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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Simon | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
Auson Peeler | July 25, 1868 | near Kalmia[?] Mills | Accident | horse | |
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | 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 | |
Henry Langley | April 2, 1848 | at Wm Vances | Accident | wagon | |
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
Steve Yeldell | October 28, 1894 | at Edgefield | Accident | cart | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Ellen | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Emanuel Johnson | October 7, 1893 | at Wards | Accident | train | |
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
Hugh Wetherford | June 25, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Accident | train | |
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
William H Maharey | May 25, 1863 | at Haslin Factory on the Procelian Manufacturing Company | Accident | ||
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
George Low | col | June 6, 1869 | at Sand Bar Ferry | Accident | stems of yellow jasmine |
Charley Geeter | October 27, 1881 | at Violets Geeter's house | Accident | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | 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 |
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Mary Blocker | December 6, 1894 | at R H Parks | Accident | strychnine | |
Isaac Oliphant | November 9, 1882 | at Ritch Thomson | Accident | ||
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident | |
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Peter | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | 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 |
Charles S. Harrison | November 25, 1878 | at E.C. House | Accident | pistol | |
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident | |
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Lizzy Rardon | September 28, 1879 | at Clansey Holloways plantation | Accident | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Gertrude | infant child | December 1, 1891 | at Edgfield Court house | Accident |