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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
William Harlin | February 19, 1856 | at a new place sitting by Mr James Swearingem(Jr) on the Akien Road | Accident | ||
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
B. C. Bryan | March 16, 1884 | at B C Bryan Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Allen Bauknight | freedman | June 11, 1866 | at William Bauknights | Accident | |
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Louisa Wooden | October 13, 1893 | at Mose Woden | Accident | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide |