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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gus West | October 11, 1883 | at Jack Holms | Unknown | ||
infant child | infant child | January 18, 1892 | at the Plantation of L. G. Swearinger | Accident | |
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
W. T. Mathis | November 11, 1897 | at the Yeldell place | Natural Causes | ||
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
Tephius[?] Cornwall | January 14, 1845 | on one of the Public Streets of the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | ||
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Sallie Young | December 8, 1890 | at Mr A. F Broadwaters Plantation | Accident | ||
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
R. Mackgrath | January 5, 1852 | at the house of John Dobey | Other | ||
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
Edmond Price | April 30, 1892 | at Kennys Graveyard | Unknown | ||
Warren Kirkland | November 16, 1858 | at Benjamin Bartons | Homicide | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Belaus[Velaus?] | slave, boy | March 30, 1863 | at Robert Smiths | Accident | |
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Charles | negro boy | November 14, 1842 | On Mr Thos Oliver's Plantation, at or near Said Oliver's residence | Accident | |
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Henry | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at New Savannah in beach Island | Accident | |
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Lizzie Darian | child | November 21, 1894 | at Waldo Richardsons | Accident | |
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
John Brown | December 20, 1844 | at the house of John Brown | Natural Causes | ||
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide |