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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
Jack Taylor | April 11, 1892 | at the house of Hal[?] Miles | Natural Causes | ||
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Infred Padgett | July 12, 1848 | at the Joal of Edgefield | Natural Causes | ||
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Louisa Wooden | October 13, 1893 | at Mose Woden | Accident | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Allen Bauknight | freedman | June 11, 1866 | at William Bauknights | Accident | |
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Jane Glover | January 12, 1883 | at Handy Tanks House on John Wir[?] plantation | Unknown | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident |