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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident | |
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Isah Zimmerman | December 26, 1881 | at the Residence of W F Ste[?]eies | Accident | pistol | |
Mary Blocker | December 6, 1894 | at R H Parks | Accident | strychnine | |
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident | |
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Richard | negro boy Slave | September 9, 1850 | at Thomas Garretts | Accident | machinery |
Sam | negro man | October 19, 1856 | on the track of the South Carolina Rail Road between the Paper Mill and Marsh's | Accident | train |
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
James Blocker | May 6, 1897 | Accident | train | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Gertrude | infant child | December 1, 1891 | at Edgfield Court house | Accident | |
Ryal | Negro Slave | July 28, 1851 | at Mr Thos McKies Batteau landing on Big Stephen's Creek | Accident | |
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Balus Harrison | November 14, 1893 | at Edgefield CH | Accident | cart | |
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
William C. Goff | May 7, 1865 | at Bethany Church | Accident | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
George Delaughter | April 30, 1861 | at the Hamburg Passenger Depot | Accident | train | |
Everett Hook | July 18, 1891 | at the saw Mill of M J Hook | Accident | ||
Uriah Koon | October 16, 1847 | at the house of Col John Hunt | Accident | wagon | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Henry | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at New Savannah in beach Island | Accident | |
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Abram | man slave | August 17, 1860 | at the Residence of Gen[?] Jas B. Griffin | Accident | snake |
Joseph Jay | October 4, 1860 | at Joseph Jays | Accident | horse | |
Charles | negro boy | November 14, 1842 | On Mr Thos Oliver's Plantation, at or near Said Oliver's residence | Accident | |
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
Ben Culbreath | July 24, 1895 | at Jno A Corleys plantation | Accident | horse | |
Manerva Sanders | March 22, 1890 | at Webb S.C | Accident | tornado | |
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
Charles | negro boy | March 7, 1857 | at Archy Clark residence | Accident | |
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Berry Butler | October 9, 1892 | at J. H Lagroons[?] plantation | Accident | ||
Adam | negro man Slave, boy | August 3, 1850 | at Vaucluse Factory | Accident | |
Edward Horton | August 7, 1879 | near Wesley Barrs[?] | Accident | sunstroke | |
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Sherod Holms | October 10, 1884 | at Sherod Holms House | Accident | horse | |
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident |