Anderson County, SC
County Name:
Anderson
State:
South Carolina
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
Displaying 1 - 50 of 153
| Name | Deceased Description | Date | Inquest Location | Death Type |
Death Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infant | March 30, 1874 | at Silas Kay's | Unknown | ||
| Henry | slave | December 25, 1830 | on public highway from Pendleton to Pickensville [modern-day Easley] | Accident | |
| Elizabeth McHolister | August 16, 1855 | at the house of Elijah McHolister | Natural Causes | ||
| John Brownlee | June 7, 1863 | at Williamston | Natural Causes | ||
| infant | January 23, 1873 | at residence of M. A. Snipes | Natural Causes | ||
| Freedwoman | Freedwoman | October 23, 1867 | at Anderson Court House | Homicide | |
| Truman Miles | October 22, 1839 | at Anderson Courthouse | Accident | ||
| Hardy McKinney | freedman | July 28, 1867 | at an old field near F. Wyne's | Natural Causes | |
| Olin Smith | Natural Causes | ||||
| Sally Williams | July 19, 1880 | n.a. | Natural Causes | ||
| infant | November 27, 1870 | at William Stuart's residence | Natural Causes | ||
| Bonaparte Bates | March 26, 1856 | at the Fuller old field | Accident | ||
| Frances Pagett | April 15, 1853 | at William Pagett's | Natural Causes | ||
| James Robinson | May 20, 1883 | n.a. | Natural Causes | ||
| P. W. Morris | April 27, 1872 | at Anderson Court House | Suicide | ||
| Abram Clement | October 6, 1868 | at Martin Williamston's residence | Accident | ||
| Henry Davis | October 30, 1857 | at Anderson Courthouse | Accident | ||
| Samuel McCulley | December 29, 1839 | in Broadway Creek | Accident | ||
| Mary Thompson | June 12, 1878 | Accident | |||
| Nancy Drake | August 21, 1872 | at Mrs. Elizabeth's Anne Keaton's | Suicide | ||
| Peter Knox | July 23, 1878 | near Calrandellers[?] Ferry on Tugalo River | Accident | ||
| John H. Megill | September 22, 1867 | at J. D. Tucker's | Unknown | ||
| Alfred | runaway slave | June 16, 1862 | At Williamston | Homicide | |
| Hewlet Swangum | July 21, 1883 | at Pelzer, SC | Accident | ||
| Gabriel Hill | Colored | April 28, 1868 | on the plantation of John N. Wilson | Suicide | |
| George C. Mitchell | September 19, 1874 | at residence of Marion Mtchell | 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 | |
| George Hammond | June 24, 1871 | at Provosts Mill Pond | Accident | ||
| James Drake | December 7, 1854 | at residence of James Drake | Natural Causes | ||
| Willis Watson | June 14, 1876 | at the river bank on Saulda one mile above Gambell old Bridge | Accident | ||
| Jane | slave | March 10, 1863 | at Anderson Court House | Homicide | |
| Meredith Crawford | July 3, 1861 | At the residence of Meredith Crawford | Unknown | ||
| Smith | June 9, 1876 | near R. H. Anderson's Tanyard | Accident | ||
| infant | March 10, 1865 | at Anderson Court House | Homicide | ||
| Sophia Hall | March 19, 1859 | at or near Samuel Martin's residence | Natural Causes | ||
| John Seawright | October 22, 1881 | on the public road leading from Craytonville to Anderson Court House | Natural Causes | ||
| Sloan | freedman | November 19, 1866 | At Williamston | Accident | |
| Joseph Poor | December 17, 1857 | at William Holand's residence | Other | ||
| infant | January 13, 1868 | at Anderson Court House | Natural Causes | ||
| Sam Williams | May 30, 1876 | in the streets of Pendleton | Homicide | ||
| Eber B. Stevens | March 5, 1873 | at Pendleton | Natural Causes | ||
| Minnie Cason | June 9, 1883 | at Williamston | Accident | ||
| Henry Cobb | December 16, 1868 | at Warnock's Crossing on the Anderson Branch of the Greenville & Columbia Rail Road | Other | ||
| Jack | slave [runaway] | November 21, 1835 | at Andersonville | Accident | |
| David McClellan | November 27, 1857 | at residence of David McClellan | Accident | ||
| Major Crawford | July 21, 1880 | at Anderson Court House | 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 | |
| Daniel Brown | October 8, 1881 | at the plantation of Willis Watkins | Natural Causes |
