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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Charles S. Harrison | November 25, 1878 | at E.C. House | Accident | pistol | |
Wallace Halloway | June 25, 1895 | at Edgefield Court house | Accident | train | |
Lizzy Rardon | September 28, 1879 | at Clansey Holloways plantation | Accident | ||
Hampton Weaver | colored | July 17, 1869 | at the house of and on the farm of James T Outz | Accident | shotgun |
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
Isaac Oliphant | November 9, 1882 | at Ritch Thomson | Accident | ||
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
Fannie Ford | March 5, 1893 | at Trenton S.C. | Accident | train | |
John Scott | May 10, 1851 | at Vaucluse[?] Factory | Accident | horse | |
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Betsey | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
John | slave | September 27, 1863 | at the residence of Johnson A Bland | Accident | |
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Unknown | October 10, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | train | |
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
R. Mackgrath | January 5, 1852 | at the house of John Dobey | Other | ||
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Martin B. Elam | January 28, 1851 | at Mrs Mary Elams | Other | ||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Rhoda | female slave | July 4, 1857 | at Dorn's[?] Mill | Natural Causes | |
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
Sam | negro, slave | September 18, 1846 | at the residence of Mrs Nancy Delaughter | Natural Causes | |
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
John G. Riddle | July 3, 1860 | at the residence of Mr Richard Burton | Natural Causes | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Hartwell Roper | June 17, 1869 | at the residence of Rev. J.P. Mealing | Natural Causes | ||
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Richard Stevens | February 21, 1898 | at Johnston S.C. | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | May 5, 1893 | at F. L. Foys | Natural Causes | |
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
Lidda Hampton | November 24, 1893 | at A Derrecks | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
Jack Taylor | April 11, 1892 | at the house of Hal[?] Miles | Natural Causes | ||
Alexander P. Kennard | February 16, 1847 | in the District | Natural Causes | ||
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes |