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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
Warren Kirkland | November 16, 1858 | at Benjamin Bartons | Homicide | ||
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Belaus[Velaus?] | slave, boy | March 30, 1863 | at Robert Smiths | Accident | |
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Adam | negro man Slave, boy | August 3, 1850 | at Vaucluse Factory | Accident | |
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Jesse Moragna[?] | March 3, 1882 | at Luke Moragines[?] House | Accident | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
John Brown | December 20, 1844 | at the house of John Brown | Natural Causes | ||
Mingo Mosley | January 13, 1883 | at Samuel[?] Corley's | Accident | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Charles | negro boy | March 7, 1857 | at Archy Clark residence | Accident | |
Lila Washington | February 20, 1879 | at Wesley Barns Mill | Accident | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide |