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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
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 | ||
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
Bill King | August 9, 1881 | at H C Kings Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Mary Randall | October 19, 1857 | at the Residence of John Randall | Homicide | razor | |
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 | |
Randal | negro man | May 9, 1844 | at Grancis Bettis's plantation on Horns Creek | Homicide | cow skin |
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Harry Anderson | December 16, 1882 | at Clinton Ward | Homicide | pistol | |
Henry Burt | June 21, 1895 | at Henry Burts | Homicide | knife | |
Eugene McCarty | May 11, 1861 | at Edgefield Court house | Homicide | pistol | |
Prince | slave | January 15, 1865 | at John Seiglers | Homicide | knife |
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | 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 | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
John Agner | December 26, 1883 | at Mr. John Agner's | Homicide | knife | |
John M. Tillman | May 6, 1860 | at Mr J.A Tillmans Steam Mill | 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 |
Andrew | slave | September 3, 1850 | at A.P. Butlers plantation | Homicide | rail |
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Joel Roper Sr. | August 30, 1845 | at the house of Joel Roper Sr | Suicide | rope | |
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Michael Long | October 11, 1877 | near the Residence of E.N. Youngblood | Suicide | knife | |
James S. Aiton | June 19, 1893 | at J.S. Aiton deceased | Suicide | pistol | |
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Lizzie Carson | January 29, 1892 | at John J Carson Coleman Township | Suicide | pistol | |
Basil M. Boone | November 4, 1855 | at the residence of Daniel Boone | Suicide | rifle | |
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide |