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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Infred Padgett | July 12, 1848 | at the Joal of Edgefield | Natural Causes | ||
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Julia Banks | September 4, 1891 | at Mr Banks Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Louisa Wooden | October 13, 1893 | at Mose Woden | Accident | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Allen Bauknight | freedman | June 11, 1866 | at William Bauknights | Accident | |
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Anderson B. Branham | January 6, 1892 | at the plantation of M. C. Parker | Unknown | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Sam | negro, slave | September 18, 1846 | at the residence of Mrs Nancy Delaughter | Natural Causes | |
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide |