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 Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident | ||
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Joseph Riddle | April 10, 1856 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
Unknown | August 30, 1866 | at Fosity[?] Creek ford | Unknown | ||
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
William Anderson | April 14, 1864 | at the plantation of T.[?] S Boles | Natural Causes | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | 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 | |
Tom | negro boy | February 5, 1853 | at the late residence of Col Harling Quarles[?] deceased | Natural Causes | |
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide |