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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
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 | |
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
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 | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
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 | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide |