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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
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 | |
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Anderson B. Branham | January 6, 1892 | at the plantation of M. C. Parker | Unknown |