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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide |