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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1858 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
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 | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
Jim | negro boy | July 23, 1855 | at Wade Holsteens | Homicide | knife |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Isaac Matthias Jones | October 14, 1858 | at the house of Lewis Jones (Sr) at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | knife | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Ben Lowman | September 14, 1894 | at W.[?] L. Rawls Mills | Homicide | pistol | |
Allen Smith | Freedman | January 19, 1867 | at S.B. Chappells Residence | Homicide | pistol |
Augustus W. Burt | March 25, 1847 | at the Plantation of A.W. Burt | Homicide | axe | |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
Henry Mobley | December 11, 1899 | at Johnston | Homicide | pistol | |
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Griff Zimmerman | October 9, 1899 | at Johnston Township | Homicide | pistol | |
Frank Holson | freedman | January 9, 1867 | at Lee Holson | Homicide | pistol |
Matilda H. Posey | February 26, 1849 | at the house of Martin Posey | Homicide | stick | |
J. D. Ouzts | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield | Homicide | pistol | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Johnson Peterson | March 9, 1892 | at Deny[?] S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Stephen Stalmaker | August 30, 1850 | at J.M.C. Freeland's | Homicide | plank | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
William Thurmond | February 14, 1856 | at Edgefield Court House, Planters[?] Hotel | Homicide | chair | |
Hammond Frasier | November 6, 1897 | at Trenton S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide |