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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rhoda | female slave | July 4, 1857 | at Dorn's[?] Mill | Natural Causes | |
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
John M. Tillman | May 6, 1860 | at Mr J.A Tillmans Steam Mill | Homicide | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
negro man | negro man | April 10, 1850 | near Kilcreases Ferry | Accident | |
Aggy Latily[?] | negro woman slave | June 21, 1848 | at the plantation of N L Griffin | Unknown | |
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1858 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
R. Mackgrath | January 5, 1852 | at the house of John Dobey | Other | ||
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
Warren Kirkland | November 16, 1858 | at Benjamin Bartons | Homicide | ||
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
Jim | slave | June 10, 1859 | at M, L, Bonham Esqr residence on the Pine House road | Natural Causes | |
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
William Harlin | February 19, 1856 | at a new place sitting by Mr James Swearingem(Jr) on the Akien Road | Accident | ||
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Charles | negro boy | November 14, 1842 | On Mr Thos Oliver's Plantation, at or near Said Oliver's residence | Accident |