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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Elijah Sullivan | April 24, 1898 | at Cow-buel[?] place | Accident | ||
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes | ||
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Jane Glover | January 12, 1883 | at Handy Tanks House on John Wir[?] plantation | Unknown | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
Joseph Ruffington | January 9, 1893 | at Thos O Attaways | Accident | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident | ||
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident |