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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown |