edgefield County, SC

upon there oaths do Say . . .that said John H Webb Came to his Death from Drowning in Sleepy Creek

H. C. Rudisail December 31, 1881 at Campobello, Spartanburg County, SC

upon their oaths do say taht the said H. C. Rudisail deceased came to his death by apoplexy caused from over work by violent exertion of the body

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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