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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Amanda Glover | August 30, 1892 | at Mr Pofse[?] Lotts Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
infant child | infant child | October 6, 1891 | at her Residence | Unknown | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Alexander P. Kennard | February 16, 1847 | in the District | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
John M. Tillman | May 6, 1860 | at Mr J.A Tillmans Steam Mill | Homicide | ||
John | slave | September 27, 1863 | at the residence of Johnson A Bland | Accident | |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Berry Butler | October 9, 1892 | at J. H Lagroons[?] plantation | Accident | ||
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | September 9, 1891 | at Wards | Natural Causes | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1858 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Martin B. Elam | January 28, 1851 | at Mrs Mary Elams | Other | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Thomas Prince | July 31, 1848 | at the Joal of Said District | Natural Causes | ||
Lizza | colered woman | October 7, 1866 | at the house of Thomas S. Miller | Natural Causes | |
Gus West | October 11, 1883 | at Jack Holms | Unknown | ||
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide | ||
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide |