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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
infant Boy | infant Boy | October 29, 1894 | at [?] Coleman | Natural Causes | |
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
B. C. Bryan | March 16, 1884 | at B C Bryan Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Edmond Price | April 30, 1892 | at Kennys Graveyard | Unknown | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
Simon C. Wood[?] | December 26, 1857 | at Wm Calelaziers[?] | Natural Causes | ||
Isaac Oliphant | November 9, 1882 | at Ritch Thomson | Accident | ||
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
Jim | slave | June 10, 1859 | at M, L, Bonham Esqr residence on the Pine House road | Natural Causes | |
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Julia Banks | September 4, 1891 | at Mr Banks Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
Lizzy Rardon | September 28, 1879 | at Clansey Holloways plantation | Accident | ||
Lizzie Darian | child | November 21, 1894 | at Waldo Richardsons | Accident | |
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident |