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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Keal Johnson | colourd man | October 20, 1866 | at J.M. Proctors Residence | Homicide | pistol |
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Jim | negro boy | July 23, 1855 | at Wade Holsteens | Homicide | knife |
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Allen Smith | Freedman | January 19, 1867 | at S.B. Chappells Residence | Homicide | pistol |
Louisa Laudon | October 11, 1869 | at Dorns Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Randal | negro man | May 9, 1844 | at Grancis Bettis's plantation on Horns Creek | Homicide | cow skin |
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Harry Anderson | December 16, 1882 | at Clinton Ward | Homicide | pistol | |
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Eugene McCarty | May 11, 1861 | at Edgefield Court house | Homicide | pistol | |
Lewis | negro man, boy | March 14, 1861 | at Charles Hammonds Brickyard | Homicide | pistol |
Teague Tillman | October 2, 1899 | at the plantation of Thos. H. Ramsford | Homicide | pistol | |
Mary Randall | October 19, 1857 | at the Residence of John Randall | Homicide | razor | |
James Ramsey | December 12, 1869 | at the residence of Andrew Ramsay Sr | Homicide | pistol | |
Frank Holson | freedman | January 9, 1867 | at Lee Holson | Homicide | pistol |
Lewis Moore | November 30, 1891 | at the plantation of Robert Smith | Homicide | pocket knife | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Matilda H. Posey | February 26, 1849 | at the house of Martin Posey | Homicide | stick | |
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Charles Cobb | March 13, 1893 | at or near Johnston | Homicide | umbrella | |
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Andrew | slave | September 3, 1850 | at A.P. Butlers plantation | Homicide | rail |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Sam Howard | Freedman | August 6, 1866 | at L. L. Halls | Homicide | knife |
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Thomas O'Donald | September 13, 1869 | at Dr. John E. Padgetts | Homicide | pistol | |
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Arthur Morris | June 20, 1898 | at M. W Clarks | Homicide | pistol | |
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Bill King | August 9, 1881 | at H C Kings Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Prophet Burt | freedman | December 29, 1866 | at E.N. Troys | Homicide | knife |
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide |