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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Isaac Grimer | December 10, 1868 | at Jacobs Branch on the Spaun Church road | Accident | ||
Mid[?] Griffin | February 2, 1895 | at the Govelace[?] Place | Natural Causes | ||
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 22, 1894 | at Oak Gilchrist House | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
A. P. Shultz | January 9, 1850 | at or near Solomon Clickleys[?] | Unknown | ||
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Emaline Jackson | August 27, 1894 | at Dr Childs Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
Robert Johnston | May 23, 1891 | at Clarks Ferry below bridge on C. & G.[?] R R | Accident | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
Thomas Rosseter[?] | August 30, 1852 | at Hamburg SC | Accident | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
infant Boy | infant Boy | October 29, 1894 | at [?] Coleman | Natural Causes | |
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide |