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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arthur Morris | June 20, 1898 | at M. W Clarks | Homicide | pistol | |
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
W. Brooker Toney | August 12, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | pistol | |
Andrew | slave | September 3, 1850 | at A.P. Butlers plantation | Homicide | rail |
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Green | negro boy | July 23, 1850 | at the house of John Cheatham | Homicide | knife |
Harry | slave | December 25, 1858 | at Col Arthur Sinkins[?] | Homicide | knife |
Bridgett Etheridge | June 26, 1893 | at John Etheridges Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Warren Kirkland | November 16, 1858 | at Benjamin Bartons | Homicide | ||
Margaret Simpkins | September 21, 1879 | on Jas C Brooks Plantation | Homicide | shotgun | |
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
John Butler | October 23, 1850 | at the House of Mr Seth Butler | Homicide | knife | |
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
Thomas Styson | June 22, 1856 | at R. M. Fullers | Homicide | hoe | |
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
J. H. Christian | July 21, 1856 | in the village of Edgefield in Room No 11, in B. J. Ryans Hotel | Homicide | pistol | |
John Laudrum | October 11, 1869 | at Dons Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Isaah Golden | August 27, 1860 | at Silverton Beach iland | Homicide | knife | |
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Joshua Hammond Jr. | September 6, 1849 | at a place belonging to John Bauskett[?] on little horse creek | Homicide | fence rail | |
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Britton McClendon | November 11, 1850 | near the residence of Henry C. Turner | Homicide | large hunting knife | |
Frank Holson | freedman | January 9, 1867 | at Lee Holson | Homicide | pistol |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Andy Padgett | July 5, 1891 | near Ridge Spring | Homicide | knife | |
Keal Johnson | colourd man | October 20, 1866 | at J.M. Proctors Residence | Homicide | pistol |
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Edmond Sharpton | December 20, 1866 | at the House of Mrs J.P. Brewer | Homicide | pistol | |
Sam Howard | Freedman | August 6, 1866 | at L. L. Halls | Homicide | knife |
John Williams | August 21, 1898 | at S H Nicholson | Homicide | stick | |
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide |