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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
Infred Padgett | July 12, 1848 | at the Joal of Edgefield | Natural Causes | ||
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
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 | |
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
Jim | slave | June 10, 1859 | at M, L, Bonham Esqr residence on the Pine House road | Natural Causes | |
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident |