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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
Martin B. Elam | January 28, 1851 | at Mrs Mary Elams | Other | ||
Spencer Mays | freedman | November 8, 1866 | at John Buslys | Accident | pistol |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Andrew | negro man | October 6, 1855 | on the track of the South Carolina Rail Road | Accident | train |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Uriah Koon | October 16, 1847 | at the house of Col John Hunt | Accident | wagon | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
Henry | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at New Savannah in beach Island | Accident | |
Steve Yeldell | October 28, 1894 | at Edgefield | Accident | cart | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Joseph Jay | October 4, 1860 | at Joseph Jays | Accident | horse | |
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
Charles | negro boy | November 14, 1842 | On Mr Thos Oliver's Plantation, at or near Said Oliver's residence | Accident | |
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Charles | negro boy | March 7, 1857 | at Archy Clark residence | Accident | |
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
Adam | negro man Slave, boy | August 3, 1850 | at Vaucluse Factory | Accident | |
Edward Horton | August 7, 1879 | near Wesley Barrs[?] | Accident | sunstroke | |
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Richard | negroe Boy | April 21, 1863 | in the District of Edgefield | Accident | train |
Lucy Roper | June 29, 1899 | on the pantation of S.W. Miller | Accident | lightning | |
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Sherod Holms | October 10, 1884 | at Sherod Holms House | Accident | horse | |
Mary Blocker | December 6, 1894 | at R H Parks | Accident | strychnine | |
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
Louisa | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Sam | negro man | October 19, 1856 | on the track of the South Carolina Rail Road between the Paper Mill and Marsh's | Accident | train |
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident | |
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Gertrude | infant child | December 1, 1891 | at Edgfield Court house | Accident | |
Billy | November 28, 1857 | at the South Carolina Rail Road | Accident | wagon |