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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Simon C. Wood[?] | December 26, 1857 | at Wm Calelaziers[?] | Natural Causes | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
Julia Banks | September 4, 1891 | at Mr Banks Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
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 | |
Lizzie Darian | child | November 21, 1894 | at Waldo Richardsons | Accident | |
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | 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 | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes |