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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
William H Maharey | May 25, 1863 | at Haslin Factory on the Procelian Manufacturing Company | Accident | ||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
Aggy Latily[?] | negro woman slave | June 21, 1848 | at the plantation of N L Griffin | Unknown | |
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Sallie Young | December 8, 1890 | at Mr A. F Broadwaters Plantation | Accident | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1858 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
infant | infant | January 22, 1894 | at Oak Gilchrist House | Natural Causes | |
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
infant child | infant child | November 17, 1891 | at Mr M Toneys place | Unknown | |
Emaline Jackson | August 27, 1894 | at Dr Childs Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | January 18, 1892 | at the Plantation of L. G. Swearinger | Accident | |
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
John Rufus Russell | October 10, 1884 | at John L Russell House | Accident | ||
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
W. T. Mathis | November 11, 1897 | at the Yeldell place | Natural Causes | ||
John M. Tillman | May 6, 1860 | at Mr J.A Tillmans Steam Mill | Homicide | ||
infant Boy | infant Boy | October 29, 1894 | at [?] Coleman | Natural Causes | |
Lilla Olophant | female infant | August 18, 1879 | at Simpton[?] Pinns[?] | Accident | |
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
Mid[?] Griffin | February 2, 1895 | at the Govelace[?] Place | Natural Causes | ||
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Henry | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at New Savannah in beach Island | Accident | |
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident |