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 Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Milledge Stuard | October 8, 1881 | at Mount [??] Yard | Natural Causes | ||
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Amanda Glover | August 30, 1892 | at Mr Pofse[?] Lotts Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
George W. Medlock | January 1, 1848 | at the house of Daniel Abby | Natural Causes | ||
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | October 6, 1891 | at her Residence | Unknown | |
Alexander P. Kennard | February 16, 1847 | in the District | Natural Causes | ||
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Lizza | colered woman | October 7, 1866 | at the house of Thomas S. Miller | Natural Causes | |
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
Gus West | October 11, 1883 | at Jack Holms | Unknown | ||
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
Tephius[?] Cornwall | January 14, 1845 | on one of the Public Streets of the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | ||
Elmira Jackson | May 18, 1884 | at George Holingsworths House | Accident | ||
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Berry Butler | October 9, 1892 | at J. H Lagroons[?] plantation | Accident | ||
Joseph Moore Jr. | April 19, 1846 | at the house of Dr John D. Nicholson | Natural Causes | ||
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | September 9, 1891 | at Wards | Natural Causes | |
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident | ||
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
Tom | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at H. L. Maysons in Beach island | Accident |