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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
Isaac Oliphant | November 9, 1882 | at Ritch Thomson | Accident | ||
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
Wade Medlock | July 12, 1894 | at Benjamin Boatwrights Plantation | Unknown | ||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
Richard Stevens | February 21, 1898 | at Johnston S.C. | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Lizzy Rardon | September 28, 1879 | at Clansey Holloways plantation | Accident | ||
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
Jim | slave | June 10, 1859 | at M, L, Bonham Esqr residence on the Pine House road | Natural Causes | |
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
B. C. Bryan | March 16, 1884 | at B C Bryan Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
infant | infant | May 5, 1893 | at F. L. Foys | Natural Causes | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Hurnon[?] | April 4, 1862 | at Doct H R Cooks Plantation on Savanah River | Unknown | ||
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Anderson B. Branham | January 6, 1892 | at the plantation of M. C. Parker | Unknown | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident |