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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
A. P. Shultz | January 9, 1850 | at or near Solomon Clickleys[?] | Unknown | ||
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
John Rufus Russell | October 10, 1884 | at John L Russell House | Accident | ||
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
Lilla Olophant | female infant | August 18, 1879 | at Simpton[?] Pinns[?] | Accident | |
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
John M. Tillman | May 6, 1860 | at Mr J.A Tillmans Steam Mill | Homicide | ||
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1858 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Esther Jeter | April 17, 1893 | at Huiets x Roads | Accident | ||
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
John G. Riddle | July 3, 1860 | at the residence of Mr Richard Burton | Natural Causes | ||
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident |