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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Infred Padgett | July 12, 1848 | at the Joal of Edgefield | Natural Causes | ||
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
Jack Taylor | April 11, 1892 | at the house of Hal[?] Miles | Natural Causes | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Jane Glover | January 12, 1883 | at Handy Tanks House on John Wir[?] plantation | Unknown |