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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Elijah Sullivan | April 24, 1898 | at Cow-buel[?] place | Accident | ||
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Martin B. Elam | January 28, 1851 | at Mrs Mary Elams | Other |