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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
B. C. Bryan | March 16, 1884 | at B C Bryan Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Lewis Bartie | July 26, 1864 | at Mount Zion Church | Homicide | shotgun | |
Bill King | August 9, 1881 | at H C Kings Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Bridgett Etheridge | June 26, 1893 | at John Etheridges Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Isaac Matthias Jones | October 14, 1858 | at the house of Lewis Jones (Sr) at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | knife | |
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Ben Lowman | September 14, 1894 | at W.[?] L. Rawls Mills | Homicide | pistol | |
Augustus W. Burt | March 25, 1847 | at the Plantation of A.W. Burt | Homicide | axe | |
Scipio | slave | April 1, 1862 | at E. J. Youngbloods | Homicide | hatchet |
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
John Laudrum | October 11, 1869 | at Dons Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Isaah Golden | August 27, 1860 | at Silverton Beach iland | Homicide | knife | |
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Griff Zimmerman | October 9, 1899 | at Johnston Township | Homicide | pistol | |
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
J. D. Ouzts | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield | Homicide | pistol | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
William Thurmond | February 14, 1856 | at Edgefield Court House, Planters[?] Hotel | Homicide | chair | |
Harry | slave | May 20, 1863 | at Jesse Gomellions | Homicide | knife |
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
John Agner | December 26, 1883 | at Mr. John Agner's | Homicide | knife | |
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide |