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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Levi H. McDaniel | March 9, 1859 | at or near the 17 mile Post on the Scotts Ferry Road | Homicide | ||
Arthur Morris | June 20, 1898 | at M. W Clarks | Homicide | pistol | |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Alfred Hollingsworth | October 10, 1898 | at David Strothers place | Homicide | razor | |
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Thomas O'Donald | September 13, 1869 | at Dr. John E. Padgetts | Homicide | pistol | |
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Sam Howard | Freedman | August 6, 1866 | at L. L. Halls | Homicide | knife |
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Alice Adkinson | October 18, 1898 | at Republican Church | Homicide | ||
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
George Ross | June 29, 1898 | at Adoms[?] place | Homicide | ||
Bill King | August 9, 1881 | at H C Kings Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Prophet Burt | freedman | December 29, 1866 | at E.N. Troys | Homicide | knife |
Bridgett Etheridge | June 26, 1893 | at John Etheridges Residence | Homicide | hoe | |
Samuel Posey | October 21, 1860 | at P. B. McDaniels | Homicide | pistol | |
Daniel | slave, boy | May 27, 1862 | at John H. Fair | Homicide | shotgun |
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Isaac Matthias Jones | October 14, 1858 | at the house of Lewis Jones (Sr) at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | knife | |
Al White | October 12, 1898 | at Mundy[?] Place | Homicide | ||
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
John Laudrum | October 11, 1869 | at Dons Steam Mills near Rocky Creek | Homicide | knife | |
Ben Lowman | September 14, 1894 | at W.[?] L. Rawls Mills | Homicide | pistol | |
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Augustus W. Burt | March 25, 1847 | at the Plantation of A.W. Burt | Homicide | axe | |
Isaah Golden | August 27, 1860 | at Silverton Beach iland | Homicide | knife | |
Presley Wise | July 11, 1891 | at D W. Padgetts plantation | Homicide | ||
Jesse Weatherford | September 4, 1849 | at the plantation of Mrs R Blaylock | Homicide | shotgun | |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Griff Zimmerman | October 9, 1899 | at Johnston Township | Homicide | pistol | |
J. D. Ouzts | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield | Homicide | pistol | |
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Benjamin F. Jones | March 24, 1845 | at W B Griffins | Homicide | shotgun | |
William Thurmond | February 14, 1856 | at Edgefield Court House, Planters[?] Hotel | Homicide | chair |