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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident | ||
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Tom | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at H. L. Maysons in Beach island | Accident | |
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Thomas | child of Thomas M Chandler | September 11, 1850 | at Thos M. Chandler's house, and at the old Pottery | Accident | |
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide |