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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Daniel | slave, boy | May 27, 1862 | at John H. Fair | Homicide | shotgun |
Harry Anderson | December 16, 1882 | at Clinton Ward | Homicide | pistol | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Eugene McCarty | May 11, 1861 | at Edgefield Court house | Homicide | pistol | |
Mary Randall | October 19, 1857 | at the Residence of John Randall | Homicide | razor | |
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | 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 | |
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Henry Mobley | December 11, 1899 | at Johnston | Homicide | pistol | |
Andrew | slave | September 3, 1850 | at A.P. Butlers plantation | Homicide | rail |
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
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 | ||
John Agner | December 26, 1883 | at Mr. John Agner's | Homicide | knife | |
William | negro man, boy, slave | February 13, 1849 | at R. F. Barretts | Homicide | knife |
Benjamin F. Jones | March 24, 1845 | at W B Griffins | Homicide | shotgun | |
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Hammond Frasier | November 6, 1897 | at Trenton S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Henry | male slave | July 15, 1858 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | hickory stick |
Elijah Reynolds | April 11, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | pistol | |
Lewis Bartie | July 26, 1864 | at Mount Zion Church | Homicide | shotgun | |
Andrew Trapp | December 4, 1869 | near Trapps Mills | Homicide | knife | |
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Harry | slave | December 25, 1858 | at Col Arthur Sinkins[?] | Homicide | knife |
Robert Parks | September 27, 1894 | at Parkville | Homicide | lick | |
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Henry Burt | June 21, 1895 | at Henry Burts | Homicide | knife | |
Scipio | slave | April 1, 1862 | at E. J. Youngbloods | Homicide | hatchet |
John E. Elsmore | November 28, 1869 | at the house of John E. Elsmore | Homicide | pistol | |
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Carey Ashley | October 11, 1879 | at J W Wises[?] plantation | Homicide | pistol | |
William Cloud | July 8, 1851 | at the Spaun[?] Hotel | Homicide | pistol | |
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
Robert Neid | free man of Colour | August 26, 1847 | at Vaudun[?] Factory | Homicide | dirk knife |
Thomas Styson | June 22, 1856 | at R. M. Fullers | Homicide | hoe | |
Lizzy | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | axe |
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Eldred Glover | March 2, 1852 | at the house of John Doby | Homicide | pistol |