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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Rhoda | female slave | July 4, 1857 | at Dorn's[?] Mill | Natural Causes | |
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
William H Maharey | May 25, 1863 | at Haslin Factory on the Procelian Manufacturing Company | Accident | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
Martha Lanham | January 29, 1892 | at Wilts[?] Curryes place | Natural Causes | ||
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
negro man | negro man | April 10, 1850 | near Kilcreases Ferry | Accident | |
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
Aggy Latily[?] | negro woman slave | June 21, 1848 | at the plantation of N L Griffin | Unknown | |
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Thomas | child of Thomas M Chandler | September 11, 1850 | at Thos M. Chandler's house, and at the old Pottery | Accident | |
Dilsey Seigler | September 20, 1869 | at Miles Mills | Natural Causes | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident |