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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jack Taylor | April 11, 1892 | at the house of Hal[?] Miles | Natural Causes | ||
Tom | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at H. L. Maysons in Beach island | Accident | |
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
Edmond Price | April 30, 1892 | at Kennys Graveyard | Unknown | ||
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
Thomas | child of Thomas M Chandler | September 11, 1850 | at Thos M. Chandler's house, and at the old Pottery | Accident | |
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
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 | |
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Anderson B. Branham | January 6, 1892 | at the plantation of M. C. Parker | Unknown | ||
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Sam | negro, slave | September 18, 1846 | at the residence of Mrs Nancy Delaughter | Natural Causes | |
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Rhoda | female slave | July 4, 1857 | at Dorn's[?] Mill | Natural Causes | |
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide |