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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
Alexander P. Kennard | February 16, 1847 | in the District | Natural Causes | ||
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
Gus West | October 11, 1883 | at Jack Holms | Unknown | ||
Tephius[?] Cornwall | January 14, 1845 | on one of the Public Streets of the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | ||
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
Lidda Hampton | November 24, 1893 | at A Derrecks | Natural Causes | ||
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Henry | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at New Savannah in beach Island | Accident | |
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident | |
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident | |
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
R. Mackgrath | January 5, 1852 | at the house of John Dobey | Other | ||
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Matt Loyd | February 24, 1891 | at Mr. Carmal cemetary near the Old Wills | Natural Causes |