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 | ||
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
Allen Bauknight | freedman | June 11, 1866 | at William Bauknights | Accident | |
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Louisa Wooden | October 13, 1893 | at Mose Woden | Accident | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Elijah Sullivan | April 24, 1898 | at Cow-buel[?] place | Accident | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Thomas Prince | July 31, 1848 | at the Joal of Said District | Natural Causes |