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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bill King | August 9, 1881 | at H C Kings Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Andrew Trapp | December 4, 1869 | near Trapps Mills | Homicide | knife | |
Prophet Burt | freedman | December 29, 1866 | at E.N. Troys | Homicide | knife |
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Samuel Posey | October 21, 1860 | at P. B. McDaniels | Homicide | pistol | |
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
Robert Parks | September 27, 1894 | at Parkville | Homicide | lick | |
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Mary Randall | October 19, 1857 | at the Residence of John Randall | Homicide | razor | |
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Jesse Weatherford | September 4, 1849 | at the plantation of Mrs R Blaylock | Homicide | shotgun | |
Henry Burt | June 21, 1895 | at Henry Burts | Homicide | knife | |
Randal | negro man | May 9, 1844 | at Grancis Bettis's plantation on Horns Creek | Homicide | cow skin |
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Daniel | slave, boy | May 27, 1862 | at John H. Fair | Homicide | shotgun |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Harry Anderson | December 16, 1882 | at Clinton Ward | Homicide | pistol | |
Eugene McCarty | May 11, 1861 | at Edgefield Court house | Homicide | pistol | |
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
James Bledsoe | May 15, 1893 | at Dr D.P. Lalsrones[?] Residence | Homicide | pistol | |
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Andrew | slave | September 3, 1850 | at A.P. Butlers plantation | Homicide | rail |
John Agner | December 26, 1883 | at Mr. John Agner's | Homicide | knife | |
Namro | negro man | August 11, 1844 | at the house of Rob King Esqr | Homicide | club or stick |
Benjamin F. Jones | March 24, 1845 | at W B Griffins | Homicide | shotgun | |
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Henry | male slave | July 15, 1858 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | hickory stick |
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
Elijah Reynolds | April 11, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | pistol | |
Lewis Bartie | July 26, 1864 | at Mount Zion Church | Homicide | shotgun | |
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Harry | slave | December 25, 1858 | at Col Arthur Sinkins[?] | Homicide | knife |
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
Eldred Glover | March 2, 1852 | at the house of John Doby | Homicide | pistol | |
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
J. H. Christian | July 21, 1856 | in the village of Edgefield in Room No 11, in B. J. Ryans Hotel | Homicide | pistol | |
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 |