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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
John | slave | September 27, 1863 | at the residence of Johnson A Bland | Accident | |
Henry Peterson | June 13, 1893 | at Ridge Spring | Accident | train | |
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Milledge Fuller | freedman | February 18, 1867 | at John Ransford plantation | Accident | |
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
Balus Harrison | November 14, 1893 | at Edgefield CH | Accident | cart | |
Spencer Mays | freedman | November 8, 1866 | at John Buslys | Accident | pistol |
Andrew | negro man | October 6, 1855 | on the track of the South Carolina Rail Road | Accident | train |
George Delaughter | April 30, 1861 | at the Hamburg Passenger Depot | Accident | train | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Steve Yeldell | October 28, 1894 | at Edgefield | Accident | cart | |
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
John Rufus Russell | October 10, 1884 | at John L Russell House | Accident | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
Ezekiel Thomas | February 4, 1879 | near Johnstons | Accident | train | |
Ben Culbreath | July 24, 1895 | at Jno A Corleys plantation | Accident | horse | |
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Lilla Olophant | female infant | August 18, 1879 | at Simpton[?] Pinns[?] | Accident | |
Jim Coleman | freidman | November 15, 1866 | at the Mackey Place on horse Creek | Accident | |
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
John Radford | April 12, 1860 | at the residence of John Radford | Accident | wagon | |
John Hester | May 13, 1846 | at Hamburg in the shop of J.J. Kenedy | Accident | ||
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Sam | negro man | October 19, 1856 | on the track of the South Carolina Rail Road between the Paper Mill and Marsh's | Accident | train |
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident | |
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Mary Blocker | December 6, 1894 | at R H Parks | Accident | strychnine | |
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident | |
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
John McManas | December 4, 1883 | at the Jail | Accident | ||
Mingo Mosley | January 13, 1883 | at Samuel[?] Corley's | Accident | ||
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
Jesse Moragna[?] | March 3, 1882 | at Luke Moragines[?] House | Accident | ||
Gertrude | infant child | December 1, 1891 | at Edgfield Court house | Accident | |
Lila Washington | February 20, 1879 | at Wesley Barns Mill | Accident | ||
Billy | November 28, 1857 | at the South Carolina Rail Road | Accident | wagon | |
Ryal | Negro Slave | July 28, 1851 | at Mr Thos McKies Batteau landing on Big Stephen's Creek | Accident |