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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
negro man | negro man | April 10, 1850 | near Kilcreases Ferry | Accident | |
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Esther Jeter | April 17, 1893 | at Huiets x Roads | Accident | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Lizzie Darian | child | November 21, 1894 | at Waldo Richardsons | Accident | |
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Simon C. Wood[?] | December 26, 1857 | at Wm Calelaziers[?] | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident |