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 | ||
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | 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 | |
Britton McClendon | November 11, 1850 | near the residence of Henry C. Turner | Homicide | large hunting knife | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Dave Parkman | December 16, 1897 | at Cheatham place | Homicide | pistol | |
Frank Holson | freedman | January 9, 1867 | at Lee Holson | Homicide | pistol |
William Martin | May 24, 1891 | on the premises of W. E. Friday | Homicide | pistol | |
Henry Mobley | December 11, 1899 | at Johnston | Homicide | pistol | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Alfred Hollingsworth | October 10, 1898 | at David Strothers place | Homicide | razor | |
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 | ||
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
William | negro man, boy, slave | February 13, 1849 | at R. F. Barretts | Homicide | knife |
Keal Johnson | colourd man | October 20, 1866 | at J.M. Proctors Residence | Homicide | pistol |
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
Hammond Frasier | November 6, 1897 | at Trenton S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Sam Howard | Freedman | August 6, 1866 | at L. L. Halls | Homicide | knife |
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
Andrew Trapp | December 4, 1869 | near Trapps Mills | Homicide | knife | |
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Robert Parks | September 27, 1894 | at Parkville | Homicide | lick | |
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
Prophet Burt | freedman | December 29, 1866 | at E.N. Troys | Homicide | knife |
Jim | negro boy | July 23, 1855 | at Wade Holsteens | Homicide | knife |
Samuel Posey | October 21, 1860 | at P. B. McDaniels | Homicide | pistol | |
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Henry Burt | June 21, 1895 | at Henry Burts | Homicide | knife | |
Isaac Matthias Jones | October 14, 1858 | at the house of Lewis Jones (Sr) at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | knife | |
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Ben Lowman | September 14, 1894 | at W.[?] L. Rawls Mills | Homicide | pistol | |
Augustus W. Burt | March 25, 1847 | at the Plantation of A.W. Burt | Homicide | axe | |
Jesse Weatherford | September 4, 1849 | at the plantation of Mrs R Blaylock | Homicide | shotgun | |
Allen Smith | Freedman | January 19, 1867 | at S.B. Chappells Residence | Homicide | pistol |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Daniel | slave, boy | May 27, 1862 | at John H. Fair | Homicide | shotgun |
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
Griff Zimmerman | October 9, 1899 | at Johnston Township | Homicide | pistol |