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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Johnson Peterson | March 9, 1892 | at Deny[?] S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Stephen Stalmaker | August 30, 1850 | at J.M.C. Freeland's | Homicide | plank | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Dave Parkman | December 16, 1897 | at Cheatham place | Homicide | pistol | |
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Henry Mobley | December 11, 1899 | at Johnston | Homicide | pistol | |
William Martin | May 24, 1891 | on the premises of W. E. Friday | Homicide | pistol | |
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Alfred Hollingsworth | October 10, 1898 | at David Strothers place | Homicide | razor | |
Prince | negro boy | December 23, 1849 | at Thos G. Lamars Mills on little horse creek | Homicide | knife |
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
William | negro man, boy, slave | February 13, 1849 | at R. F. Barretts | Homicide | knife |
John Agner | December 26, 1883 | at Mr. John Agner's | Homicide | knife | |
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
Benjamin F. Jones | March 24, 1845 | at W B Griffins | Homicide | shotgun | |
Hammond Frasier | November 6, 1897 | at Trenton S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Andrew Trapp | December 4, 1869 | near Trapps Mills | Homicide | knife | |
Henry | male slave | July 15, 1858 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | hickory stick |
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Elijah Reynolds | April 11, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | pistol | |
Lewis Bartie | July 26, 1864 | at Mount Zion Church | Homicide | shotgun | |
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Robert Parks | September 27, 1894 | at Parkville | Homicide | lick | |
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
Isaac Matthias Jones | October 14, 1858 | at the house of Lewis Jones (Sr) at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | knife | |
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Scipio | slave | April 1, 1862 | at E. J. Youngbloods | Homicide | hatchet |
Ben Lowman | September 14, 1894 | at W.[?] L. Rawls Mills | Homicide | pistol | |
Augustus W. Burt | March 25, 1847 | at the Plantation of A.W. Burt | Homicide | axe | |
John E. Elsmore | November 28, 1869 | at the house of John E. Elsmore | Homicide | pistol | |
Carey Ashley | October 11, 1879 | at J W Wises[?] plantation | Homicide | pistol | |
William Cloud | July 8, 1851 | at the Spaun[?] Hotel | Homicide | pistol | |
Robert Neid | free man of Colour | August 26, 1847 | at Vaudun[?] Factory | Homicide | dirk knife |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Lizzy | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | axe |
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Eldred Glover | March 2, 1852 | at the house of John Doby | Homicide | pistol | |
Henry Burt | June 21, 1895 | at Henry Burts | Homicide | knife | |
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Lee Ryan | September 27, 1877 | at the plantation of Abram F Broadwater | Homicide | iron instrument | |
Griff Zimmerman | October 9, 1899 | at Johnston Township | Homicide | pistol | |
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Thomas Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | pistol | |
J. D. Ouzts | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield | Homicide | pistol | |
Aaron | slave | December 5, 1852 | at A. Bushnells Shop | Homicide | chisel |