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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
John McManas | December 4, 1883 | at the Jail | Accident | ||
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
John G. Riddle | July 3, 1860 | at the residence of Mr Richard Burton | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
Jack Taylor | April 11, 1892 | at the house of Hal[?] Miles | Natural Causes | ||
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Mingo Mosley | January 13, 1883 | at Samuel[?] Corley's | Accident | ||
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Lila Washington | February 20, 1879 | at Wesley Barns Mill | Accident | ||
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Jesse Moragna[?] | March 3, 1882 | at Luke Moragines[?] House | Accident | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Alexander P. Kennard | February 16, 1847 | in the District | Natural Causes | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident |