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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
Charles | negro boy | March 7, 1857 | at Archy Clark residence | Accident | |
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Adam | negro man Slave, boy | August 3, 1850 | at Vaucluse Factory | Accident | |
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
John Brown | December 20, 1844 | at the house of John Brown | Natural Causes | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Jane Glover | January 12, 1883 | at Handy Tanks House on John Wir[?] plantation | Unknown | ||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident | ||
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Edward Johnston | December 26, 1892 | at William Bushes | Unknown |