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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | July 24, 1892 | at Promised Land School house | Unknown | |
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Gertrude | infant child | December 1, 1891 | at Edgfield Court house | Accident | |
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Prince | negro man | October 27, 1844 | at Mrs Elizabeth Timmermans | Suicide | |
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Ryal | Negro Slave | July 28, 1851 | at Mr Thos McKies Batteau landing on Big Stephen's Creek | Accident | |
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Amanda Glover | August 30, 1892 | at Mr Pofse[?] Lotts Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | October 6, 1891 | at her Residence | Unknown | |
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide | ||
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident |