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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Martin B. Elam | January 28, 1851 | at Mrs Mary Elams | Other | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
Thomas Prince | July 31, 1848 | at the Joal of Said District | Natural Causes | ||
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide | ||
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
John Rufus Russell | October 10, 1884 | at John L Russell House | Accident | ||
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Tephius[?] Cornwall | January 14, 1845 | on one of the Public Streets of the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | ||
John | slave | September 27, 1863 | at the residence of Johnson A Bland | Accident | |
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
Lilla Olophant | female infant | August 18, 1879 | at Simpton[?] Pinns[?] | Accident | |
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide |