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![]() |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sam Williams | May 30, 1876 | in the streets of Pendleton | Homicide | ||
Lena Hutchinson | October 20, 1873 | Accident | |||
Sophia Hall | March 19, 1859 | at or near Samuel Martin's residence | Natural Causes | ||
Charity Bozeman | June 11, 1880 | at the house of Aby McAlister | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph Poor | December 17, 1857 | at William Holand's residence | Other | ||
John Williams | February 9, 1879 | at the house of Newton Perry [?] on the plantation of Thomas Cox | Natural Causes | ||
Aaron Hardin | June 24, 1845 | at plantation of Mr. Moses Chambles | Accident | ||
white child | white child | January 20, 1871 | at Wilson's Bridge | Homicide | |
John Maddox | June 15, 1881 | at Williamston | Accident | ||
Minnie Cason | June 9, 1883 | at Williamston | Accident | ||
James Jenkins | May 30, 1875 | at Robert Spence's [?] Mill | Accident | ||
Jack | slave [runaway] | November 21, 1835 | at Andersonville | Accident | |
Sarah Martin | July 14, 1844 | at residence of Mrs. Sarah Martin | Natural Causes | ||
William McCode | January 20, 1870 | at Luke McCoy's [?] | Accident | ||
Elias Smith | August 24, 1869 | in the county of Anderson | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas D. Cook | April 10, 1854 | at Stover's Ferry on Savannah River | Accident | ||
Thomas Dalton | February 8, 1882 | at Williamston | Accident | ||
Peter Williford | May 2, 1876 | at Daniel Williford's | Natural Causes | ||
Robert L. Elmore | at sawmill | Homicide | |||
Beller McAlester | March 11, 1876 | at house of deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas J. Geer | November 23, 1860 | Thomas J. Geer's residence | Accident | ||
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 | ||
infant | January 23, 1873 | at residence of M. A. Snipes | Natural Causes | ||
Bessie Gambrell | Suicide | ||||
infant | March 30, 1874 | at Silas Kay's | Unknown | ||
Joe Jenkins | October 8, 1881 | at the residence of Matilda Rud | Natural Causes | ||
Barbary Havard | wife of Mark Havard | November 5, 1840 | in the house of Mark Havard | Suicide | |
Sally Williams | July 19, 1880 | n.a. | Natural Causes | ||
infant | November 27, 1870 | at William Stuart's residence | Natural Causes | ||
Patsy Wilson | colored free woman | June 17, 1857 | at the residence of Robert Wilson | Suicide | |
infant | June 12, 1872 | Homicide | |||
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 | ||
Freedwoman | Freedwoman | October 23, 1867 | at Anderson Court House | Homicide | |
Hardy McKinney | freedman | July 28, 1867 | at an old field near F. Wyne's | Natural Causes | |
Jim Mason | free man of color | January 9, 1850 | near the residence of William Poole | Accident | |
Sarah McCulley | wife of Barney McCulley | September 1, 1841 | at the house of Barney McCulley | Accident | |
P. W. Morris | April 27, 1872 | at Anderson Court House | Suicide | ||
Abram Clement | October 6, 1868 | at Martin Williamston's residence | Accident | ||
Mary May | April 14, 1854 | at J. W. May's | Natural Causes | ||
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 | ||
Frances Pagett | April 15, 1853 | at William Pagett's | Natural Causes | ||
female daughter of | female daughter of | November 28, 1841 | at graveyard at Hammonds Old Field | Homicide | |
Nancy Drake | August 21, 1872 | at Mrs. Elizabeth's Anne Keaton's | Suicide | ||
John H. Megill | September 22, 1867 | at J. D. Tucker's | Unknown | ||
Sam | slave | October 5, 1854 | at the plantation of James W. Harrison | Suicide | |
Mary Thompson | June 12, 1878 | Accident | |||
Gabriel Hill | Colored | April 28, 1868 | on the plantation of John N. Wilson | Suicide |