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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Andrew | slave | September 3, 1850 | at A.P. Butlers plantation | Homicide | rail |
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Lewis Bartie | July 26, 1864 | at Mount Zion Church | Homicide | shotgun | |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Bill King | August 9, 1881 | at H C Kings Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Harry | slave | December 25, 1858 | at Col Arthur Sinkins[?] | Homicide | knife |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Scipio | slave | April 1, 1862 | at E. J. Youngbloods | Homicide | hatchet |
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Thomas Styson | June 22, 1856 | at R. M. Fullers | Homicide | hoe | |
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
J. H. Christian | July 21, 1856 | in the village of Edgefield in Room No 11, in B. J. Ryans Hotel | Homicide | pistol | |
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Johnson Peterson | March 9, 1892 | at Deny[?] S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Stephen Stalmaker | August 30, 1850 | at J.M.C. Freeland's | Homicide | plank | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Henry Mobley | December 11, 1899 | at Johnston | Homicide | pistol | |
Andy Padgett | July 5, 1891 | near Ridge Spring | Homicide | knife | |
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Harry | slave | May 20, 1863 | at Jesse Gomellions | Homicide | knife |
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
John Agner | December 26, 1883 | at Mr. John Agner's | Homicide | knife | |
Prince | negro boy | December 23, 1849 | at Thos G. Lamars Mills on little horse creek | Homicide | knife |
Benjamin F. Jones | March 24, 1845 | at W B Griffins | Homicide | shotgun | |
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
William | negro man, boy, slave | February 13, 1849 | at R. F. Barretts | Homicide | knife |
Hammond Frasier | November 6, 1897 | at Trenton S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide |