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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rhoda | female slave | July 4, 1857 | at Dorn's[?] Mill | Natural Causes | |
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
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 | |
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | September 9, 1891 | at Wards | Natural Causes | |
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Aggy Latily[?] | negro woman slave | June 21, 1848 | at the plantation of N L Griffin | Unknown | |
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
Lizza | colered woman | October 7, 1866 | at the house of Thomas S. Miller | Natural Causes | |
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
negro man | negro man | April 10, 1850 | near Kilcreases Ferry | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
A. P. Shultz | January 9, 1850 | at or near Solomon Clickleys[?] | Unknown | ||
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
Simon C. Wood[?] | December 26, 1857 | at Wm Calelaziers[?] | Natural Causes | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident |