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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
negro man | negro man | April 10, 1850 | near Kilcreases Ferry | Accident | |
Esther Jeter | April 17, 1893 | at Huiets x Roads | Accident | ||
Aggy Latily[?] | negro woman slave | June 21, 1848 | at the plantation of N L Griffin | Unknown | |
Mid[?] Griffin | February 2, 1895 | at the Govelace[?] Place | Natural Causes | ||
John | slave | September 27, 1863 | at the residence of Johnson A Bland | Accident | |
infant | infant | January 22, 1894 | at Oak Gilchrist House | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
Gus West | October 11, 1883 | at Jack Holms | Unknown | ||
Emaline Jackson | August 27, 1894 | at Dr Childs Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
Martin B. Elam | January 28, 1851 | at Mrs Mary Elams | Other | ||
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Thomas Prince | July 31, 1848 | at the Joal of Said District | Natural Causes | ||
infant Boy | infant Boy | October 29, 1894 | at [?] Coleman | Natural Causes | |
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | 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 | |
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
Julia Banks | September 4, 1891 | at Mr Banks Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Lizzie Darian | child | November 21, 1894 | at Waldo Richardsons | Accident | |
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Infred Padgett | July 12, 1848 | at the Joal of Edgefield | Natural Causes | ||
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide |