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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
Tom | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at H. L. Maysons in Beach island | Accident | |
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
Allen Bauknight | freedman | June 11, 1866 | at William Bauknights | Accident | |
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Louisa Wooden | October 13, 1893 | at Mose Woden | Accident | ||
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
Jane Glover | January 12, 1883 | at Handy Tanks House on John Wir[?] plantation | Unknown | ||
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident |