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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
W. Brooker Toney | August 12, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | pistol | |
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 | |
Namro | negro man | August 11, 1844 | at the house of Rob King Esqr | Homicide | club or stick |
Green | negro boy | July 23, 1850 | at the house of John Cheatham | Homicide | knife |
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
Warren Kirkland | November 16, 1858 | at Benjamin Bartons | Homicide | ||
Sindy Brighthop | August 21, 1898 | on S.W. Gardners place | Homicide | ||
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Lewis Bartie | July 26, 1864 | at Mount Zion Church | Homicide | shotgun | |
Margaret Simpkins | September 21, 1879 | on Jas C Brooks Plantation | Homicide | shotgun | |
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
John Butler | October 23, 1850 | at the House of Mr Seth Butler | Homicide | knife | |
Lewis | negro man, boy | March 14, 1861 | at Charles Hammonds Brickyard | Homicide | pistol |
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 | ||
Teague Tillman | October 2, 1899 | at the plantation of Thos. H. Ramsford | Homicide | pistol | |
Scipio | slave | April 1, 1862 | at E. J. Youngbloods | Homicide | hatchet |
Harry Anderson | December 16, 1882 | at Clinton Ward | Homicide | pistol | |
Louisa Laudon | October 11, 1869 | at Dorns Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Eugene McCarty | May 11, 1861 | at Edgefield Court house | Homicide | pistol | |
Mary Randall | October 19, 1857 | at the Residence of John Randall | Homicide | razor | |
Joshua Hammond Jr. | September 6, 1849 | at a place belonging to John Bauskett[?] on little horse creek | Homicide | fence rail | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Britton McClendon | November 11, 1850 | near the residence of Henry C. Turner | Homicide | large hunting knife | |
Charles M. Creswell | August 5, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
James Ramsey | December 12, 1869 | at the residence of Andrew Ramsay Sr | Homicide | pistol | |
Lewis Moore | November 30, 1891 | at the plantation of Robert Smith | Homicide | pocket knife | |
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Charles Cobb | March 13, 1893 | at or near Johnston | Homicide | umbrella | |
Arthur Morris | June 20, 1898 | at M. W Clarks | Homicide | pistol | |
Keal Johnson | colourd man | October 20, 1866 | at J.M. Proctors Residence | Homicide | pistol |
Harry | slave | May 20, 1863 | at Jesse Gomellions | Homicide | knife |
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Thomas O'Donald | September 13, 1869 | at Dr. John E. Padgetts | Homicide | pistol | |
Andrew | slave | September 3, 1850 | at A.P. Butlers plantation | Homicide | rail |
Tom | negro slave | December 18, 1858 | at Chlo Watsons | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide |