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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thomas | child of Thomas M Chandler | September 11, 1850 | at Thos M. Chandler's house, and at the old Pottery | Accident | |
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
Isaac Oliphant | November 9, 1882 | at Ritch Thomson | Accident | ||
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | January 18, 1892 | at the Plantation of L. G. Swearinger | Accident |