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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mary May | April 14, 1854 | at J. W. May's | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Magdalene Saxton | December 6, 1876 | at the house of Enoch Saxton | Unknown | ||
Mary M. Williams | March 20, 1860 | at William William's residence | Suicide | ||
Martha Morris | January 9, 1881 | at the residence of Warren Morris | Natural Causes | ||
male infant slave | male infant slave | July 10, 1851 | at Jacob Pickle's | Unknown | |
Major Crawford | July 21, 1880 | at Anderson Court House | Accident | ||
M. J. Wilson | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad | Accident | train | |
Lila Gambrell | October 21, 1875 | at the house of Ran Duckworth | Natural Causes | ||
Lewis Green | free man of color | September 17, 1859 | at the Williamston Hotel | Homicide | arsenic |
Lena Hutchinson | October 20, 1873 | Accident | |||
Julia Long | November 22, 1883 | at the residence of David Long | Homicide | shovel | |
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 | ||
John W. Meeks | May 4, 1872 | at Brown & Rice's Mill | Homicide | ||
John Vandiver | March 28, 1845 | at residence of Daniel Gentry | Accident | horse | |
John Sulivan | December 17, 1859 | at B. D. Garison's residence | Suicide | laudanum | |
John Seawright | October 22, 1881 | on the public road leading from Craytonville to Anderson Court House | Natural Causes | ||
John Saylor | August 6, 1870 | at or near the Ridge road near E. R. Cobb's residence | Natural Causes | ||
John Maddox | June 15, 1881 | at Williamston | Accident | ||
John M. Bonds | December 16, 1850 | at Isom R. Bond's | Natural Causes | ||
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 | |
John H. Megill | September 22, 1867 | at J. D. Tucker's | Unknown | ||
John G. Gorley | July 26, 1866 | Homicide | rope | ||
John Edmonson | July 26, 1854 | near the road leading from Anderson Court House to the Double Branches. | Other | ||
John Dean | December 29, 1848 | on the publick [sic] road leading from William McMurry's, Esq to J. L. Kenedy's | Accident | ||
John Calhoun Clemson | August 11, 1871 | at Pendleton | Accident | train | |
John Brownlee | June 7, 1863 | at Williamston | Natural Causes | ||
Joe Jenkins | October 8, 1881 | at the residence of Matilda Rud | Natural Causes | ||
Jim Mason | free man of color | January 9, 1850 | near the residence of William Poole | Accident | |
Jefferson Kitsinger | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad | Accident | train | |
Jane Laniere | August 13, 1880 | at the residence of G. B. Whiton | Natural Causes | ||
Jane | slave | March 10, 1863 | at Anderson Court House | Homicide | |
James Wilson | March 27, 1846 | at the house of Alexander Moorehead | Natural Causes | ||
James Robinson | May 20, 1883 | n.a. | Natural Causes | ||
James Jenkins | May 30, 1875 | at Robert Spence's [?] Mill | Accident | ||
James Hembree | September 24, 1835 | at the house of Jesse Hembree | Homicide | knife or dirk | |
James Drake | December 7, 1854 | at residence of James Drake | Natural Causes | ||
James Coleman | September 16, 1873 | at or near Mrs. Fantt's residence and one and 1/2 miles south east of Anderson | Natural Causes | ||
Jacob Cromer | December 4, 1867 | at the residence of Jacob Cromer | Accident | mule | |
Jack | slave | September 4, 1862 | at Mrs. Ann Johnson's residence | Homicide | pistol |
Jack | slave [runaway] | November 21, 1835 | at Andersonville | Accident | |
Israel | slave | November 3, 1845 | on the plantation of David Gentry | Natural Causes | |
infant | June 12, 1872 | Homicide | |||
infant | January 23, 1873 | at residence of M. A. Snipes | Natural Causes | ||
infant | March 30, 1874 | at Silas Kay's | Unknown | ||
infant | November 27, 1870 | at William Stuart's residence | Natural Causes | ||
infant | March 10, 1865 | at Anderson Court House | Homicide | ||
infant | January 13, 1868 | at Anderson Court House | Natural Causes | ||
Hutson B. Sulivan | August 13, 1866 | at Kely Sulivan's [?] residence | Suicide | rope or cord |