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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hurnon[?] | April 4, 1862 | at Doct H R Cooks Plantation on Savanah River | Unknown | ||
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | May 5, 1893 | at F. L. Foys | Natural Causes | |
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
William H Maharey | May 25, 1863 | at Haslin Factory on the Procelian Manufacturing Company | Accident | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Martin B. Elam | January 28, 1851 | at Mrs Mary Elams | Other | ||
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas Prince | July 31, 1848 | at the Joal of Said District | Natural Causes | ||
Esther Jeter | April 17, 1893 | at Huiets x Roads | Accident | ||
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident |