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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
John H. Anderson | March 21, 1891 | at Tom Anderson place | Homicide | ||
Caroline | Free negro | August 26, 1858 | four miles from Hamburg | Unknown | |
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
white man | white man | October 21, 1849 | in the woods near Holsonbakers[?] old fields | Natural Causes | |
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
Pink Williams | October 6, 1898 | at or near Mr E.F. Pickles residence | Homicide | ||
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Henry | slave, boy | May 1, 1857 | at Arthur Glovers House, Horns Creek | Accident | |
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Susan Churchwell | October 6, 1884 | at Allen Simkins House | Unknown | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Edinborough Ryan | December 30, 1882 | at Mrs D. L Bussy Plantation | Accident | ||
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Levi S. Mathews | July 13, 1892 | at G. C. Wheerles[?] Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Joe Elam | February 16, 1882 | at Nicholson premises | Natural Causes | ||
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Richard Mims | August 1, 1899 | at the plantation of Mrs. H. Carter | Accident | ||
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Julia Van | June 20, 1892 | at the plantation of Mr Joe Thurmond | Homicide | ||
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Bob | negro | September 23, 1864 | in the District | Natural Causes | |
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident |