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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jack Taylor | April 11, 1892 | at the house of Hal[?] Miles | Natural Causes | ||
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Jim | slave | June 10, 1859 | at M, L, Bonham Esqr residence on the Pine House road | Natural Causes | |
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Hartwell Roper | June 17, 1869 | at the residence of Rev. J.P. Mealing | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Infred Padgett | July 12, 1848 | at the Joal of Edgefield | Natural Causes | ||
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
Wade Medlock | July 12, 1894 | at Benjamin Boatwrights Plantation | Unknown | ||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
Richard Stevens | February 21, 1898 | at Johnston S.C. | Natural Causes | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Hurnon[?] | April 4, 1862 | at Doct H R Cooks Plantation on Savanah River | Unknown | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
infant | infant | May 5, 1893 | at F. L. Foys | Natural Causes | |
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
William H Maharey | May 25, 1863 | at Haslin Factory on the Procelian Manufacturing Company | Accident | ||
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident |