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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Amanda Glover | August 30, 1892 | at Mr Pofse[?] Lotts Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | October 6, 1891 | at her Residence | Unknown | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Esther Jeter | April 17, 1893 | at Huiets x Roads | Accident | ||
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
Edward Johnston | December 26, 1892 | at William Bushes | Unknown | ||
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
Berry Butler | October 9, 1892 | at J. H Lagroons[?] plantation | Accident | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Tephius[?] Cornwall | January 14, 1845 | on one of the Public Streets of the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | ||
Lesthia Ridlehouse[Ridlehover?] | January 5, 1892 | at the Residence of Mrs Edny Mary | Accident | ||
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide |