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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
B. C. Bryan | March 16, 1884 | at B C Bryan Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Minda | negro girl | August 17, 1851 | at Mr Geo Robinsons | Unknown | |
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Anderson B. Branham | January 6, 1892 | at the plantation of M. C. Parker | Unknown | ||
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Sam | negro, slave | September 18, 1846 | at the residence of Mrs Nancy Delaughter | Natural Causes | |
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Rhoda | female slave | July 4, 1857 | at Dorn's[?] Mill | Natural Causes | |
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident |