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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
Simon C. Wood[?] | December 26, 1857 | at Wm Calelaziers[?] | Natural Causes | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes |