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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Andrew | negro man | October 6, 1855 | on the track of the South Carolina Rail Road | Accident | train |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Ellen | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Albert Brunson | June 26, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Accident | train | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Spencer Mays | freedman | November 8, 1866 | at John Buslys | Accident | pistol |
Steve Yeldell | October 28, 1894 | at Edgefield | Accident | cart | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
Henry Langley | April 2, 1848 | at Wm Vances | Accident | wagon | |
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident | ||
Isaac Grimer | December 10, 1868 | at Jacobs Branch on the Spaun Church road | Accident | ||
Lewis Glanton | September 8, 1846 | near the church of Antioch | Accident | horse | |
Liz | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Robert Johnston | May 23, 1891 | at Clarks Ferry below bridge on C. & G.[?] R R | Accident | ||
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Elijah Sullivan | April 24, 1898 | at Cow-buel[?] place | Accident | ||
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Charley Geeter | October 27, 1881 | at Violets Geeter's house | Accident | ||
Thomas Rosseter[?] | August 30, 1852 | at Hamburg SC | Accident | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
George Bowers | May 26, 1891 | at Kenards bend | Accident | mule | |
Peter | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Charles S. Harrison | November 25, 1878 | at E.C. House | Accident | pistol | |
Mary Blocker | December 6, 1894 | at R H Parks | Accident | strychnine | |
Wallace Halloway | June 25, 1895 | at Edgefield Court house | Accident | train | |
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident | |
Hampton Weaver | colored | July 17, 1869 | at the house of and on the farm of James T Outz | Accident | shotgun |
Lizzy Rardon | September 28, 1879 | at Clansey Holloways plantation | Accident | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Sam | negro man | October 19, 1856 | on the track of the South Carolina Rail Road between the Paper Mill and Marsh's | Accident | train |
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident | |
Isaac Oliphant | November 9, 1882 | at Ritch Thomson | Accident | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
John Scott | May 10, 1851 | at Vaucluse[?] Factory | Accident | horse | |
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Gertrude | infant child | December 1, 1891 | at Edgfield Court house | Accident | |
Betsey | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Ryal | Negro Slave | July 28, 1851 | at Mr Thos McKies Batteau landing on Big Stephen's Creek | Accident | |
John | slave | September 27, 1863 | at the residence of Johnson A Bland | Accident | |
Billy | November 28, 1857 | at the South Carolina Rail Road | Accident | wagon |