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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Lizza | colered woman | October 7, 1866 | at the house of Thomas S. Miller | Natural Causes | |
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
infant Boy | infant Boy | October 29, 1894 | at [?] Coleman | Natural Causes | |
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
W. T. Mathis | November 11, 1897 | at the Yeldell place | Natural Causes | ||
John Rufus Russell | October 10, 1884 | at John L Russell House | Accident | ||
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Mid[?] Griffin | February 2, 1895 | at the Govelace[?] Place | Natural Causes | ||
Tephius[?] Cornwall | January 14, 1845 | on one of the Public Streets of the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | ||
Lilla Olophant | female infant | August 18, 1879 | at Simpton[?] Pinns[?] | Accident | |
infant | infant | January 22, 1894 | at Oak Gilchrist House | Natural Causes | |
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
Sallie Young | December 8, 1890 | at Mr A. F Broadwaters Plantation | Accident | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
Emaline Jackson | August 27, 1894 | at Dr Childs Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | November 17, 1891 | at Mr M Toneys place | Unknown | |
infant child | infant child | September 9, 1891 | at Wards | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | January 18, 1892 | at the Plantation of L. G. Swearinger | Accident | |
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
John G. Riddle | July 3, 1860 | at the residence of Mr Richard Burton | Natural Causes | ||
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
Henry | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at New Savannah in beach Island | Accident | |
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
R. Mackgrath | January 5, 1852 | at the house of John Dobey | Other | ||
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide |