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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
John Rufus Russell | October 10, 1884 | at John L Russell House | Accident | ||
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Edward Johnston | December 26, 1892 | at William Bushes | Unknown | ||
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
Lilla Olophant | female infant | August 18, 1879 | at Simpton[?] Pinns[?] | Accident | |
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
Lidda Hampton | November 24, 1893 | at A Derrecks | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Lesthia Ridlehouse[Ridlehover?] | January 5, 1892 | at the Residence of Mrs Edny Mary | Accident | ||
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident | |
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident |