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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
Adam | negro man Slave, boy | August 3, 1850 | at Vaucluse Factory | Accident | |
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
John Brown | December 20, 1844 | at the house of John Brown | Natural Causes | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Charles | negro boy | March 7, 1857 | at Archy Clark residence | Accident | |
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other |