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 Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Jane Glover | January 12, 1883 | at Handy Tanks House on John Wir[?] plantation | Unknown | ||
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Sallie Young | December 8, 1890 | at Mr A. F Broadwaters Plantation | Accident | ||
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1858 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes |