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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Esther Jeter | April 17, 1893 | at Huiets x Roads | Accident | ||
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
A. P. Shultz | January 9, 1850 | at or near Solomon Clickleys[?] | Unknown | ||
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Richard Stevens | February 21, 1898 | at Johnston S.C. | Natural Causes | ||
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Lizzie Darian | child | November 21, 1894 | at Waldo Richardsons | Accident | |
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
Simon C. Wood[?] | December 26, 1857 | at Wm Calelaziers[?] | Natural Causes | ||
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
John McManas | December 4, 1883 | at the Jail | Accident | ||
Hartwell Roper | June 17, 1869 | at the residence of Rev. J.P. Mealing | Natural Causes | ||
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
John G. Riddle | July 3, 1860 | at the residence of Mr Richard Burton | Natural Causes | ||
Wade Medlock | July 12, 1894 | at Benjamin Boatwrights Plantation | Unknown | ||
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Mingo Mosley | January 13, 1883 | at Samuel[?] Corley's | Accident | ||
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide |