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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Edmond Price | April 30, 1892 | at Kennys Graveyard | Unknown | ||
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
John McManas | December 4, 1883 | at the Jail | Accident | ||
Infred Padgett | July 12, 1848 | at the Joal of Edgefield | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
John G. Riddle | July 3, 1860 | at the residence of Mr Richard Burton | Natural Causes | ||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Mingo Mosley | January 13, 1883 | at Samuel[?] Corley's | Accident | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Lila Washington | February 20, 1879 | at Wesley Barns Mill | Accident | ||
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Jesse Moragna[?] | March 3, 1882 | at Luke Moragines[?] House | Accident | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide |