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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Wily Royal | January 7, 1895 | at J.S. Hancocks | Accident | pistol | |
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
Richard | negro boy Slave | September 9, 1850 | at Thomas Garretts | Accident | machinery |
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
George Bowers | May 26, 1891 | at Kenards bend | Accident | mule | |
John Seigler | February 13, 1856 | at J.H. Christians | Accident | buggy | |
Isah Zimmerman | December 26, 1881 | at the Residence of W F Ste[?]eies | Accident | pistol | |
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Unknown | October 10, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | train | |
Henry Peterson | June 13, 1893 | at Ridge Spring | Accident | train | |
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
Billy | November 28, 1857 | at the South Carolina Rail Road | Accident | wagon | |
John Scott | May 10, 1851 | at Vaucluse[?] Factory | Accident | horse | |
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Uriah Koon | October 16, 1847 | at the house of Col John Hunt | Accident | wagon | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Henry | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at New Savannah in beach Island | Accident | |
Andrew | negro man | October 6, 1855 | on the track of the South Carolina Rail Road | Accident | train |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Joseph Jay | October 4, 1860 | at Joseph Jays | Accident | horse | |
Steve Yeldell | October 28, 1894 | at Edgefield | Accident | cart | |
Charles | negro boy | November 14, 1842 | On Mr Thos Oliver's Plantation, at or near Said Oliver's residence | Accident | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Charles | negro boy | March 7, 1857 | at Archy Clark residence | Accident | |
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Adam | negro man Slave, boy | August 3, 1850 | at Vaucluse Factory | Accident | |
Edward Horton | August 7, 1879 | near Wesley Barrs[?] | Accident | sunstroke | |
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Sherod Holms | October 10, 1884 | at Sherod Holms House | Accident | horse | |
Richard | negroe Boy | April 21, 1863 | in the District of Edgefield | Accident | train |