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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
Warren Kirkland | November 16, 1858 | at Benjamin Bartons | Homicide | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Jack Taylor | April 11, 1892 | at the house of Hal[?] Miles | Natural Causes | ||
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Jim | slave | June 10, 1859 | at M, L, Bonham Esqr residence on the Pine House road | Natural Causes | |
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
Adam | negro man Slave, boy | August 3, 1850 | at Vaucluse Factory | Accident | |
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Allen Bauknight | freedman | June 11, 1866 | at William Bauknights | Accident | |
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
John Brown | December 20, 1844 | at the house of John Brown | Natural Causes | ||
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Louisa Wooden | October 13, 1893 | at Mose Woden | Accident | ||
Charles | negro boy | March 7, 1857 | at Archy Clark residence | Accident | |
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident |