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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
William H Maharey | May 25, 1863 | at Haslin Factory on the Procelian Manufacturing Company | Accident | ||
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
Amanda Glover | August 30, 1892 | at Mr Pofse[?] Lotts Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | October 6, 1891 | at her Residence | Unknown | |
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
Aggy Latily[?] | negro woman slave | June 21, 1848 | at the plantation of N L Griffin | Unknown | |
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Berry Butler | October 9, 1892 | at J. H Lagroons[?] plantation | Accident | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Tom | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at H. L. Maysons in Beach island | Accident | |
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident |