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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Truman Miles | October 22, 1839 | at Anderson Courthouse | Accident | ||
Olin Smith | Natural Causes | ||||
Daniel Brown | October 8, 1881 | at the plantation of Willis Watkins | Natural Causes | ||
Bonaparte Bates | March 26, 1856 | at the Fuller old field | Accident | ||
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 | |
James Robinson | May 20, 1883 | n.a. | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Davis | October 30, 1857 | at Anderson Courthouse | Accident | ||
John W. Meeks | May 4, 1872 | at Brown & Rice's Mill | Homicide | ||
Samuel McCulley | December 29, 1839 | in Broadway Creek | Accident | ||
Samuel Ward | July 19, 1859 | at Church Cross Roads | Natural Causes | ||
Strather Freeman | March 2, 1876 | at Flat Rock Church | Natural Causes | ||
Peter Knox | July 23, 1878 | near Calrandellers[?] Ferry on Tugalo River | Accident | ||
Alfred | runaway slave | June 16, 1862 | At Williamston | Homicide | |
colored | colored | April 24, 1874 | at Dr. J. A. Todd's | Accident | |
Lila Gambrell | October 21, 1875 | at the house of Ran Duckworth | Natural Causes | ||
Daily Thompson | December 8, 1876 | at Daniel Thompson's | Suicide | ||
James Wilson | March 27, 1846 | at the house of Alexander Moorehead | Natural Causes | ||
Morriss unknown | free man of color | January 7, 1858 | at Grief Tater's residence | Natural Causes | |
Jane Laniere | August 13, 1880 | at the residence of G. B. Whiton | Natural Causes | ||
Hewlet Swangum | July 21, 1883 | at Pelzer, SC | Accident | ||
Clarissa Campbell | freedwoman | March 29, 1867 | at the residence of Sarah Campbell | Natural Causes | |
Meredith Crawford | July 3, 1861 | At the residence of Meredith Crawford | Unknown | ||
James Coleman | September 16, 1873 | at or near Mrs. Fantt's residence and one and 1/2 miles south east of Anderson | Natural Causes | ||
George Norris | November 23, 1876 | at Anderson Courthouse | Natural Causes | ||
James Drake | December 7, 1854 | at residence of James Drake | Natural Causes | ||
Sophia Hall | March 19, 1859 | at or near Samuel Martin's residence | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Magdalene Saxton | December 6, 1876 | at the house of Enoch Saxton | Unknown | ||
Joseph Poor | December 17, 1857 | at William Holand's residence | Other | ||
Lena Hutchinson | October 20, 1873 | Accident | |||
Sam Williams | May 30, 1876 | in the streets of Pendleton | Homicide | ||
Charity Bozeman | June 11, 1880 | at the house of Aby McAlister | Natural Causes | ||
Minnie Cason | June 9, 1883 | at Williamston | Accident | ||
John Williams | February 9, 1879 | at the house of Newton Perry [?] on the plantation of Thomas Cox | Natural Causes | ||
Jack | slave [runaway] | November 21, 1835 | at Andersonville | Accident | |
John Maddox | June 15, 1881 | at Williamston | Accident | ||
Aaron Hardin | June 24, 1845 | at plantation of Mr. Moses Chambles | Accident | ||
white child | white child | January 20, 1871 | at Wilson's Bridge | Homicide | |
James Jenkins | May 30, 1875 | at Robert Spence's [?] Mill | Accident | ||
Beller McAlester | March 11, 1876 | at house of deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Robert L. Elmore | at sawmill | Homicide | |||
William McCode | January 20, 1870 | at Luke McCoy's [?] | Accident | ||
Elias Smith | August 24, 1869 | in the county of Anderson | Natural Causes | ||
Sarah Martin | July 14, 1844 | at residence of Mrs. Sarah Martin | Natural Causes | ||
Peter Williford | May 2, 1876 | at Daniel Williford's | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas D. Cook | April 10, 1854 | at Stover's Ferry on Savannah River | Accident | ||
Thomas Dalton | February 8, 1882 | at Williamston | Accident | ||
Bessie Gambrell | Suicide | ||||
Joe Jenkins | October 8, 1881 | at the residence of Matilda Rud | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas J. Geer | November 23, 1860 | Thomas J. Geer's residence | Accident |