Edgefield County, SC
Total population (1850): 39,262
Enslaved population (1850): 22,725
Percent slave: 58%
Extant nineteenth-century inquests: 524
Date range: 1829-1899
Percentage of violent crimes in county sample: 39% (202/524)
The small, rural district of Edgefield, South Carolina was the Deadwood of its day, amassing a reputation for murder and mayhem unique in the nation. Forget the gangs of New York, the toughs in tailored suits strutting about Edgefield's Court House Square were up for almost anything. Take this typical exchange between Thomas Cherry and Charles Cobb.
Cherry: "You Damn puppy."
Cobb: "What are you?"
Cherry: "Do you mean to call me a Damn puppy?"
Cobb: "What are you?"
Cherry: "If you call me a Puppy, I will ag you in the face."
Cobb: "You are nothing else."
With that Cherry stabbed Cobb through the face with an umbrella.
"If we over in Edgefield insult each other, there is generally a fight or a funeral afterwards," noted Ben Tillman, one of the ten men of the district to serve the state as governor. Like Tillman, circuit judge Thomas Mackey took an almost perverse pride in the region's reputation. "I am going to hold court in Edgefield," he told a friend, "and I expect a somewhat exciting term, as the fall shooting is about to start."
Like most reputations, Edgefield's was at once deserved and exaggerated. At 39 percent, Edgefield County does have the highest proportion of violent crimes in the CSI:D sample. At 35 percent, Greenville County is not that far behind. More important, Edgefield's reputation for affairs of honor masks the mountain of dishonorable violence revealed by the morgue. Men spoiling for a fight on the street are rarely much different at home. In June 1893, Bill Gasten was sitting near his wood pile when his wife emerged from the house to draw some water from the well. Something she said set him off and he grabbed up a walking stick, hit her with it, then threw her down and began choking her. Emerging from the kitchen, her sister grabbed up the stick and told Bill to "let his wife alone." She had just started back to the kitchen when Bill cracked her head with a hoe.
Edgefield County, SC Inquests
Name | Deceased Description | Date | Inquest Location | Death Type | Death Method |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
John McManas | December 4, 1883 | at the Jail | Accident | ||
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
Jesse Moragna[?] | March 3, 1882 | at Luke Moragines[?] House | Accident | ||
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Mingo Mosley | January 13, 1883 | at Samuel[?] Corley's | Accident | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Lila Washington | February 20, 1879 | at Wesley Barns Mill | Accident | ||
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Rhoda | female slave | July 4, 1857 | at Dorn's[?] Mill | Natural Causes | |
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes |