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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Sherod Holms | October 10, 1884 | at Sherod Holms House | Accident | horse | |
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Cap Bryan | February 25, 1893 | at the plantation of Mrs Doziers | Accident | ||
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
Louisa | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
John Seigler | February 13, 1856 | at J.H. Christians | Accident | buggy | |
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
Peter | Negro man | December 30, 1859 | at the Plantation of Mr Wm Bunch | Accident | |
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Wily Royal | January 7, 1895 | at J.S. Hancocks | Accident | pistol | |
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Simon | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
James Blocker | May 6, 1897 | Accident | train | ||
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Henry Peterson | June 13, 1893 | at Ridge Spring | Accident | train | |
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Steve Yeldell | October 28, 1894 | at Edgefield | Accident | cart | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Ellen | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Balus Harrison | November 14, 1893 | at Edgefield CH | Accident | cart | |
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
George Delaughter | April 30, 1861 | at the Hamburg Passenger Depot | Accident | train | |
Joe | infant negro | August 26, 1860 | at John Huiets | Accident | |
Andrew | negro man | October 6, 1855 | on the track of the South Carolina Rail Road | Accident | train |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Henry Langley | April 2, 1848 | at Wm Vances | Accident | wagon | |
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Lewis Glanton | September 8, 1846 | near the church of Antioch | Accident | horse | |
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Liz | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Ben Culbreath | July 24, 1895 | at Jno A Corleys plantation | Accident | horse | |
Charley Geeter | October 27, 1881 | at Violets Geeter's house | Accident | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident |