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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thomas Prince | July 31, 1848 | at the Joal of Said District | Natural Causes | ||
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
John Brown | December 20, 1844 | at the house of John Brown | Natural Causes | ||
Infred Padgett | July 12, 1848 | at the Joal of Edgefield | Natural Causes | ||
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Prophet Burt | freedman | December 29, 1866 | at E.N. Troys | Homicide | knife |
Jim | negro boy | July 23, 1855 | at Wade Holsteens | Homicide | knife |
Peter | negro man | June 16, 1838 | at a Mr. Azariah[?] Abneys | Homicide | stick |
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Samuel Posey | October 21, 1860 | at P. B. McDaniels | Homicide | pistol | |
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Jesse Weatherford | September 4, 1849 | at the plantation of Mrs R Blaylock | Homicide | shotgun | |
Allen Smith | Freedman | January 19, 1867 | at S.B. Chappells Residence | Homicide | pistol |
Daniel | slave, boy | May 27, 1862 | at John H. Fair | Homicide | shotgun |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Johnson Peterson | March 9, 1892 | at Deny[?] S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Stephen Stalmaker | August 30, 1850 | at J.M.C. Freeland's | Homicide | plank | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Matilda H. Posey | February 26, 1849 | at the house of Martin Posey | Homicide | stick | |
Henry Mobley | December 11, 1899 | at Johnston | Homicide | pistol | |
Dave Parkman | December 16, 1897 | at Cheatham place | Homicide | pistol | |
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
William Martin | May 24, 1891 | on the premises of W. E. Friday | Homicide | pistol | |
Prince | negro boy | December 23, 1849 | at Thos G. Lamars Mills on little horse creek | Homicide | knife |
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
William | negro man, boy, slave | February 13, 1849 | at R. F. Barretts | Homicide | knife |
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Alfred Hollingsworth | October 10, 1898 | at David Strothers place | Homicide | razor | |
Hammond Frasier | November 6, 1897 | at Trenton S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide |