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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident |