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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Lizzie Darian | child | November 21, 1894 | at Waldo Richardsons | Accident | |
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
Jim | slave | June 10, 1859 | at M, L, Bonham Esqr residence on the Pine House road | Natural Causes | |
Simon C. Wood[?] | December 26, 1857 | at Wm Calelaziers[?] | Natural Causes | ||
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Elijah Sullivan | April 24, 1898 | at Cow-buel[?] place | Accident | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident |