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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eddie Watson | Infant | April 25, 1892 | at Bob Stevens | Natural Causes | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Caroline Coleman | July 25, 1893 | at Brisel[?] Blacks Residence | Natural Causes | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
John G. Riddle | July 3, 1860 | at the residence of Mr Richard Burton | Natural Causes | ||
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1858 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
Peter | negro man | June 16, 1838 | at a Mr. Azariah[?] Abneys | Homicide | stick |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Henry | male slave | July 15, 1858 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | hickory stick |
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Elijah Reynolds | April 11, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | pistol | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
Lizzy | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | axe |
Eldred Glover | March 2, 1852 | at the house of John Doby | Homicide | pistol | |
male baby | male baby | May 24, 1891 | at the Saluda River | Homicide | |
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
John E. Elsmore | November 28, 1869 | at the house of John E. Elsmore | Homicide | pistol | |
Carey Ashley | October 11, 1879 | at J W Wises[?] plantation | Homicide | pistol | |
William Cloud | July 8, 1851 | at the Spaun[?] Hotel | Homicide | pistol | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Robert Neid | free man of Colour | August 26, 1847 | at Vaudun[?] Factory | Homicide | dirk knife |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Riller | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Lee Ryan | September 27, 1877 | at the plantation of Abram F Broadwater | Homicide | iron instrument | |
Dave Parkman | December 16, 1897 | at Cheatham place | Homicide | pistol | |
Frank Holson | freedman | January 9, 1867 | at Lee Holson | Homicide | pistol |
Johnson Peterson | March 9, 1892 | at Deny[?] S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Thomas Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | pistol | |
William Martin | May 24, 1891 | on the premises of W. E. Friday | Homicide | pistol | |
Stephen Stalmaker | August 30, 1850 | at J.M.C. Freeland's | Homicide | plank | |
Aaron | slave | December 5, 1852 | at A. Bushnells Shop | Homicide | chisel |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Elick Youngblood | child | March 21, 1881 | at S[?] R Warren | Homicide | |
Henry Mobley | December 11, 1899 | at Johnston | Homicide | pistol | |
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Alfred Hollingsworth | October 10, 1898 | at David Strothers place | Homicide | razor |