Anderson County, SC
Total population (1850): 32,318
Enslaved population (1850): 19,262
Percent enslaved: 60%
Extant nineteenth-century inquests: 153
Date range: 1830-1883
Percentage of violent crimes in county sample: 32% (49/153)
Anderson County was named for Robert Anderson, a Revolutionary War hero who helped wrest the land away from the Cherokee in 1777. The resulting cession was then broken into Pickens and Anderson Counties (technically Pickens and Anderson Districts) in 1826. Lacking a central county seat, Anderson Courthouse was built, which gradually became the town of Anderson, now known as 'The Electricity City' because it was the first in the country to have continuous power thanks to a water mill located in the high shoals. Like many counties in the area, Anderson became heavily invested in cotton and textile mills as the nineteenth century progressed.
Anderson County, SC Inquests
Name | Deceased Description | Date | Inquest Location | Death Type | Death Method |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harry | slave | July 7, 1855 | at Pendleton village | Natural Causes | |
Franklin A. Ragsdale | July 23, 1867 | at the house of Franklin A. Ragsdale | Unknown | ||
Fanny Payton | colored woman, free from birth | June 20, 1870 | at residence of Harry Gallard[?] | Natural Causes | |
Charity Norris | May 29, 1869 | at B. F. McGee's residence | Homicide | ||
Strather Freeman | March 2, 1876 | at Flat Rock Church | Natural Causes | ||
John Dean | December 29, 1848 | on the publick [sic] road leading from William McMurry's, Esq to J. L. Kenedy's | Accident | ||
Caleb Chappell | January 22, 1835 | at or near house of John Ledbetter | Other | ||
colored | colored | April 24, 1874 | at Dr. J. A. Todd's | Accident | |
Samuel | Negro Man | Accident | |||
John W. Meeks | May 4, 1872 | at Brown & Rice's Mill | Homicide | ||
Samuel Ward | July 19, 1859 | at Church Cross Roads | Natural Causes | ||
Mary M. Williams | March 20, 1860 | at William William's residence | Suicide | ||
Daily Thompson | December 8, 1876 | at Daniel Thompson's | Suicide | ||
Henry | slave | December 25, 1830 | on public highway from Pendleton to Pickensville [modern-day Easley] | Accident | |
Jane Laniere | August 13, 1880 | at the residence of G. B. Whiton | Natural Causes | ||
Elizabeth McHolister | August 16, 1855 | at the house of Elijah McHolister | Natural Causes | ||
Lila Gambrell | October 21, 1875 | at the house of Ran Duckworth | Natural Causes | ||
John Brownlee | June 7, 1863 | at Williamston | Natural Causes | ||
James Coleman | September 16, 1873 | at or near Mrs. Fantt's residence and one and 1/2 miles south east of Anderson | Natural Causes | ||
Bonaparte Bates | March 26, 1856 | at the Fuller old field | Accident | ||
Truman Miles | October 22, 1839 | at Anderson Courthouse | Accident | ||
George Norris | November 23, 1876 | at Anderson Courthouse | Natural Causes | ||
Olin Smith | Natural Causes | ||||
Clarissa Campbell | freedwoman | March 29, 1867 | at the residence of Sarah Campbell | Natural Causes | |
Lena Hutchinson | October 20, 1873 | Accident | |||
Charity Bozeman | June 11, 1880 | at the house of Aby McAlister | Natural Causes | ||
James Robinson | May 20, 1883 | n.a. | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Magdalene Saxton | December 6, 1876 | at the house of Enoch Saxton | Unknown | ||
Henry Davis | October 30, 1857 | at Anderson Courthouse | Accident | ||
Alfred | runaway slave | June 16, 1862 | At Williamston | Homicide | |
John Maddox | June 15, 1881 | at Williamston | Accident | ||
James Jenkins | May 30, 1875 | at Robert Spence's [?] Mill | Accident | ||
Samuel McCulley | December 29, 1839 | in Broadway Creek | Accident | ||
John Williams | February 9, 1879 | at the house of Newton Perry [?] on the plantation of Thomas Cox | Natural Causes | ||
Peter Knox | July 23, 1878 | near Calrandellers[?] Ferry on Tugalo River | Accident | ||
Morriss unknown | free man of color | January 7, 1858 | at Grief Tater's residence | Natural Causes | |
Peter Williford | May 2, 1876 | at Daniel Williford's | Natural Causes | ||
Hewlet Swangum | July 21, 1883 | at Pelzer, SC | Accident | ||
Beller McAlester | March 11, 1876 | at house of deceased | Natural Causes | ||
William McCode | January 20, 1870 | at Luke McCoy's [?] | Accident | ||
James Wilson | March 27, 1846 | at the house of Alexander Moorehead | Natural Causes | ||
Elias Smith | August 24, 1869 | in the county of Anderson | Natural Causes | ||
infant | January 23, 1873 | at residence of M. A. Snipes | Natural Causes | ||
James Drake | December 7, 1854 | at residence of James Drake | Natural Causes | ||
infant | March 30, 1874 | at Silas Kay's | Unknown | ||
Meredith Crawford | July 3, 1861 | At the residence of Meredith Crawford | Unknown | ||
infant | November 27, 1870 | at William Stuart's residence | Natural Causes | ||
Sophia Hall | March 19, 1859 | at or near Samuel Martin's residence | Natural Causes | ||
Freedwoman | Freedwoman | October 23, 1867 | at Anderson Court House | Homicide | |
Hardy McKinney | freedman | July 28, 1867 | at an old field near F. Wyne's | Natural Causes |