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![]() |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Edward Lawrence | March 29, 1856 | at Pendleton village | Accident | wagon | |
N. T. Hooper | November 7, 1881 | n.a. | Accident | train | |
Henry Thompson | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad | Accident | train | |
Allen Johnson | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad | Accident | train | |
N. W. Lafoy | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad | Accident | train | |
M. J. Wilson | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad | Accident | train | |
Cyrus | slave | September 15, 1860 | at the shanty [?] upon the grounds of the Blue Ridge Rail Road Company at Anderson | Accident | train |
Jefferson Kitsinger | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad | Accident | train | |
Anna G. Goodrich | November 10, 1881 | at Pelzer, SC | Accident | train | |
John Calhoun Clemson | August 11, 1871 | at Pendleton | Accident | train | |
T. J. Blaydon | November 30, 1878 | at or near Hugh Mahaffey's on the Greenville and Columbia Rail Road about two miles below Williamston | Accident | train | |
William Roberts | April 11, 1883 | at Belton in Anderson County | Accident | train | |
Julia Long | November 22, 1883 | at the residence of David Long | Homicide | shovel | |
Eli David Junkins | July 24, 1871 | at or near the hosue of John Martin (colored) near Richard Robinson Mill | Accident | shotgun | |
Moses | Slave | April 10, 1844 | at Clayton Webb's Plantation...near the Spring Branch | Homicide | shotgun |
John King | May 1, 1833 | at plantation of the deceased John King | Suicide | sharp pocket knife | |
Hutson B. Sulivan | August 13, 1866 | at Kely Sulivan's [?] residence | Suicide | rope or cord | |
John G. Gorley | July 26, 1866 | Homicide | rope | ||
Nancy Steele | December 11, 1842 | at the Poor House | Suicide | rope | |
John Hayne | May 16, 1861 | At the house of Capt. John Hayne | Suicide | rifle | |
Charles Kelly | August 14, 1866 | at the town of Anderson | Homicide | razor | |
Will | slave | November 18, 1854 | at William Nevitt's | Homicide | rail |
W. A. McConnell | January 30, 1867 | at Belton | Suicide | pocket knife | |
Amaziah Payton | colored man of New York | July 20, 1866 | at the house of Richmond Payton | Homicide | pistol |
Jack | slave | September 4, 1862 | at Mrs. Ann Johnson's residence | Homicide | pistol |
William Davis | June 11, 1881 | at Mr. Jeb Davis's residence | Suicide | pistol | |
Thomas W. Harrison | November 23, 1860 | At Pendleton | Homicide | pistol | |
Clara Burress | February 25, 1878 | at the house of Caty Burress on the plantation of Dr. A. G. Cook | Homicide | pistol | |
Robert H. Holliday | January 20, 1874 | at Calhoun | Homicide | pistol | |
Giles Guess | colored | February 2, 1882 | at the hosue of John Smith | Homicide | pistol |
Jacob Cromer | December 4, 1867 | at the residence of Jacob Cromer | Accident | mule | |
Samuel A. Geer | January 15, 1866 | at David Geer's House | Homicide | metallic instrument | |
Matthew Gambrell | August 12, 1843 | at James Mattison's | Suicide | manilla rope | |
Sam Burton | December 9, 1876 | Accident | laudanum | ||
John Sulivan | December 17, 1859 | at B. D. Garison's residence | Suicide | laudanum | |
Unknown | April 15, 1861 | At Pendleton | Accident | laudanum | |
James Hembree | September 24, 1835 | at the house of Jesse Hembree | Homicide | knife or dirk | |
Ephraim Mayfield | April 1, 1847 | at the plantation of Ephraim Mayfield | Suicide | knife | |
Bill Reese | December 12, 1872 | at Pendleton | Homicide | knife | |
Adeline Agnew | May 14, 1871 | near the residence of Ephraim R. Cobb | Homicide | knife | |
Robert H. Pettigrew | December 27, 1872 | at James H. Wiles house | Homicide | knife | |
Nelson Right | September 6, 1873 | at or near...Darm Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Edward Whitt | March 1, 1846 | near John Baurman's | Accident | horse | |
John Vandiver | March 28, 1845 | at residence of Daniel Gentry | Accident | horse | |
Celia King | September 8, 1857 | at Peter King's residence | Suicide | hank of cotton thread | |
Reuben Parker | August 22, 1830 | at house of Edwerd Sherman | Homicide | chair | |
Allen S. Barksdale | June 23, 1876 | at the house of Robert A. Gray | Homicide | axe | |
Lewis Green | free man of color | September 17, 1859 | at the Williamston Hotel | Homicide | arsenic |
Caroline A. Kinnan | January 13, 1872 | at L. C. Neals[?] | Unknown | arsenic | |
Anthony | slave | July 2, 1853 | at Samuel J. Hannond's plantation | Accident |