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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Robert Johnston | May 23, 1891 | at Clarks Ferry below bridge on C. & G.[?] R R | Accident | ||
Ezekiel Thomas | February 4, 1879 | near Johnstons | Accident | train | |
Mary Blocker | December 6, 1894 | at R H Parks | Accident | strychnine | |
Hampton Weaver | colored | July 17, 1869 | at the house of and on the farm of James T Outz | Accident | shotgun |
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident | |
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
John McManas | December 4, 1883 | at the Jail | Accident | ||
Sam | negro man | October 19, 1856 | on the track of the South Carolina Rail Road between the Paper Mill and Marsh's | Accident | train |
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident | |
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
George Bowers | May 26, 1891 | at Kenards bend | Accident | mule | |
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Wallace Halloway | June 25, 1895 | at Edgefield Court house | Accident | train | |
Ryal | Negro Slave | July 28, 1851 | at Mr Thos McKies Batteau landing on Big Stephen's Creek | Accident | |
Lila Washington | February 20, 1879 | at Wesley Barns Mill | Accident | ||
Billy | November 28, 1857 | at the South Carolina Rail Road | Accident | wagon | |
Unknown | October 10, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | train | |
Mingo Mosley | January 13, 1883 | at Samuel[?] Corley's | Accident | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
John Scott | May 10, 1851 | at Vaucluse[?] Factory | Accident | horse | |
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
Gertrude | infant child | December 1, 1891 | at Edgfield Court house | Accident | |
Jesse Moragna[?] | March 3, 1882 | at Luke Moragines[?] House | Accident | ||
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Thomas | child of Thomas M Chandler | September 11, 1850 | at Thos M. Chandler's house, and at the old Pottery | Accident | |
Abram | man slave | August 17, 1860 | at the Residence of Gen[?] Jas B. Griffin | Accident | snake |
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
Tom | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at H. L. Maysons in Beach island | Accident | |
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Berry Butler | October 9, 1892 | at J. H Lagroons[?] plantation | Accident | ||
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
Manerva Sanders | March 22, 1890 | at Webb S.C | Accident | tornado | |
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident |