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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Minnie Johnson | December 22, 1892 | at John Bettis plantation | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | January 10, 1892 | at Trenton | Accident | |
Joe | slave, boy | September 13, 1860 | at the residence of D. M. Glover | Homicide | |
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Berry Butler | October 9, 1892 | at J. H Lagroons[?] plantation | Accident | ||
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Dick | male slave | July 13, 1859 | at Ted Scurrys residence | Accident | |
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
Robert Johnston | May 23, 1891 | at Clarks Ferry below bridge on C. & G.[?] R R | Accident | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Thomas Rosseter[?] | August 30, 1852 | at Hamburg SC | Accident | ||
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
John Rufus Russell | October 10, 1884 | at John L Russell House | Accident | ||
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
Warren Kirkland | November 16, 1858 | at Benjamin Bartons | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
George Washington Crowder | October 19, 1866 | at Grannetville | Accident | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
Charles | negro boy | November 14, 1842 | On Mr Thos Oliver's Plantation, at or near Said Oliver's residence | Accident | |
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
Blanchy Wilson | November 30, 1893 | on the plantation of Robert Hastings | Accident | ||
John McManas | December 4, 1883 | at the Jail | Accident | ||
Henry | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at New Savannah in beach Island | Accident | |
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
Peter White | March 11, 1898 | at Jacob White upon the Plantation Silvester Chipley | Homicide | ||
John G. Riddle | July 3, 1860 | at the residence of Mr Richard Burton | Natural Causes | ||
Lizzie Darian | child | November 21, 1894 | at Waldo Richardsons | Accident | |
R. Mackgrath | January 5, 1852 | at the house of John Dobey | Other | ||
Polly Vines | April 20, 1892 | at the house of Ben. Holt | Natural Causes | ||
H. P. Church | December 27, 1842 | in the house of C. H. Goodman in the Vilage of Edgefield | Other | ||
Moses Blalock | May 19, 1882 | on the Plantation of W G McDavid | Homicide | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Charles | negro boy | March 7, 1857 | at Archy Clark residence | Accident | |
Henry Ethredge | June 2, 1899 | at the plantation of P.B. Mayson | Accident | ||
Lila Washington | February 20, 1879 | at Wesley Barns Mill | Accident | ||
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes |