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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Tom | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at H. L. Maysons in Beach island | Accident | |
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | November 17, 1891 | at Mr M Toneys place | Unknown | |
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown |