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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Elijah Sullivan | April 24, 1898 | at Cow-buel[?] place | Accident | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Jane Glover | January 12, 1883 | at Handy Tanks House on John Wir[?] plantation | Unknown |