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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
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 | |
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Henry | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at New Savannah in beach Island | Accident | |
Matt Loyd | February 24, 1891 | at Mr. Carmal cemetary near the Old Wills | Natural Causes | ||
Hartwell Roper | June 17, 1869 | at the residence of Rev. J.P. Mealing | Natural Causes | ||
R. Mackgrath | January 5, 1852 | at the house of John Dobey | Other | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Sallie Busch | August 21, 1892 | at Lewis Beans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
William Harlin | February 19, 1856 | at a new place sitting by Mr James Swearingem(Jr) on the Akien Road | Accident | ||
Wade Medlock | July 12, 1894 | at Benjamin Boatwrights Plantation | Unknown |