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 | ||
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Simon C. Wood[?] | December 26, 1857 | at Wm Calelaziers[?] | Natural Causes | ||
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Edmond Price | April 30, 1892 | at Kennys Graveyard | Unknown | ||
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Elijah Sullivan | April 24, 1898 | at Cow-buel[?] place | Accident | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Sam | negro, slave | September 18, 1846 | at the residence of Mrs Nancy Delaughter | Natural Causes | |
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident |