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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
Joel Roper Sr. | August 30, 1845 | at the house of Joel Roper Sr | Suicide | rope | |
Michael Long | October 11, 1877 | near the Residence of E.N. Youngblood | Suicide | knife | |
Basil M. Boone | November 4, 1855 | at the residence of Daniel Boone | Suicide | rifle | |
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
Daniel | slave, boy | April 28, 1859 | at L. Halls Tisery[?] | Suicide | |
John Randall | October 19, 1857 | at the dwelling house of John Randall | Suicide | razor | |
Larkin Swearengen | April 1, 1852 | at the hous of Larkin Swearengen | Suicide | razor | |
Wesley Weaver[?] | June 15, 1858 | at Mrs Lydia Nevus[?] | Suicide | shotgun | |
Sarah Jowls[?] | November 16, 1858 | at Mrs Mary Ann Keys | Suicide | rope | |
Adam Barker | August 10, 1879 | at the Residence of Adam Barker Decd | Suicide | ||
Nancy | Slave | June 19, 1847 | at the house of Mrs G. Rily's | Suicide | |
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Samuel M. Dowel | July 25, 1844 | at James Murrels | Suicide | knife | |
Joshua Miller | December 22, 1851 | at Joshua Millers | Suicide | shotgun | |
Aron | slave, boy | June 15, 1862 | near the White house | Suicide | vine |
Sarah Scurry | September 28, 1844 | at the House of Sarah Scurry | Suicide | ||
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Prince | negro man | October 27, 1844 | at Mrs Elizabeth Timmermans | Suicide | |
James Miller | March 29, 1847 | at the house of James Miller | Suicide | rope |