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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lewis | negro man, boy | March 14, 1861 | at Charles Hammonds Brickyard | Homicide | pistol |
Thomas Styson | June 22, 1856 | at R. M. Fullers | Homicide | hoe | |
Teague Tillman | October 2, 1899 | at the plantation of Thos. H. Ramsford | Homicide | pistol | |
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | 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 | |
Andy Padgett | July 5, 1891 | near Ridge Spring | Homicide | knife | |
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Frank Holson | freedman | January 9, 1867 | at Lee Holson | Homicide | pistol |
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Charles Cobb | March 13, 1893 | at or near Johnston | Homicide | umbrella | |
Matilda H. Posey | February 26, 1849 | at the house of Martin Posey | Homicide | stick | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
James Ramsey | December 12, 1869 | at the residence of Andrew Ramsay Sr | Homicide | pistol | |
Lewis Moore | November 30, 1891 | at the plantation of Robert Smith | Homicide | pocket knife | |
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Thomas O'Donald | September 13, 1869 | at Dr. John E. Padgetts | Homicide | pistol | |
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Sam Howard | Freedman | August 6, 1866 | at L. L. Halls | Homicide | knife |
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide | ||
Arthur Morris | June 20, 1898 | at M. W Clarks | Homicide | pistol | |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Bill King | August 9, 1881 | at H C Kings Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Prophet Burt | freedman | December 29, 1866 | at E.N. Troys | Homicide | knife |
Bridgett Etheridge | June 26, 1893 | at John Etheridges Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Samuel Posey | October 21, 1860 | at P. B. McDaniels | Homicide | pistol | |
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Peter | negro man | June 16, 1838 | at a Mr. Azariah[?] Abneys | Homicide | stick |
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Jesse Weatherford | September 4, 1849 | at the plantation of Mrs R Blaylock | Homicide | shotgun | |
Daniel | slave, boy | May 27, 1862 | at John H. Fair | Homicide | shotgun |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
John Laudrum | October 11, 1869 | at Dons Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Isaah Golden | August 27, 1860 | at Silverton Beach iland | Homicide | knife |