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 151 - 153 of 153
Name Deceased Description Date Inquest Location Death Typesort descending Death Method
William Davis June 11, 1881 at Mr. Jeb Davis's residence Suicide pistol
Nancy Steele December 11, 1842 at the Poor House Suicide rope
Ephraim Mayfield April 1, 1847 at the plantation of Ephraim Mayfield Suicide knife

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