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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
James Drake | December 7, 1854 | at residence of James Drake | Natural Causes | ||
John Seawright | October 22, 1881 | on the public road leading from Craytonville to Anderson Court House | Natural Causes | ||
Sam Williams | May 30, 1876 | in the streets of Pendleton | Homicide | ||
James Hembree | September 24, 1835 | at the house of Jesse Hembree | Homicide | knife or dirk | |
Amaziah Payton | colored man of New York | July 20, 1866 | at the house of Richmond Payton | Homicide | pistol |
white child | white child | January 20, 1871 | at Wilson's Bridge | Homicide | |
Bill Reese | December 12, 1872 | at Pendleton | Homicide | knife | |
John G. Gorley | July 26, 1866 | Homicide | rope | ||
Robert L. Elmore | at sawmill | Homicide | |||
Julia Long | November 22, 1883 | at the residence of David Long | Homicide | shovel | |
John W. Meeks | May 4, 1872 | at Brown & Rice's Mill | Homicide | ||
Charles Kelly | August 14, 1866 | at the town of Anderson | Homicide | razor | |
infant | June 12, 1872 | Homicide | |||
Adeline Agnew | May 14, 1871 | near the residence of Ephraim R. Cobb | Homicide | knife | |
Will | slave | November 18, 1854 | at William Nevitt's | Homicide | rail |
female daughter of | female daughter of | November 28, 1841 | at graveyard at Hammonds Old Field | Homicide | |
Moses | Slave | April 10, 1844 | at Clayton Webb's Plantation...near the Spring Branch | Homicide | shotgun |
Clara Burress | February 25, 1878 | at the house of Caty Burress on the plantation of Dr. A. G. Cook | Homicide | pistol | |
Charity Norris | May 29, 1869 | at B. F. McGee's residence | Homicide | ||
Robert H. Pettigrew | December 27, 1872 | at James H. Wiles house | Homicide | knife | |
Allen S. Barksdale | June 23, 1876 | at the house of Robert A. Gray | Homicide | axe | |
Samuel A. Geer | January 15, 1866 | at David Geer's House | Homicide | metallic instrument | |
Freedwoman | Freedwoman | October 23, 1867 | at Anderson Court House | Homicide | |
Nelson Right | September 6, 1873 | at or near...Darm Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Robert H. Holliday | January 20, 1874 | at Calhoun | Homicide | pistol | |
Reuben Parker | August 22, 1830 | at house of Edwerd Sherman | Homicide | chair | |
Lewis Green | free man of color | September 17, 1859 | at the Williamston Hotel | Homicide | arsenic |
Alfred | runaway slave | June 16, 1862 | At Williamston | Homicide | |
Giles Guess | colored | February 2, 1882 | at the hosue of John Smith | Homicide | pistol |
infant | March 10, 1865 | at Anderson Court House | Homicide | ||
Jane | slave | March 10, 1863 | at Anderson Court House | Homicide | |
Jack | slave | September 4, 1862 | at Mrs. Ann Johnson's residence | Homicide | pistol |
Thomas W. Harrison | November 23, 1860 | At Pendleton | Homicide | pistol | |
John King | May 1, 1833 | at plantation of the deceased John King | Suicide | sharp pocket knife | |
John Hayne | May 16, 1861 | At the house of Capt. John Hayne | Suicide | rifle | |
Bessie Gambrell | Suicide | ||||
Daily Thompson | December 8, 1876 | at Daniel Thompson's | Suicide | ||
Patsy Wilson | colored free woman | June 17, 1857 | at the residence of Robert Wilson | Suicide | |
Barbary Havard | wife of Mark Havard | November 5, 1840 | in the house of Mark Havard | Suicide | |
Sam | slave | October 5, 1854 | at the plantation of James W. Harrison | Suicide | |
Matthew Gambrell | August 12, 1843 | at James Mattison's | Suicide | manilla rope | |
W. A. McConnell | January 30, 1867 | at Belton | Suicide | pocket knife | |
Hutson B. Sulivan | August 13, 1866 | at Kely Sulivan's [?] residence | Suicide | rope or cord | |
Mary M. Williams | March 20, 1860 | at William William's residence | Suicide | ||
P. W. Morris | April 27, 1872 | at Anderson Court House | Suicide | ||
John Sulivan | December 17, 1859 | at B. D. Garison's residence | Suicide | laudanum | |
Nancy Drake | August 21, 1872 | at Mrs. Elizabeth's Anne Keaton's | Suicide | ||
Gabriel Hill | Colored | April 28, 1868 | on the plantation of John N. Wilson | Suicide | |
Celia King | September 8, 1857 | at Peter King's residence | Suicide | hank of cotton thread | |
George C. Mitchell | September 19, 1874 | at residence of Marion Mtchell | Suicide |