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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Gertrude | infant child | December 1, 1891 | at Edgfield Court house | Accident | |
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Alexander P. Kennard | February 16, 1847 | in the District | Natural Causes | ||
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Amanda Glover | August 30, 1892 | at Mr Pofse[?] Lotts Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | October 6, 1891 | at her Residence | Unknown | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
Tephius[?] Cornwall | January 14, 1845 | on one of the Public Streets of the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | ||
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
Berry Butler | October 9, 1892 | at J. H Lagroons[?] plantation | Accident | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Gus West | October 11, 1883 | at Jack Holms | Unknown | ||
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide |