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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
Belaus[Velaus?] | slave, boy | March 30, 1863 | at Robert Smiths | Accident | |
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
William Harlin | February 19, 1856 | at a new place sitting by Mr James Swearingem(Jr) on the Akien Road | Accident | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Louisa Wooden | October 13, 1893 | at Mose Woden | Accident | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Allen Bauknight | freedman | June 11, 1866 | at William Bauknights | Accident | |
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide |