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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide | ||
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
Lizza | colered woman | October 7, 1866 | at the house of Thomas S. Miller | Natural Causes | |
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
Tephius[?] Cornwall | January 14, 1845 | on one of the Public Streets of the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | ||
infant Boy | infant Boy | October 29, 1894 | at [?] Coleman | Natural Causes | |
John | slave | September 27, 1863 | at the residence of Johnson A Bland | Accident | |
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
negro man | negro man | April 10, 1850 | near Kilcreases Ferry | Accident | |
Mid[?] Griffin | February 2, 1895 | at the Govelace[?] Place | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | January 22, 1894 | at Oak Gilchrist House | Natural Causes | |
Martin B. Elam | January 28, 1851 | at Mrs Mary Elams | Other | ||
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Thomas Prince | July 31, 1848 | at the Joal of Said District | Natural Causes | ||
Gus West | October 11, 1883 | at Jack Holms | Unknown | ||
Emaline Jackson | August 27, 1894 | at Dr Childs Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | September 9, 1891 | at Wards | Natural Causes | |
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
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 | ||
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
Infred Padgett | July 12, 1848 | at the Joal of Edgefield | Natural Causes | ||
Julia Banks | September 4, 1891 | at Mr Banks Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes |