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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ben Lowman | September 14, 1894 | at W.[?] L. Rawls Mills | Homicide | pistol | |
Augustus W. Burt | March 25, 1847 | at the Plantation of A.W. Burt | Homicide | axe | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Isaah Golden | August 27, 1860 | at Silverton Beach iland | Homicide | knife | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Frank Holson | freedman | January 9, 1867 | at Lee Holson | Homicide | pistol |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Griff Zimmerman | October 9, 1899 | at Johnston Township | Homicide | pistol | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
J. D. Ouzts | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield | Homicide | pistol | |
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
William Thurmond | February 14, 1856 | at Edgefield Court House, Planters[?] Hotel | Homicide | chair | |
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Edmond Sharpton | December 20, 1866 | at the House of Mrs J.P. Brewer | Homicide | pistol | |
John Williams | August 21, 1898 | at S H Nicholson | Homicide | stick | |
John Agner | December 26, 1883 | at Mr. John Agner's | Homicide | knife | |
Sam Howard | Freedman | August 6, 1866 | at L. L. Halls | Homicide | knife |
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
Benjamin F. Jones | March 24, 1845 | at W B Griffins | Homicide | shotgun | |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Isaac Boseley | July 5, 1880 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | pistol | |
Baze | negro slave | March 31, 1863 | at the D. J. Howls | Homicide | chop axe |
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 | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Wallace E. Bland | July 4, 1880 | at Edgefield C. House | Homicide | ||
Prophet Burt | freedman | December 29, 1866 | at E.N. Troys | Homicide | knife |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Samuel Posey | October 21, 1860 | at P. B. McDaniels | Homicide | pistol | |
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Henry | male slave | July 15, 1858 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | hickory stick |
Elijah Reynolds | April 11, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | pistol | |
Jesse Weatherford | September 4, 1849 | at the plantation of Mrs R Blaylock | Homicide | shotgun | |
Mary Randall | October 19, 1857 | at the Residence of John Randall | Homicide | razor | |
John E. Elsmore | November 28, 1869 | at the house of John E. Elsmore | Homicide | pistol |