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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Edward Johnston | December 26, 1892 | at William Bushes | Unknown | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
Lesthia Ridlehouse[Ridlehover?] | January 5, 1892 | at the Residence of Mrs Edny Mary | Accident | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Sallie Young | December 8, 1890 | at Mr A. F Broadwaters Plantation | Accident | ||
Tephius[?] Cornwall | January 14, 1845 | on one of the Public Streets of the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | ||
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | November 17, 1891 | at Mr M Toneys place | Unknown | |
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | January 18, 1892 | at the Plantation of L. G. Swearinger | Accident | |
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
W. T. Mathis | November 11, 1897 | at the Yeldell place | Natural Causes | ||
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
William Harlin | February 19, 1856 | at a new place sitting by Mr James Swearingem(Jr) on the Akien Road | Accident | ||
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident | ||
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide |