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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Prophet Burt | freedman | December 29, 1866 | at E.N. Troys | Homicide | knife |
Joshua Hammond Jr. | September 6, 1849 | at a place belonging to John Bauskett[?] on little horse creek | Homicide | fence rail | |
Daniel | slave, boy | May 27, 1862 | at John H. Fair | Homicide | shotgun |
John Butler | October 23, 1850 | at the House of Mr Seth Butler | Homicide | knife | |
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Henry Burt | June 21, 1895 | at Henry Burts | Homicide | knife | |
Jesse Weatherford | September 4, 1849 | at the plantation of Mrs R Blaylock | Homicide | shotgun | |
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Dave Parkman | December 16, 1897 | at Cheatham place | Homicide | pistol | |
James Bledsoe | May 15, 1893 | at Dr D.P. Lalsrones[?] Residence | Homicide | pistol | |
William Martin | May 24, 1891 | on the premises of W. E. Friday | Homicide | pistol | |
Britton McClendon | November 11, 1850 | near the residence of Henry C. Turner | Homicide | large hunting knife | |
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Namro | negro man | August 11, 1844 | at the house of Rob King Esqr | Homicide | club or stick |
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
Keal Johnson | colourd man | October 20, 1866 | at J.M. Proctors Residence | Homicide | pistol |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
Alfred Hollingsworth | October 10, 1898 | at David Strothers place | Homicide | razor | |
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Jim | negro boy | July 23, 1855 | at Wade Holsteens | Homicide | knife |
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Lewis Bartie | July 26, 1864 | at Mount Zion Church | Homicide | shotgun | |
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Lewis | negro man, boy | March 14, 1861 | at Charles Hammonds Brickyard | Homicide | pistol |
Teague Tillman | October 2, 1899 | at the plantation of Thos. H. Ramsford | Homicide | pistol | |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Allen Smith | Freedman | January 19, 1867 | at S.B. Chappells Residence | Homicide | pistol |
Isaac Matthias Jones | October 14, 1858 | at the house of Lewis Jones (Sr) at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | knife | |
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Louisa Laudon | October 11, 1869 | at Dorns Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Scipio | slave | April 1, 1862 | at E. J. Youngbloods | Homicide | hatchet |
Ben Lowman | September 14, 1894 | at W.[?] L. Rawls Mills | Homicide | pistol | |
Augustus W. Burt | March 25, 1847 | at the Plantation of A.W. Burt | Homicide | axe | |
J. D. Ouzts | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield | Homicide | pistol | |
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
Charles Cobb | March 13, 1893 | at or near Johnston | Homicide | umbrella | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide |