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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Rhoda | female slave | July 4, 1857 | at Dorn's[?] Mill | Natural Causes | |
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Anderson B. Branham | January 6, 1892 | at the plantation of M. C. Parker | Unknown | ||
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
William H Maharey | May 25, 1863 | at Haslin Factory on the Procelian Manufacturing Company | Accident | ||
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
Sam | negro, slave | September 18, 1846 | at the residence of Mrs Nancy Delaughter | Natural Causes | |
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1858 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
Lidda Hampton | November 24, 1893 | at A Derrecks | Natural Causes | ||
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
negro man | negro man | April 10, 1850 | near Kilcreases Ferry | Accident | |
A. P. Shultz | January 9, 1850 | at or near Solomon Clickleys[?] | Unknown | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
John M. Tillman | May 6, 1860 | at Mr J.A Tillmans Steam Mill | Homicide | ||
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Aggy Latily[?] | negro woman slave | June 21, 1848 | at the plantation of N L Griffin | Unknown | |
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes |