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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Sam | negro, slave | September 18, 1846 | at the residence of Mrs Nancy Delaughter | Natural Causes | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Rhoda | female slave | July 4, 1857 | at Dorn's[?] Mill | Natural Causes | |
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
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 | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
John M. Tillman | May 6, 1860 | at Mr J.A Tillmans Steam Mill | Homicide | ||
John | slave | September 27, 1863 | at the residence of Johnson A Bland | Accident | |
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
Lidda Hampton | November 24, 1893 | at A Derrecks | Natural Causes | ||
negro man | negro man | April 10, 1850 | near Kilcreases Ferry | Accident | |
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1858 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Martin B. Elam | January 28, 1851 | at Mrs Mary Elams | Other | ||
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Thomas Prince | July 31, 1848 | at the Joal of Said District | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide | ||
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Richard Stevens | February 21, 1898 | at Johnston S.C. | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide |