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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
A. P. Shultz | January 9, 1850 | at or near Solomon Clickleys[?] | Unknown | ||
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Sallie Young | December 8, 1890 | at Mr A. F Broadwaters Plantation | Accident | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | November 17, 1891 | at Mr M Toneys place | Unknown | |
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | January 18, 1892 | at the Plantation of L. G. Swearinger | Accident | |
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
W. T. Mathis | November 11, 1897 | at the Yeldell place | Natural Causes | ||
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
Lidda Hampton | November 24, 1893 | at A Derrecks | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Hartwell Roper | June 17, 1869 | at the residence of Rev. J.P. Mealing | Natural Causes | ||
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Wade Medlock | July 12, 1894 | at Benjamin Boatwrights Plantation | Unknown | ||
Edmond Price | April 30, 1892 | at Kennys Graveyard | Unknown | ||
Richard Stevens | February 21, 1898 | at Johnston S.C. | Natural Causes | ||
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes |