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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Jack Taylor | April 11, 1892 | at the house of Hal[?] Miles | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide |