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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Peter | negro man | June 16, 1838 | at a Mr. Azariah[?] Abneys | Homicide | stick |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Bill King | August 9, 1881 | at H C Kings Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Lewis | negro man, boy | March 14, 1861 | at Charles Hammonds Brickyard | Homicide | pistol |
Teague Tillman | October 2, 1899 | at the plantation of Thos. H. Ramsford | Homicide | pistol | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Scipio | slave | April 1, 1862 | at E. J. Youngbloods | Homicide | hatchet |
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Louisa Laudon | October 11, 1869 | at Dorns Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Charles Cobb | March 13, 1893 | at or near Johnston | Homicide | umbrella | |
Dave Parkman | December 16, 1897 | at Cheatham place | Homicide | pistol | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
William Martin | May 24, 1891 | on the premises of W. E. Friday | Homicide | pistol | |
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
James Ramsey | December 12, 1869 | at the residence of Andrew Ramsay Sr | Homicide | pistol | |
Lewis Moore | November 30, 1891 | at the plantation of Robert Smith | Homicide | pocket knife | |
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Thomas O'Donald | September 13, 1869 | at Dr. John E. Padgetts | Homicide | pistol | |
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
John Agner | December 26, 1883 | at Mr. John Agner's | Homicide | knife | |
Arthur Morris | June 20, 1898 | at M. W Clarks | Homicide | pistol | |
Benjamin F. Jones | March 24, 1845 | at W B Griffins | Homicide | shotgun | |
Harry | slave | May 20, 1863 | at Jesse Gomellions | Homicide | knife |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
Alfred Hollingsworth | October 10, 1898 | at David Strothers place | Homicide | razor | |
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Bridgett Etheridge | June 26, 1893 | at John Etheridges Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Henry | male slave | July 15, 1858 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | hickory stick |
Elijah Reynolds | April 11, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | pistol | |
John E. Elsmore | November 28, 1869 | at the house of John E. Elsmore | Homicide | pistol | |
Carey Ashley | October 11, 1879 | at J W Wises[?] plantation | Homicide | pistol | |
William Cloud | July 8, 1851 | at the Spaun[?] Hotel | Homicide | pistol | |
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Robert Neid | free man of Colour | August 26, 1847 | at Vaudun[?] Factory | Homicide | dirk knife |
John Laudrum | October 11, 1869 | at Dons Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife |