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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
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 | |
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
Edward Johnston | December 26, 1892 | at William Bushes | Unknown | ||
Aggy Latily[?] | negro woman slave | June 21, 1848 | at the plantation of N L Griffin | Unknown | |
Charley Geeter | October 27, 1881 | at Violets Geeter's house | Accident | ||
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Lesthia Ridlehouse[Ridlehover?] | January 5, 1892 | at the Residence of Mrs Edny Mary | Accident | ||
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
infant child | infant child | September 9, 1891 | at Wards | Natural Causes | |
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Lizzie Greeg | July 4, 1884 | at Capt Taliar[?] Hearin[?] | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
Lizza | colered woman | October 7, 1866 | at the house of Thomas S. Miller | Natural Causes | |
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Adam Barker | August 10, 1879 | at the Residence of Adam Barker Decd | Suicide | ||
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Charles | negro boy | November 14, 1842 | On Mr Thos Oliver's Plantation, at or near Said Oliver's residence | Accident | |
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident | |
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
B. C. Bryan | March 16, 1884 | at B C Bryan Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at New Savannah in beach Island | Accident | |
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident | |
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide |