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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Gertrude | infant child | December 1, 1891 | at Edgfield Court house | Accident | |
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Prince | negro man | October 27, 1844 | at Mrs Elizabeth Timmermans | Suicide | |
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
infant | infant | May 5, 1893 | at F. L. Foys | Natural Causes | |
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Ryal | Negro Slave | July 28, 1851 | at Mr Thos McKies Batteau landing on Big Stephen's Creek | Accident | |
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Elijah Sullivan | April 24, 1898 | at Cow-buel[?] place | Accident | ||
Garett Doby | October 11, 1880 | at William Rufus | Natural Causes | ||
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Hurnon[?] | April 4, 1862 | at Doct H R Cooks Plantation on Savanah River | Unknown | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | July 24, 1892 | at Promised Land School house | Unknown | |
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | October 6, 1891 | at her Residence | Unknown | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
William H Maharey | May 25, 1863 | at Haslin Factory on the Procelian Manufacturing Company | Accident | ||
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Amanda Glover | August 30, 1892 | at Mr Pofse[?] Lotts Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Esther Jeter | April 17, 1893 | at Huiets x Roads | Accident | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Richmond | slave | March 3, 1857 | at V[?] Elbert Blands residence at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | |
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident |