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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Jane Glover | January 12, 1883 | at Handy Tanks House on John Wir[?] plantation | Unknown | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
A. P. Shultz | January 9, 1850 | at or near Solomon Clickleys[?] | Unknown | ||
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Lidda Hampton | November 24, 1893 | at A Derrecks | Natural Causes | ||
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
Lizzie Greeg | July 4, 1884 | at Capt Taliar[?] Hearin[?] | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Adam Barker | August 10, 1879 | at the Residence of Adam Barker Decd | Suicide | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
Charley Geeter | October 27, 1881 | at Violets Geeter's house | Accident |