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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liz | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Peter | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Dave | negro man Slave | March 16, 1849 | at Kilcrease's Ferry | Accident | boat |
Betsey | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Augustus W. Burt | March 25, 1847 | at the Plantation of A.W. Burt | Homicide | axe | |
Lizzy | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | axe |
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
Anderson B. Branham | January 6, 1892 | at the plantation of M. C. Parker | Unknown | ||
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Sam | negro, slave | September 18, 1846 | at the residence of Mrs Nancy Delaughter | Natural Causes | |
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
Rhoda | female slave | July 4, 1857 | at Dorn's[?] Mill | Natural Causes | |
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
Alexander P. Kennard | February 16, 1847 | in the District | Natural Causes | ||
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Gus West | October 11, 1883 | at Jack Holms | Unknown | ||
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
Tephius[?] Cornwall | January 14, 1845 | on one of the Public Streets of the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | ||
negro man | negro man | April 10, 1850 | near Kilcreases Ferry | Accident | |
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
Lidda Hampton | November 24, 1893 | at A Derrecks | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
Henry | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at New Savannah in beach Island | Accident | |
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes |