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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eugene McCarty | May 11, 1861 | at Edgefield Court house | Homicide | pistol | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Mary Randall | October 19, 1857 | at the Residence of John Randall | Homicide | razor | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Matilda H. Posey | February 26, 1849 | at the house of Martin Posey | Homicide | stick | |
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Frank Holson | freedman | January 9, 1867 | at Lee Holson | Homicide | pistol |
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
James Bledsoe | May 15, 1893 | at Dr D.P. Lalsrones[?] Residence | Homicide | pistol | |
Andrew | slave | September 3, 1850 | at A.P. Butlers plantation | Homicide | rail |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Namro | negro man | August 11, 1844 | at the house of Rob King Esqr | Homicide | club or stick |
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Sam Howard | Freedman | August 6, 1866 | at L. L. Halls | Homicide | knife |
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Bill King | August 9, 1881 | at H C Kings Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Harry | slave | December 25, 1858 | at Col Arthur Sinkins[?] | Homicide | knife |
Prophet Burt | freedman | December 29, 1866 | at E.N. Troys | Homicide | knife |
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Samuel Posey | October 21, 1860 | at P. B. McDaniels | Homicide | pistol | |
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Teague Tillman | October 2, 1899 | at the plantation of Thos. H. Ramsford | Homicide | pistol | |
Louisa Laudon | October 11, 1869 | at Dorns Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife | |
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Jesse Weatherford | September 4, 1849 | at the plantation of Mrs R Blaylock | Homicide | shotgun | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
Thomas Styson | June 22, 1856 | at R. M. Fullers | Homicide | hoe | |
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Daniel | slave, boy | May 27, 1862 | at John H. Fair | Homicide | shotgun |
Lewis | negro man, boy | March 14, 1861 | at Charles Hammonds Brickyard | Homicide | pistol |
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
J. H. Christian | July 21, 1856 | in the village of Edgefield in Room No 11, in B. J. Ryans Hotel | Homicide | pistol | |
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Andy Padgett | July 5, 1891 | near Ridge Spring | Homicide | knife | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide |