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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
William Harlin | February 19, 1856 | at a new place sitting by Mr James Swearingem(Jr) on the Akien Road | Accident | ||
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Edmond Price | April 30, 1892 | at Kennys Graveyard | Unknown | ||
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Allen Bauknight | freedman | June 11, 1866 | at William Bauknights | Accident | |
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Louisa Wooden | October 13, 1893 | at Mose Woden | Accident | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Anderson B. Branham | January 6, 1892 | at the plantation of M. C. Parker | Unknown | ||
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Sam | negro, slave | September 18, 1846 | at the residence of Mrs Nancy Delaughter | Natural Causes | |
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes |