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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lona May Hamilton | child | October 18, 1893 | at or near Longmires PO[?] | Natural Causes | |
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
Enoch Douglass | August 11, 1879 | near Wesly Barrs on the rail road | Accident | ||
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Cland Elam | child | March 17, 1892 | at A. J. Norris Place | Accident | |
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Rachiel Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Wilson Griffin | freedman | February 13, 1867 | at Luke Rodgers | Homicide | |
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Toby | negro man | July 10, 1844 | near Bauskett Bridge on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
Alick Croker | boy | September 29, 1878 | at Mrs. Marshes premises | Accident | |
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
Lovina | negroe girl, a slave | September 4, 1860 | at Doct H M Folks[Faulk?] | Suicide | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Julia Hightower | child | November 9, 1890 | at Mr Sam Marshes Place | Accident | |
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
Charity Johnson | March 11, 1847 | at the Residence of Charity Johnson, late deceased | Natural Causes | ||
Albert Watson | June 15, 1892 | at the plantation of W.B. Maffett | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
A. G. Leek | February 23, 1859 | at A. G. Leeks Residence | Other | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
George Mitchel | June 21, 1881 | at J. R Corleys | Accident | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Benjamin Cockroft | March 18, 1847 | in the woods near the house of Beryman[?] Bledsoe | Accident | ||
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Jane Glover | January 12, 1883 | at Handy Tanks House on John Wir[?] plantation | Unknown | ||
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
William Bailey | July 19, 1846 | at the House of Samuel C Scott | Homicide | ||
Henry Jones | September 21, 1855 | Accident | |||
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
Lindy Jones | March 15, 1882 | at George Holingsworth House | Accident |