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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
B. C. Bryan | March 16, 1884 | at B C Bryan Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Hartwell Roper | June 17, 1869 | at the residence of Rev. J.P. Mealing | Natural Causes | ||
Richard Stevens | February 21, 1898 | at Johnston S.C. | Natural Causes | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | 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 | ||
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
infant | infant | May 5, 1893 | at F. L. Foys | Natural Causes | |
Bill King | August 9, 1881 | at H C Kings Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Andrew Trapp | December 4, 1869 | near Trapps Mills | Homicide | knife | |
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Peter | negro man | June 16, 1838 | at a Mr. Azariah[?] Abneys | Homicide | stick |
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Robert Parks | September 27, 1894 | at Parkville | Homicide | lick | |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Henry Burt | June 21, 1895 | at Henry Burts | Homicide | knife | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
William Martin | May 24, 1891 | on the premises of W. E. Friday | Homicide | pistol | |
Frank Holson | freedman | January 9, 1867 | at Lee Holson | Homicide | pistol |
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
James Bledsoe | May 15, 1893 | at Dr D.P. Lalsrones[?] Residence | Homicide | pistol | |
Dave Parkman | December 16, 1897 | at Cheatham place | Homicide | pistol | |
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
John Agner | December 26, 1883 | at Mr. John Agner's | Homicide | knife | |
Sam Howard | Freedman | August 6, 1866 | at L. L. Halls | Homicide | knife |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Benjamin F. Jones | March 24, 1845 | at W B Griffins | Homicide | shotgun | |
Namro | negro man | August 11, 1844 | at the house of Rob King Esqr | Homicide | club or stick |
Alfred Hollingsworth | October 10, 1898 | at David Strothers place | Homicide | razor | |
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide |