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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Adam | negro man Slave, boy | August 3, 1850 | at Vaucluse Factory | Accident | |
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
John Brown | December 20, 1844 | at the house of John Brown | Natural Causes | ||
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Charles | negro boy | March 7, 1857 | at Archy Clark residence | Accident | |
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
Jane Glover | January 12, 1883 | at Handy Tanks House on John Wir[?] plantation | Unknown | ||
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident | ||
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Anderson B. Branham | January 6, 1892 | at the plantation of M. C. Parker | Unknown | ||
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
Sam | negro, slave | September 18, 1846 | at the residence of Mrs Nancy Delaughter | Natural Causes | |
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident |