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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Infred Padgett | July 12, 1848 | at the Joal of Edgefield | Natural Causes | ||
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
Julia Banks | September 4, 1891 | at Mr Banks Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
William Harlin | February 19, 1856 | at a new place sitting by Mr James Swearingem(Jr) on the Akien Road | Accident | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Allen Bauknight | freedman | June 11, 1866 | at William Bauknights | Accident | |
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Louisa Wooden | October 13, 1893 | at Mose Woden | Accident | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident |