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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prophet Burt | freedman | December 29, 1866 | at E.N. Troys | Homicide | knife |
Margaret Simpkins | September 21, 1879 | on Jas C Brooks Plantation | Homicide | shotgun | |
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
Samuel Posey | October 21, 1860 | at P. B. McDaniels | Homicide | pistol | |
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Green | negro boy | July 23, 1850 | at the house of John Cheatham | Homicide | knife |
Bridgett Etheridge | June 26, 1893 | at John Etheridges Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Ben Lowman | September 14, 1894 | at W.[?] L. Rawls Mills | Homicide | pistol | |
Jesse Weatherford | September 4, 1849 | at the plantation of Mrs R Blaylock | Homicide | shotgun | |
Augustus W. Burt | March 25, 1847 | at the Plantation of A.W. Burt | Homicide | axe | |
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
John Laudrum | October 11, 1869 | at Dons Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Daniel | slave, boy | May 27, 1862 | at John H. Fair | Homicide | shotgun |
Isaah Golden | August 27, 1860 | at Silverton Beach iland | Homicide | knife | |
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Joshua Hammond Jr. | September 6, 1849 | at a place belonging to John Bauskett[?] on little horse creek | Homicide | fence rail | |
John Butler | October 23, 1850 | at the House of Mr Seth Butler | Homicide | knife | |
Isaac Matthias Jones | October 14, 1858 | at the house of Lewis Jones (Sr) at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | knife | |
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Britton McClendon | November 11, 1850 | near the residence of Henry C. Turner | Homicide | large hunting knife | |
Griff Zimmerman | October 9, 1899 | at Johnston Township | Homicide | pistol | |
J. D. Ouzts | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield | Homicide | pistol | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Keal Johnson | colourd man | October 20, 1866 | at J.M. Proctors Residence | Homicide | pistol |
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | 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 | |
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Isaac Boseley | July 5, 1880 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | pistol | |
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Baze | negro slave | March 31, 1863 | at the D. J. Howls | Homicide | chop axe |
William Thurmond | February 14, 1856 | at Edgefield Court House, Planters[?] Hotel | Homicide | chair | |
Lewis Bartie | July 26, 1864 | at Mount Zion Church | Homicide | shotgun | |
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | 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 | ||
Jim | negro boy | July 23, 1855 | at Wade Holsteens | Homicide | knife |
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide |