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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Simon C. Wood[?] | December 26, 1857 | at Wm Calelaziers[?] | Natural Causes | ||
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Jack Taylor | April 11, 1892 | at the house of Hal[?] Miles | Natural Causes | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
B. C. Bryan | March 16, 1884 | at B C Bryan Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
Isaac Oliphant | November 9, 1882 | at Ritch Thomson | Accident | ||
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Lizzy Rardon | September 28, 1879 | at Clansey Holloways plantation | Accident | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide |