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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Isaac Oliphant | November 9, 1882 | at Ritch Thomson | Accident | ||
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
Lizzy Rardon | September 28, 1879 | at Clansey Holloways plantation | Accident | ||
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Elijah Sullivan | April 24, 1898 | at Cow-buel[?] place | Accident | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident |