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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
B. C. Bryan | March 16, 1884 | at B C Bryan Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
Infred Padgett | July 12, 1848 | at the Joal of Edgefield | Natural Causes | ||
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Isaac Oliphant | November 9, 1882 | at Ritch Thomson | Accident | ||
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes |