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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
John M. Bonds | December 16, 1850 | at Isom R. Bond's | Natural Causes | ||
Martha Morris | January 9, 1881 | at the residence of Warren Morris | Natural Causes | ||
John Edmonson | July 26, 1854 | near the road leading from Anderson Court House to the Double Branches. | Other | ||
Anna G. Cason | June 10, 1883 | at Williamston | Natural Causes | ||
Jim Mason | free man of color | January 9, 1850 | near the residence of William Poole | Accident | |
Franklin A. Ragsdale | July 23, 1867 | at the house of Franklin A. Ragsdale | Unknown | ||
Barbary Havard | wife of Mark Havard | November 5, 1840 | in the house of Mark Havard | Suicide | |
Fanny Payton | colored woman, free from birth | June 20, 1870 | at residence of Harry Gallard[?] | Natural Causes | |
Patsy Wilson | colored free woman | June 17, 1857 | at the residence of Robert Wilson | Suicide | |
infant | June 12, 1872 | Homicide | |||
Harry | slave | December 17, 1855 | at Jesse Gray's residence | Natural Causes | |
Mary Waters | March 20, 1883 | at or near the residence of Thomas J. Reynolds | Unknown | ||
colored | colored | April 24, 1874 | at Dr. J. A. Todd's | Accident | |
John W. Meeks | May 4, 1872 | at Brown & Rice's Mill | Homicide | ||
Sarah McCulley | wife of Barney McCulley | September 1, 1841 | at the house of Barney McCulley | Accident | |
Samuel Ward | July 19, 1859 | at Church Cross Roads | Natural Causes | ||
Mary May | April 14, 1854 | at J. W. May's | Natural Causes | ||
Strather Freeman | March 2, 1876 | at Flat Rock Church | Natural Causes | ||
Jane Laniere | August 13, 1880 | at the residence of G. B. Whiton | Natural Causes | ||
Lila Gambrell | October 21, 1875 | at the house of Ran Duckworth | Natural Causes | ||
female daughter of | female daughter of | November 28, 1841 | at graveyard at Hammonds Old Field | Homicide | |
Sam | slave | October 5, 1854 | at the plantation of James W. Harrison | Suicide | |
Daily Thompson | December 8, 1876 | at Daniel Thompson's | Suicide | ||
Robert Brownlee | July 26, 1883 | at Seneca River | Accident | ||
George Norris | November 23, 1876 | at Anderson Courthouse | Natural Causes | ||
Israel | slave | November 3, 1845 | on the plantation of David Gentry | Natural Causes | |
Clarissa Campbell | freedwoman | March 29, 1867 | at the residence of Sarah Campbell | Natural Causes | |
male infant slave | male infant slave | July 10, 1851 | at Jacob Pickle's | 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 | ||
Harry | slave | July 7, 1855 | at Pendleton village | Natural Causes | |
Charity Bozeman | June 11, 1880 | at the house of Aby McAlister | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Magdalene Saxton | December 6, 1876 | at the house of Enoch Saxton | Unknown | ||
Charity Norris | May 29, 1869 | at B. F. McGee's residence | Homicide | ||
Anthony | slave | July 2, 1853 | at Samuel J. Hannond's plantation | Accident | |
Lena Hutchinson | October 20, 1873 | Accident | |||
Caleb Chappell | January 22, 1835 | at or near house of John Ledbetter | Other | ||
James Jenkins | May 30, 1875 | at Robert Spence's [?] Mill | Accident | ||
Samuel | Negro Man | Accident | |||
John Williams | February 9, 1879 | at the house of Newton Perry [?] on the plantation of Thomas Cox | Natural Causes | ||
Mary M. Williams | March 20, 1860 | at William William's residence | Suicide | ||
John Dean | December 29, 1848 | on the publick [sic] road leading from William McMurry's, Esq to J. L. Kenedy's | Accident | ||
John Maddox | June 15, 1881 | at Williamston | Accident | ||
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 | ||
Beller McAlester | March 11, 1876 | at house of deceased | Natural Causes | ||
William McCode | January 20, 1870 | at Luke McCoy's [?] | Accident | ||
John Brownlee | June 7, 1863 | at Williamston | Natural Causes | ||
Elias Smith | August 24, 1869 | in the county of Anderson | Natural Causes | ||
Peter Williford | May 2, 1876 | at Daniel Williford's | Natural Causes | ||
infant | January 23, 1873 | at residence of M. A. Snipes | Natural Causes |