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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
Robert Johnston | May 23, 1891 | at Clarks Ferry below bridge on C. & G.[?] R R | Accident | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
Thomas Rosseter[?] | August 30, 1852 | at Hamburg SC | Accident | ||
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Esther Jeter | April 17, 1893 | at Huiets x Roads | Accident | ||
Isaac Grimer | December 10, 1868 | at Jacobs Branch on the Spaun Church road | Accident | ||
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident |