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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
John McManas | December 4, 1883 | at the Jail | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
John G. Riddle | July 3, 1860 | at the residence of Mr Richard Burton | Natural Causes | ||
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Lila Washington | February 20, 1879 | at Wesley Barns Mill | Accident | ||
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Jesse Moragna[?] | March 3, 1882 | at Luke Moragines[?] House | Accident | ||
Mingo Mosley | January 13, 1883 | at Samuel[?] Corley's | Accident | ||
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
Alexander P. Kennard | February 16, 1847 | in the District | Natural Causes | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide |