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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Green | negro boy | July 23, 1850 | at the house of John Cheatham | Homicide | knife |
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Warren Kirkland | November 16, 1858 | at Benjamin Bartons | Homicide | ||
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Margaret Simpkins | September 21, 1879 | on Jas C Brooks Plantation | Homicide | shotgun | |
Isaah Golden | August 27, 1860 | at Silverton Beach iland | Homicide | knife | |
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | 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 | ||
Joshua Hammond Jr. | September 6, 1849 | at a place belonging to John Bauskett[?] on little horse creek | Homicide | fence rail | |
Harry Anderson | December 16, 1882 | at Clinton Ward | Homicide | pistol | |
Eugene McCarty | May 11, 1861 | at Edgefield Court house | Homicide | pistol | |
John Butler | October 23, 1850 | at the House of Mr Seth Butler | Homicide | knife | |
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
Mary Randall | October 19, 1857 | at the Residence of John Randall | Homicide | razor | |
John Laudrum | October 11, 1869 | at Dons Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
Clara Bell | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Britton McClendon | November 11, 1850 | near the residence of Henry C. Turner | Homicide | large hunting knife | |
Frank Holson | freedman | January 9, 1867 | at Lee Holson | Homicide | pistol |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Sam Howard | Freedman | August 6, 1866 | at L. L. Halls | Homicide | knife |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Mary | Slave | May 17, 1847 | at the Plantation of A. Perrin | Homicide | |
Milledge Denny | colored child | June 23, 1868 | at Rev. H.T. Baitleys | Homicide | |
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Keal Johnson | colourd man | October 20, 1866 | at J.M. Proctors Residence | Homicide | pistol |
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 | |
Andrew | slave | September 3, 1850 | at A.P. Butlers plantation | Homicide | rail |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
James S. Aiton | June 19, 1893 | at J.S. Aiton deceased | Suicide | pistol | |
Aron | slave, boy | June 15, 1862 | near the White house | Suicide | vine |
Adam Barker | August 10, 1879 | at the Residence of Adam Barker Decd | Suicide | ||
Ras | slave | December 6, 1850 | at D Dennys Mill | Suicide | |
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
James Miller | March 29, 1847 | at the house of James Miller | Suicide | rope | |
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Darling Willis | March 4, 1859 | at Wade Holeston warter | Suicide | pistol | |
John Crawford | June 25, 1853 | at the house of John Crawford | Suicide | pocket knife | |
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide |