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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Stephen Stalmaker | August 30, 1850 | at J.M.C. Freeland's | Homicide | plank | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
Henry Mobley | December 11, 1899 | at Johnston | Homicide | pistol | |
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Matilda H. Posey | February 26, 1849 | at the house of Martin Posey | Homicide | stick | |
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide | ||
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Prince | negro boy | December 23, 1849 | at Thos G. Lamars Mills on little horse creek | Homicide | knife |
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
William | negro man, boy, slave | February 13, 1849 | at R. F. Barretts | Homicide | knife |
Isaac Boseley | July 5, 1880 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | pistol | |
Baze | negro slave | March 31, 1863 | at the D. J. Howls | Homicide | chop axe |
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
William Thurmond | February 14, 1856 | at Edgefield Court House, Planters[?] Hotel | Homicide | chair | |
Hammond Frasier | November 6, 1897 | at Trenton S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Harry | slave | May 20, 1863 | at Jesse Gomellions | Homicide | knife |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Andrew Trapp | December 4, 1869 | near Trapps Mills | Homicide | knife | |
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
Robert Parks | September 27, 1894 | at Parkville | Homicide | lick | |
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Bill King | August 9, 1881 | at H C Kings Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Henry Burt | June 21, 1895 | at Henry Burts | Homicide | knife | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Randal | negro man | May 9, 1844 | at Grancis Bettis's plantation on Horns Creek | Homicide | cow skin |
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Harry Anderson | December 16, 1882 | at Clinton Ward | Homicide | pistol | |
Eugene McCarty | May 11, 1861 | at Edgefield Court house | Homicide | pistol | |
Mary Randall | October 19, 1857 | at the Residence of John Randall | Homicide | razor | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide |