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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
negro man | negro man | April 10, 1850 | near Kilcreases Ferry | Accident | |
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1858 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
Aggy Latily[?] | negro woman slave | June 21, 1848 | at the plantation of N L Griffin | Unknown | |
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
John Rufus Russell | October 10, 1884 | at John L Russell House | Accident | ||
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Jim | slave | June 10, 1859 | at M, L, Bonham Esqr residence on the Pine House road | Natural Causes | |
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident | ||
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
William Harlin | February 19, 1856 | at a new place sitting by Mr James Swearingem(Jr) on the Akien Road | Accident | ||
Tom | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at H. L. Maysons in Beach island | Accident | |
John McManas | December 4, 1883 | at the Jail | Accident | ||
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Thomas | child of Thomas M Chandler | September 11, 1850 | at Thos M. Chandler's house, and at the old Pottery | Accident | |
John G. Riddle | July 3, 1860 | at the residence of Mr Richard Burton | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Lila Washington | February 20, 1879 | at Wesley Barns Mill | Accident | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Allen Bauknight | freedman | June 11, 1866 | at William Bauknights | Accident |