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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Amanda Glover | August 30, 1892 | at Mr Pofse[?] Lotts Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1858 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Lidda Hampton | November 24, 1893 | at A Derrecks | Natural Causes | ||
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
John Rufus Russell | October 10, 1884 | at John L Russell House | Accident | ||
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
John M. Tillman | May 6, 1860 | at Mr J.A Tillmans Steam Mill | Homicide | ||
Berry Butler | October 9, 1892 | at J. H Lagroons[?] plantation | Accident | ||
Lilla Olophant | female infant | August 18, 1879 | at Simpton[?] Pinns[?] | Accident | |
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide |