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 M. Williams | March 20, 1860 | at William William's residence | Suicide | ||
Mary Magdalene Saxton | December 6, 1876 | at the house of Enoch Saxton | Unknown | ||
Mary May | April 14, 1854 | at J. W. May's | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Thompson | June 12, 1878 | Accident | |||
Mary Waters | March 20, 1883 | at or near the residence of Thomas J. Reynolds | Unknown | ||
Matthew Gambrell | August 12, 1843 | at James Mattison's | Suicide | manilla rope | |
Meredith Crawford | July 3, 1861 | At the residence of Meredith Crawford | Unknown | ||
Minnie Cason | June 9, 1883 | at Williamston | Accident | ||
Morriss unknown | free man of color | January 7, 1858 | at Grief Tater's residence | Natural Causes | |
Moses | Slave | April 10, 1844 | at Clayton Webb's Plantation...near the Spring Branch | Homicide | shotgun |
N. T. Hooper | November 7, 1881 | n.a. | Accident | train | |
N. W. Lafoy | June 17, 1876 | at Broadway trestle on the line of the Greenville and Columbia Railroad | Accident | train | |
Nancy Drake | August 21, 1872 | at Mrs. Elizabeth's Anne Keaton's | Suicide | ||
Nancy Steele | December 11, 1842 | at the Poor House | Suicide | rope | |
Nelson Right | September 6, 1873 | at or near...Darm Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Olin Smith | Natural Causes | ||||
P. W. Morris | April 27, 1872 | at Anderson Court House | Suicide | ||
Patsy Wilson | colored free woman | June 17, 1857 | at the residence of Robert Wilson | Suicide | |
Peter Knox | July 23, 1878 | near Calrandellers[?] Ferry on Tugalo River | Accident | ||
Peter Williford | May 2, 1876 | at Daniel Williford's | Natural Causes | ||
Reuben Parker | August 22, 1830 | at house of Edwerd Sherman | Homicide | chair | |
Robert Brownlee | July 26, 1883 | at Seneca River | Accident | ||
Robert H. Holliday | January 20, 1874 | at Calhoun | Homicide | pistol | |
Robert H. Pettigrew | December 27, 1872 | at James H. Wiles house | Homicide | knife | |
Robert L. Elmore | at sawmill | Homicide | |||
Sally Williams | July 19, 1880 | n.a. | Natural Causes | ||
Sam | slave | October 5, 1854 | at the plantation of James W. Harrison | Suicide | |
Sam Burton | December 9, 1876 | Accident | laudanum | ||
Sam Williams | May 30, 1876 | in the streets of Pendleton | Homicide | ||
Samuel | Negro Man | Accident | |||
Samuel A. Geer | January 15, 1866 | at David Geer's House | Homicide | metallic instrument | |
Samuel McCulley | December 29, 1839 | in Broadway Creek | Accident | ||
Samuel Ward | July 19, 1859 | at Church Cross Roads | Natural Causes | ||
Sarah Martin | July 14, 1844 | at residence of Mrs. Sarah Martin | Natural Causes | ||
Sarah McCulley | wife of Barney McCulley | September 1, 1841 | at the house of Barney McCulley | Accident | |
Sloan | freedman | November 19, 1866 | At Williamston | Accident | |
Smith | June 9, 1876 | near R. H. Anderson's Tanyard | Accident | ||
Sophia Hall | March 19, 1859 | at or near Samuel Martin's residence | Natural Causes | ||
Strather Freeman | March 2, 1876 | at Flat Rock Church | Natural Causes | ||
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 | |
Thomas D. Cook | April 10, 1854 | at Stover's Ferry on Savannah River | Accident | ||
Thomas Dalton | February 8, 1882 | at Williamston | Accident | ||
Thomas J. Geer | November 23, 1860 | Thomas J. Geer's residence | Accident | ||
Thomas W. Harrison | November 23, 1860 | At Pendleton | Homicide | pistol | |
Truman Miles | October 22, 1839 | at Anderson Courthouse | Accident | ||
Unknown | April 15, 1861 | At Pendleton | Accident | laudanum | |
W. A. McConnell | January 30, 1867 | at Belton | Suicide | pocket knife | |
white child | white child | January 20, 1871 | at Wilson's Bridge | Homicide | |
Will | slave | November 18, 1854 | at William Nevitt's | Homicide | rail |
William Davis | June 11, 1881 | at Mr. Jeb Davis's residence | Suicide | pistol |