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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Anderson B. Branham | January 6, 1892 | at the plantation of M. C. Parker | Unknown | ||
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Lilla Olophant | female infant | August 18, 1879 | at Simpton[?] Pinns[?] | Accident | |
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
Isaac Grimer | December 10, 1868 | at Jacobs Branch on the Spaun Church road | Accident | ||
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
negro man | negro man | April 10, 1850 | near Kilcreases Ferry | Accident | |
Edward Johnston | December 26, 1892 | at William Bushes | Unknown | ||
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Lesthia Ridlehouse[Ridlehover?] | January 5, 1892 | at the Residence of Mrs Edny Mary | Accident | ||
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
Robert Johnston | May 23, 1891 | at Clarks Ferry below bridge on C. & G.[?] R R | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | September 9, 1891 | at Wards | Natural Causes | |
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Thomas Rosseter[?] | August 30, 1852 | at Hamburg SC | Accident | ||
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
John Rufus Russell | October 10, 1884 | at John L Russell House | Accident | ||
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
Lizza | colered woman | October 7, 1866 | at the house of Thomas S. Miller | Natural Causes | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident | ||
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Tom | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at H. L. Maysons in Beach island | Accident | |
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
John McManas | December 4, 1883 | at the Jail | Accident |