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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown |