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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Hurnon[?] | April 4, 1862 | at Doct H R Cooks Plantation on Savanah River | Unknown | ||
Adam | negro man Slave, boy | August 3, 1850 | at Vaucluse Factory | Accident | |
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
John Brown | December 20, 1844 | at the house of John Brown | Natural Causes | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
infant | infant | May 5, 1893 | at F. L. Foys | Natural Causes | |
Charles | negro boy | March 7, 1857 | at Archy Clark residence | Accident | |
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
William H Maharey | May 25, 1863 | at Haslin Factory on the Procelian Manufacturing Company | Accident | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Jane Glover | January 12, 1883 | at Handy Tanks House on John Wir[?] plantation | Unknown | ||
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident | ||
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | January 18, 1892 | at the Plantation of L. G. Swearinger | Accident | |
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident |