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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide | ||
Lizza | colered woman | October 7, 1866 | at the house of Thomas S. Miller | Natural Causes | |
Aggy Latily[?] | negro woman slave | June 21, 1848 | at the plantation of N L Griffin | Unknown | |
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
John Rufus Russell | October 10, 1884 | at John L Russell House | Accident | ||
Berry Butler | October 9, 1892 | at J. H Lagroons[?] plantation | Accident | ||
John | slave | September 27, 1863 | at the residence of Johnson A Bland | Accident | |
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Lilla Olophant | female infant | August 18, 1879 | at Simpton[?] Pinns[?] | Accident | |
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Martin B. Elam | January 28, 1851 | at Mrs Mary Elams | Other | ||
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
Thomas Prince | July 31, 1848 | at the Joal of Said District | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | September 9, 1891 | at Wards | Natural Causes | |
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
John McManas | December 4, 1883 | at the Jail | Accident | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
John G. Riddle | July 3, 1860 | at the residence of Mr Richard Burton | Natural Causes | ||
Belaus[Velaus?] | slave, boy | March 30, 1863 | at Robert Smiths | Accident | |
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | 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 | |
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide |