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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
Jack Taylor | April 11, 1892 | at the house of Hal[?] Miles | Natural Causes | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide |