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 | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Elijah Sullivan | April 24, 1898 | at Cow-buel[?] place | Accident | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
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 | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
John M. Tillman | May 6, 1860 | at Mr J.A Tillmans Steam Mill | Homicide |