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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lousay | November 25, 1860 | at Doct John E. Padgett | Accident | ||
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
John H Webb | January 22, 1882 | at James Webb Residence | Accident | ||
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
Sherod Holms | October 10, 1884 | at Sherod Holms House | Accident | horse | |
Lewis | negro man | March 20, 1846 | at & in the Revd Mr. Brooks Plantation | Accident | |
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
William Lundy | August 28, 1846 | at house of John Rainsford | Accident | ||
Louisa | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | September 15, 1861 | at the residence of Mrs Margret Willis | Accident | |
Billy | November 28, 1857 | at the South Carolina Rail Road | Accident | wagon | |
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
Simon | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
Fannie Ford | March 5, 1893 | at Trenton S.C. | Accident | train | |
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
William Harlin | February 19, 1856 | at a new place sitting by Mr James Swearingem(Jr) on the Akien Road | Accident | ||
Albert Brunson | June 26, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Accident | train | |
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
William Humphry | January 4, 1894 | at Etheridge Bridge | Accident | pocket knife | |
Henry Langley | April 2, 1848 | at Wm Vances | Accident | wagon | |
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident | ||
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Isaac | negro man | December 1, 1856 | at a point on the South Carolina Rail Road [?] Brooks Mill creek | Accident | train |
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Ellen | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
W. W. Miller Sr. | white man | July 10, 1891 | at J M. Mays place | Accident | |
Robert Johnston | May 23, 1891 | at Clarks Ferry below bridge on C. & G.[?] R R | Accident | ||
Sam | Slave | June 14, 1858 | at Henry Spiers[?] | Accident | |
Charley Geeter | October 27, 1881 | at Violets Geeter's house | Accident | ||
Elijah Sullivan | April 24, 1898 | at Cow-buel[?] place | Accident | ||
Allen Bauknight | freedman | June 11, 1866 | at William Bauknights | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
Thomas Rosseter[?] | August 30, 1852 | at Hamburg SC | Accident | ||
Louisa Wooden | October 13, 1893 | at Mose Woden | Accident | ||
Lewis Glanton | September 8, 1846 | near the church of Antioch | Accident | horse | |
Liz | slaves | March 4, 1860 | at the mill Pond of W. Glover on mill Creek | Accident | boat |