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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
B. C. Bryan | March 16, 1884 | at B C Bryan Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
Hartwell Roper | June 17, 1869 | at the residence of Rev. J.P. Mealing | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | July 24, 1892 | at Promised Land School house | Unknown | |
Gertrude | infant child | December 1, 1891 | at Edgfield Court house | Accident | |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
infant | infant | May 5, 1893 | at F. L. Foys | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Prince | negro man | October 27, 1844 | at Mrs Elizabeth Timmermans | Suicide | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Ryal | Negro Slave | July 28, 1851 | at Mr Thos McKies Batteau landing on Big Stephen's Creek | Accident | |
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Hurnon[?] | April 4, 1862 | at Doct H R Cooks Plantation on Savanah River | Unknown | ||
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Garett Doby | October 11, 1880 | at William Rufus | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
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. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Amanda Glover | August 30, 1892 | at Mr Pofse[?] Lotts Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | October 6, 1891 | at her Residence | Unknown | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
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 | ||
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Henry Goodman | May 4, 1851 | at or near to William H Adams on little horse Creek | Accident | ||
Joseph W. Glover | September 2, 1844 | at Charles Comptys[?] Hotel | Homicide | ||
William H Maharey | May 25, 1863 | at Haslin Factory on the Procelian Manufacturing Company | Accident | ||
Harriet | negro woman | July 20, 1859 | at the residence of JB Rease | Natural Causes | |
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Edward Johnston | December 26, 1892 | at William Bushes | Unknown | ||
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident |