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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Green | negro boy | July 23, 1850 | at the house of John Cheatham | Homicide | knife |
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Warren Kirkland | November 16, 1858 | at Benjamin Bartons | Homicide | ||
Lewis Bartie | July 26, 1864 | at Mount Zion Church | Homicide | shotgun | |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Peter | negro man | June 16, 1838 | at a Mr. Azariah[?] Abneys | Homicide | stick |
Margaret Simpkins | September 21, 1879 | on Jas C Brooks Plantation | Homicide | shotgun | |
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Joshua Hammond Jr. | September 6, 1849 | at a place belonging to John Bauskett[?] on little horse creek | Homicide | fence rail | |
John Butler | October 23, 1850 | at the House of Mr Seth Butler | Homicide | knife | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Scipio | slave | April 1, 1862 | at E. J. Youngbloods | Homicide | hatchet |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Dave Parkman | December 16, 1897 | at Cheatham place | Homicide | pistol | |
Johnson Peterson | March 9, 1892 | at Deny[?] S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Stephen Stalmaker | August 30, 1850 | at J.M.C. Freeland's | Homicide | plank | |
William Martin | May 24, 1891 | on the premises of W. E. Friday | Homicide | pistol | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Henry Mobley | December 11, 1899 | at Johnston | Homicide | pistol | |
Britton McClendon | November 11, 1850 | near the residence of Henry C. Turner | Homicide | large hunting knife | |
Prince | negro boy | December 23, 1849 | at Thos G. Lamars Mills on little horse creek | Homicide | knife |
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
William | negro man, boy, slave | February 13, 1849 | at R. F. Barretts | Homicide | knife |
Hammond Frasier | November 6, 1897 | at Trenton S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Keal Johnson | colourd man | October 20, 1866 | at J.M. Proctors Residence | Homicide | pistol |
Harry | slave | May 20, 1863 | at Jesse Gomellions | Homicide | knife |
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Alfred Hollingsworth | October 10, 1898 | at David Strothers place | Homicide | razor |