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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Isaac Matthias Jones | October 14, 1858 | at the house of Lewis Jones (Sr) at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | knife | |
John E. Paul | June 14, 1892 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Ben Lowman | September 14, 1894 | at W.[?] L. Rawls Mills | Homicide | pistol | |
Augustus W. Burt | March 25, 1847 | at the Plantation of A.W. Burt | Homicide | axe | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
J. D. Ouzts | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield | Homicide | pistol | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Johnson Peterson | March 9, 1892 | at Deny[?] S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Prince | slave | January 15, 1865 | at John Seiglers | Homicide | knife |
Stephen Stalmaker | August 30, 1850 | at J.M.C. Freeland's | Homicide | plank | |
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Henry Padget | freedman | November 14, 1866 | at Wm Padgets premises on Clouds Creek | Homicide | |
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Henry Mobley | December 11, 1899 | at Johnston | Homicide | pistol | |
Michael Long | April 17, 1849 | at the house of Michael Long | Homicide | shotgun | |
Griff Zimmerman | October 9, 1899 | at Johnston Township | Homicide | pistol | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
John Agner | December 26, 1883 | at Mr. John Agner's | Homicide | knife | |
Benjamin F. Jones | March 24, 1845 | at W B Griffins | Homicide | shotgun | |
Prince | negro boy | December 23, 1849 | at Thos G. Lamars Mills on little horse creek | Homicide | knife |
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
John M. Tillman | May 6, 1860 | at Mr J.A Tillmans Steam Mill | Homicide | ||
Isaac Boseley | July 5, 1880 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | pistol | |
William | negro man, boy, slave | February 13, 1849 | at R. F. Barretts | Homicide | knife |
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 | |
Hammond Frasier | November 6, 1897 | at Trenton S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Hardy Boulware | January 2, 1862 | at Hardy Boulwares | Homicide | ||
Joel Roper Sr. | August 30, 1845 | at the house of Joel Roper Sr | Suicide | rope | |
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Sarah Jowls[?] | November 16, 1858 | at Mrs Mary Ann Keys | Suicide | rope | |
Samuel M. Dowel | July 25, 1844 | at James Murrels | Suicide | knife | |
Michael Long | October 11, 1877 | near the Residence of E.N. Youngblood | Suicide | knife | |
Joshua Miller | December 22, 1851 | at Joshua Millers | Suicide | shotgun | |
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
Larkin Swearengen | April 1, 1852 | at the hous of Larkin Swearengen | Suicide | razor | |
Prince | negro man | October 27, 1844 | at Mrs Elizabeth Timmermans | Suicide | |
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide |