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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | 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 | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
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 | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
Edward Johnston | December 26, 1892 | at William Bushes | Unknown | ||
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Lesthia Ridlehouse[Ridlehover?] | January 5, 1892 | at the Residence of Mrs Edny Mary | Accident | ||
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Belaus[Velaus?] | slave, boy | March 30, 1863 | at Robert Smiths | Accident | |
Sallie Busch | August 21, 1892 | at Lewis Beans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
Wade Medlock | July 12, 1894 | at Benjamin Boatwrights Plantation | Unknown | ||
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident | ||
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
Richard Stevens | February 21, 1898 | at Johnston S.C. | Natural Causes |