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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Andy Padgett | July 5, 1891 | near Ridge Spring | Homicide | knife | |
Harry | slave | May 20, 1863 | at Jesse Gomellions | Homicide | knife |
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
Edmond Sharpton | December 20, 1866 | at the House of Mrs J.P. Brewer | Homicide | pistol | |
John Williams | August 21, 1898 | at S H Nicholson | Homicide | stick | |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
John Agner | December 26, 1883 | at Mr. John Agner's | Homicide | knife | |
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Benjamin F. Jones | March 24, 1845 | at W B Griffins | Homicide | shotgun | |
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Henry | male slave | July 15, 1858 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | hickory stick |
Elijah Reynolds | April 11, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | pistol | |
Peter | negro man | June 16, 1838 | at a Mr. Azariah[?] Abneys | Homicide | stick |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Lizzy | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | axe |
Eldred Glover | March 2, 1852 | at the house of John Doby | Homicide | pistol | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
John E. Elsmore | November 28, 1869 | at the house of John E. Elsmore | Homicide | pistol | |
Carey Ashley | October 11, 1879 | at J W Wises[?] plantation | Homicide | pistol | |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
William Cloud | July 8, 1851 | at the Spaun[?] Hotel | Homicide | pistol | |
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Robert Neid | free man of Colour | August 26, 1847 | at Vaudun[?] Factory | Homicide | dirk knife |
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
William Martin | May 24, 1891 | on the premises of W. E. Friday | Homicide | pistol | |
Stephen Stalmaker | August 30, 1850 | at J.M.C. Freeland's | Homicide | plank | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Prince | slave | January 15, 1865 | at John Seiglers | Homicide | knife |
Henry Mobley | December 11, 1899 | at Johnston | Homicide | pistol |