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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Lilla Olophant | female infant | August 18, 1879 | at Simpton[?] Pinns[?] | Accident | |
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Edward Johnston | December 26, 1892 | at William Bushes | Unknown | ||
Esther Jeter | April 17, 1893 | at Huiets x Roads | Accident |