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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Bill King | August 9, 1881 | at H C Kings Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Bridgett Etheridge | June 26, 1893 | at John Etheridges Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
John Laudrum | October 11, 1869 | at Dons Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Isaah Golden | August 27, 1860 | at Silverton Beach iland | Homicide | knife | |
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Dave Parkman | December 16, 1897 | at Cheatham place | Homicide | pistol | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Frank Holson | freedman | January 9, 1867 | at Lee Holson | Homicide | pistol |
William Martin | May 24, 1891 | on the premises of W. E. Friday | Homicide | pistol | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Alfred Hollingsworth | October 10, 1898 | at David Strothers place | Homicide | razor | |
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
Edmond Sharpton | December 20, 1866 | at the House of Mrs J.P. Brewer | Homicide | pistol | |
John Williams | August 21, 1898 | at S H Nicholson | Homicide | stick | |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
John Agner | December 26, 1883 | at Mr. John Agner's | Homicide | knife | |
Sam Howard | Freedman | August 6, 1866 | at L. L. Halls | Homicide | knife |
Benjamin F. Jones | March 24, 1845 | at W B Griffins | Homicide | shotgun | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Joel Roper Sr. | August 30, 1845 | at the house of Joel Roper Sr | Suicide | rope | |
Michael Long | October 11, 1877 | near the Residence of E.N. Youngblood | Suicide | knife | |
John Randall | October 19, 1857 | at the dwelling house of John Randall | Suicide | razor | |
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
Joshua Miller | December 22, 1851 | at Joshua Millers | Suicide | shotgun | |
Sarah Jowls[?] | November 16, 1858 | at Mrs Mary Ann Keys | Suicide | rope | |
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Samuel M. Dowel | July 25, 1844 | at James Murrels | Suicide | knife | |
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
Larkin Swearengen | April 1, 1852 | at the hous of Larkin Swearengen | Suicide | razor |