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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident |