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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ellen | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Liz | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Peter | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Betsey | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Augustus W. Burt | March 25, 1847 | at the Plantation of A.W. Burt | Homicide | axe | |
Lizzy | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | axe |
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Alexander P. Kennard | February 16, 1847 | in the District | Natural Causes | ||
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Gus West | October 11, 1883 | at Jack Holms | Unknown | ||
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
Robert Johnston | May 23, 1891 | at Clarks Ferry below bridge on C. & G.[?] R R | Accident | ||
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas Rosseter[?] | August 30, 1852 | at Hamburg SC | Accident | ||
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide |