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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | 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 | ||
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
Esther Jeter | April 17, 1893 | at Huiets x Roads | Accident | ||
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
A. P. Shultz | January 9, 1850 | at or near Solomon Clickleys[?] | Unknown | ||
Gus West | October 11, 1883 | at Jack Holms | Unknown | ||
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Berry Butler | October 9, 1892 | at J. H Lagroons[?] plantation | Accident | ||
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
Simon C. Wood[?] | December 26, 1857 | at Wm Calelaziers[?] | Natural Causes | ||
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Hartwell Roper | June 17, 1869 | at the residence of Rev. J.P. Mealing | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
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 | ||
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
Wade Medlock | July 12, 1894 | at Benjamin Boatwrights Plantation | Unknown | ||
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
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 | ||
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
Lizzie Darian | child | November 21, 1894 | at Waldo Richardsons | Accident | |
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Hurnon[?] | April 4, 1862 | at Doct H R Cooks Plantation on Savanah River | Unknown | ||
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident |