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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
Simon C. Wood[?] | December 26, 1857 | at Wm Calelaziers[?] | Natural Causes | ||
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident | |
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
B. C. Bryan | March 16, 1884 | at B C Bryan Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Matt Loyd | February 24, 1891 | at Mr. Carmal cemetary near the Old Wills | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
Sallie Busch | August 21, 1892 | at Lewis Beans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Gertrude | infant child | December 1, 1891 | at Edgfield Court house | Accident | |
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Prince | negro man | October 27, 1844 | at Mrs Elizabeth Timmermans | Suicide | |
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Ryal | Negro Slave | July 28, 1851 | at Mr Thos McKies Batteau landing on Big Stephen's Creek | Accident | |
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Garett Doby | October 11, 1880 | at William Rufus | Natural Causes | ||
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | July 24, 1892 | at Promised Land School house | Unknown | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
infant child | infant child | October 6, 1891 | at her Residence | Unknown | |
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown |