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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
B. C. Bryan | March 16, 1884 | at B C Bryan Residence | Natural Causes | ||
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 | |
Edmond Price | April 30, 1892 | at Kennys Graveyard | Unknown | ||
Julia Banks | September 4, 1891 | at Mr Banks Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Isaac Oliphant | November 9, 1882 | at Ritch Thomson | Accident | ||
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
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 | |
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | 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 | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
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 | |
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Rhoda | female slave | July 4, 1857 | at Dorn's[?] Mill | Natural Causes | |
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 | ||
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 | ||
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide |