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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Sam | negro, slave | September 18, 1846 | at the residence of Mrs Nancy Delaughter | Natural Causes | |
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Rhoda | female slave | July 4, 1857 | at Dorn's[?] Mill | Natural Causes | |
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Anderson B. Branham | January 6, 1892 | at the plantation of M. C. Parker | Unknown | ||
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
Esther Jeter | April 17, 1893 | at Huiets x Roads | Accident | ||
negro man | negro man | April 10, 1850 | near Kilcreases Ferry | Accident | |
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
Tephius[?] Cornwall | January 14, 1845 | on one of the Public Streets of the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | ||
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
Edward Johnston | December 26, 1892 | at William Bushes | Unknown | ||
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
Lesthia Ridlehouse[Ridlehover?] | January 5, 1892 | at the Residence of Mrs Edny Mary | Accident | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
R. Mackgrath | January 5, 1852 | at the house of John Dobey | Other | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide |