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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Amanda Glover | August 30, 1892 | at Mr Pofse[?] Lotts Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | October 6, 1891 | at her Residence | Unknown | |
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Lesthia Ridlehouse[Ridlehover?] | January 5, 1892 | at the Residence of Mrs Edny Mary | Accident | ||
Berry Butler | October 9, 1892 | at J. H Lagroons[?] plantation | Accident | ||
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
A. P. Shultz | January 9, 1850 | at or near Solomon Clickleys[?] | Unknown | ||
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Lidda Hampton | November 24, 1893 | at A Derrecks | Natural Causes | ||
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
Edward Johnston | December 26, 1892 | at William Bushes | Unknown | ||
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Hartwell Roper | June 17, 1869 | at the residence of Rev. J.P. Mealing | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes |