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 | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Simon C. Wood[?] | December 26, 1857 | at Wm Calelaziers[?] | Natural Causes | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Julia Banks | September 4, 1891 | at Mr Banks Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide |