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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
Isaac Oliphant | November 9, 1882 | at Ritch Thomson | Accident | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident | |
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Ryal | Negro Slave | July 28, 1851 | at Mr Thos McKies Batteau landing on Big Stephen's Creek | Accident | |
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Garett Doby | October 11, 1880 | at William Rufus | Natural Causes | ||
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | July 24, 1892 | at Promised Land School house | Unknown | |
Gertrude | infant child | December 1, 1891 | at Edgfield Court house | Accident | |
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Prince | negro man | October 27, 1844 | at Mrs Elizabeth Timmermans | Suicide | |
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Amanda Glover | August 30, 1892 | at Mr Pofse[?] Lotts Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | October 6, 1891 | at her Residence | Unknown |