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 Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Isaac Boseley | July 5, 1880 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | pistol | |
Baze | negro slave | March 31, 1863 | at the D. J. Howls | Homicide | chop axe |
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Jim | negro boy | July 23, 1855 | at Wade Holsteens | Homicide | knife |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Mary Randall | October 19, 1857 | at the Residence of John Randall | Homicide | razor | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Allen Smith | Freedman | January 19, 1867 | at S.B. Chappells Residence | Homicide | pistol |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Randal | negro man | May 9, 1844 | at Grancis Bettis's plantation on Horns Creek | Homicide | cow skin |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Harry Anderson | December 16, 1882 | at Clinton Ward | Homicide | pistol | |
Eugene McCarty | May 11, 1861 | at Edgefield Court house | Homicide | pistol | |
Frank Holson | freedman | January 9, 1867 | at Lee Holson | Homicide | pistol |
Henry Mobley | December 11, 1899 | at Johnston | Homicide | pistol | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Matilda H. Posey | February 26, 1849 | at the house of Martin Posey | Homicide | stick | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
Johnson Peterson | March 9, 1892 | at Deny[?] S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Stephen Stalmaker | August 30, 1850 | at J.M.C. Freeland's | Homicide | plank | |
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Hammond Frasier | November 6, 1897 | at Trenton S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Andrew | slave | September 3, 1850 | at A.P. Butlers plantation | Homicide | rail |
Sam Howard | Freedman | August 6, 1866 | at L. L. Halls | Homicide | knife |
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide | ||
Prince | negro boy | December 23, 1849 | at Thos G. Lamars Mills on little horse creek | Homicide | knife |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
William | negro man, boy, slave | February 13, 1849 | at R. F. Barretts | Homicide | knife |
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide |