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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
infant | infant | May 5, 1893 | at F. L. Foys | Natural Causes | |
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Louisa Wooden | October 13, 1893 | at Mose Woden | Accident | ||
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Elijah Sullivan | April 24, 1898 | at Cow-buel[?] place | Accident | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Hurnon[?] | April 4, 1862 | at Doct H R Cooks Plantation on Savanah River | Unknown | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Allen Bauknight | freedman | June 11, 1866 | at William Bauknights | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
William H Maharey | May 25, 1863 | at Haslin Factory on the Procelian Manufacturing Company | Accident | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
John M. Tillman | May 6, 1860 | at Mr J.A Tillmans Steam Mill | Homicide | ||
Lilla Olophant | female infant | August 18, 1879 | at Simpton[?] Pinns[?] | Accident | |
John | slave | September 27, 1863 | at the residence of Johnson A Bland | Accident |